New-York tribune., 1884-03-31
DISGRACE AND a WARNING.

rioters again attacked the milltiamen sia-
toned near the court house and jail. AT one
O'clock this morning they had climbed TO the
tons of the houses nearby and were firing on
the tIoops from above. 1t seemed only
too evident then that the trouble
WAS not nearly over. During the day the
Mavor had appointed an Advisory Committee,
consisting of Zoe prominent citizens, and had
issued a proclamation warning people tc keep
out of the streets after nightfal. All the avail
able militia in the State has been ordered to the
civ. and in fact, martial law prevails.
Cincinnati thus terrOrzed and pillaged by
mobis at once blistering disgrace and aterilDie
warning. He must be lean -souled and tat
witted American, who can read without sense
of shame and dislay the accounts given OF this
outbreak of lawlessneSs. From whatever point
of view these scenes of conhagration, raplne,
Turbulence and frenzy are regarded, this feeling
of degradation is deepened. A prosperous and
law abiding city is suddenly given up to rab-
ble of incendiares and lawbreakers. anu
why? Because a corrupt or incompetent Jury
had flung to self-confessed murderer the
remnant of his sin stained life. This hagrant
miscarriage of justice not only awakened the
community to a sense of insecurity, but pro-
yOked blind wrath. A ferOcious spirit OF re-
sistance to authority was spontaneously de-
veloped. One act of inscnsate folly succeeded
another in a maddening parOxysm of vengeance
and hate Peaceable citizens headed wild
r1,sh for the iail, battered down its doors,
brol,e omen the gunsmiths' shops, fought i'll the
streets with police aud militiamen, set fire
TO the Court House, and reproduced the
terrible scenes of the French Revolution. Such
n reyel OF passion aud destruction must be
lasting reproach to American civilization. Ihe
details given in the dis patches speak for them
selves and we have no need TO emphasize them.
No subtletes of logic can palliate the disgrace.
Every sober-minded American shares the ds-
honor and hangs his head for very shame
The disgrace cannot be retrieved, but the
warning must not pass unheeded. The danger
ous tendencies OF the population in large cities
must be distinctly recognized. In moments OF
excitement there is a contagious readi-
ness TO resort TO force and violence; and this
is speedily followed by a mania for de-
structien. The time has been when such
scenes as have been enacted in tho streets
Of Cincinnati would have seemed incredible,
but since the riots of 1877 prudent Americans
have not dared to underrate the disturbing
forces of social restlessness and passion
ate resentment in large cities Then there
was insuITectiOn in ten States, a score
of cities were menaced with pillage and
fire. and fierce rabble spent Sunday in de-
stroying $4, 600, 900 of property and In desper-
ate attempts to murder militiamen in Pittsburg.
Now it is a court house, not a depot, that
is burned, but the maddening excitement,
the frenzy for destruction, the rapine,
ferocity and unreasoning folly are much
the same. The only essential distinction
between the Cincinnati and Pittsburg
outbreaks is the origin of revolt. In the
present instance there is no insurrection OF
labor, no organized movement on the part OF
Dowerful trades-union. Nor can 1t be charged
that foreign agitators and Communists have
taken advantage Of chance Tor mlschef
suddenly offered to them. This is not rebel
linn of raw immigrants, who are ignorant of
the law of the land and have not learned to
respect it. 1t is an uprising of native-born
and peaceable citizens, who have grow familiar
with the scandalous laxity wherewith the law
has been administered, and have learned to- de-
spise and execrate it. But whatever may be
the differences in origin, the methods and con-
sequences are as deplOrable in Cincinnati as in
Pittsburg. The warning has thus been re-
peated after seven years. VIII 1t be needed
this time Z
One way of needing the warning will b. to
add to the number of militia regiments In every
densely populated State, and to increase the
efficiency of the force. The Ohio regiments
seem to have repeated the blunders of the
PENNSYLVANIA troops, and in the first instance
to have done vastly more harm than good, firing
upon police, inOffensive bystanders and rioters
Unfortunately, and imparting intensity to
the passionate spirit of the mob. The great
benefit derived from the presence OF we'll
organized and self possessed force OF militia
was illustrated in this city seven years ago.
The eliminating point of the labor riots
was the open-air meeting held in Tompkins
Square. The regiments were under arms at the
time, and the immense throng of disafiected
workingmen knew il. A moral disciplined
body of soldiery saved the city that night
from roting, pilage and incendiarism.
In this respect New York is one of
tho very few cities in the country that
have any adequate means OF protection against
the forces of lawlessness which III Cincinnati
have defied municipal authority The National
Guard in every State ought TO be strengthened.
disciplined and rendered an effective means OF
defence.
Cincinnati has also a special warning of its
own. which was not sounded at Pittsburg.
Lawlessness there is the outcome Of laxity and
scandals in the administration of justice.
Criminal trials had long been by-wOrd and
a reproach, when a verdict in single murder
case shocked the moral sense of the community
and led TO the catastrophe. That verdict was
utterly at variance with justice. reason and