Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1884-03-07
.vrvvDENCEO OF PROGRESS.

lowing leading article; !.
The other day n w. b. Cash OF
South Carolina shot the Town Marshal
of Cheraw, and on his way home after
the occurrence, having an extra cartridge
left in his revolver emptied it into the
hodv Of an inofensive bystander. This
Cash Is the son Of E. q. b. Cash, the
man who murdered n Shannon on pre-
tense Of fighting a duel, and shed the
blood of several other of his fellow-crea-
tures. There is nothing at all remarka-
BILE about young Cash's act, OF course.
Nobody is surprised at hearing of such
things from South Carolina or kentucky.
There are plenty of them, and they
are usually referred to in Southern pa
pers as unfortunate affairs, for whose &C.
currence everybody is sorry, but which
apparently no one takes the trouble TO
preyent. and the principals in which are
never brought to justice. The contem.
plation of his fathers career might well
have given Cash the idea that killing
people was a sport in which he would
never be interrupted by his fellow
citizens.
What is surprising about the affair IS
that there seems to be a general feeling
in the State that Cash did wrong IN
shooting the men,, and a general dispoesi-
ton to capture him. 1t seems to us thai
this is a cheering evidence OF progress.
Cash is "well connected" he is a imam
of honor" and yet the citizens OF South
Carolina resent his shooting such OF his
fellow. men az he sees fit. Verify, the
people Of the Palmetto State must have
been ~sIandered, or else they are learning
to have a respect for human life which
thew have never heretofore been credited
with. If they will catch Cash, try him,
and have him hanged in the legal way.
they will give still further evidence OF
conversion. But perhaps that is too
much to expect. If he is caught he will
most likely be shot at sight.
This is simply drivel, such as we
would not be surprised to find in a pat
ent.outside country newspaper. In a
great and ordinarily respectable journal
like the Mail the stuff is contemplate.
If young Cash, however ''well con-
nected" he may be, has been guilty of a
felony he will be punished properly and
swiftly.
Gentlemen who are familiar with the
history oil law and the administration of
Justice in the United States recognize the
decisions of the Judges of South Caro-
lima as among the highest and best au-
thorities in the legal literature OF mod
ern times.
It is q notorious fact that the people
of that commonwealth are punctilious
and severe in their regard for the law and
sticklers for its execution in spirit and
in form. In this respect, Massachusetts
and South Carolina are alike. A volume
of instances might be cited from the
court records to show that in neither Is
there partiality or respect for persons.
It ia needless to rehash the always ex-
citing, but now worn out, topic OF duehng.
Neither those who favor, nor those who
oppose, the code will take an extreme
view of it, if they are logical or unbiased
While there is much to be said for it,
there is also much to be said against it.
When men quarrel, in many instances,
they fight. We do not say that this IL
as it should be. We merely say it is
human. Men fight singly in all sorts o.
fashions. Nations 60 to war. and thou
sands die for the sake of peace. This
state of things is natural and inevitable
and the man who does not see it SO doe
not know anything of the principles Of
human nature. He reads the history O
the race in a sick dream.
How then shall the fighting be done
Shall men pack six-shooters around con
cealed in their pockets and study thu
cowardly trick of "getting the drop" OF
some other man whom he has had word'
with and blaze away at him in a house
filed. perhaps, with outsiders to the dis
pute, or take a shot at him in SOM
crowded thoroughfare. thus endangering
and often destroying the lives OF persons
who are strangers to the controversy
This is the way it is done in this country
The practice breeds b~low-hards, roughs
murderers and towards.
In those communities in which thu
code is recognized men settle their dis
putes, not in the heat of passion, but il
cold blood, after the ft has passed away
Meanwhile satisfaction may be had il
explanation and retrastion, if the cas-
admits it.
Comparatively few men are killed il
duels, and but few duels under the cod
are fought. While the code is thus act
ually a life-preserver, it also tends t.
make men careful in their behavior
towards others. The dread of being
called out to look into the muzzle of
dueling pistol when there are no Irritating
circumstances to keep mems courage NJ
to the s'sticking point" is a most whole
some check upon gossip. 1t paralyzei
l.