The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-12-17
THE PARowAN AFFAIR.

at Parowan, q Z. ". Dslten by Deputy
Marshal Thompson. The kilograms
giving an account Of the affair, while
they are all brief and do not go into
details. agree substantially as 10 the
main facts. Thompson held 3 warrant
for the arrest of Dalton on the charge
of unlawful cOhabitatien; the officer
saw the accused riding along the street
and seizlng a rife, hailed Dalton, Com.
manded him tO stop, and almost i'm
msdiately fred, Dalton FALLING from his
horse, and expiring within an hour.
There is a variance IN the account
as to whether or not Dalton
halted when hailed by the officer,
one correspondent saying he did
and that he started towards the deputy
and Others that he was moving away.
If there were ey~e-Gitnesses 10 the
tragedy, their stores have not yet
reached as.
The information az hand would seem
to indicate that the case was enc OF
murder, pure and simple. whether or
not DaiLen was trying TO avoid arrest.
Necessarily an officer has e~xtrssrdin-
-ary power or authority IN executing the
commands OF the court; without it. JUS
tice woaId often be defeated. Bat while
conferripg upon the officer a large de-
gee of authority and wide latitude,
the law also restricts him in his oper-
atoms to reasonable performances, snd
commands him 70 exercise q wise dis
cretion; the Law alec protects the citi-
zen against abuse of official poEer. by
excusing him for resisting unlawful
authority. and also by providing pun
ishment for the official who exceeds his
legitimate powers.
The law neither directly nor by amph-
catiol conEers upon an officer the night
10 shoot a man under the circumstances
prevailing in this case. Dalton was not
under arrest; the .Oficer bad not yet
taken him in custody the law had not
put its hand upon the accused, and the
latter, ever if he were fleeing, had the
absolute and unquestioned right TO
20: he was yet q free man, and the OF
fcer had no better right 10 shoot him
tnan ne had to murder any person he
might see moving along the public
street. 1t is even = grave question II a
person accused OF a simple misdemeanor
were in custody and should attempt to
escape. the officer would be justified In
killing him; ~assuredly there can be no
legal or moral justification or excuse
for shooting q man charged with a mis-
demeanor, but who has not been taken
into Gu .tody and who is not even resist
ing arrest.
This murder, as it now seems TO be. Is
but the natural outgrowth of the way
the Edmunds Law has been enforced.
Extravagant authority has been as
sumed and exercised by the deputies
vho have too often been guilty Of out
rageous proceedings. In saying this
THE HERALD does not desire TO be I'M
derstood as casting any reflections on
Marshal DYER. The present Marshal
we ave reason TO believe, has earnestly
~endeayored to cure the evils which
grew up under the administration Of
his predecessor, and lift the Office from
the slough Of il-repHte in which it hac
so long vallowed. Under Ireland
brutal and BLACKBOARD deputies terror
ICED the country, and their high-handeC
conduct was not only not rebSked By
their narrow-minded, contemptibl,
chief. but was winked at or encouraged
The license taken and allowed K
the officers inspired in them
feeling that they were suPrem
aud their will must be obeyed
Assumption and training led them e
At as il q Mormon had no rights vhicI
deputy should respect. The red
handed Thompson, who has done thi'
awful deedIn PsroSan, was encouraged
trained and upheld in q school which
# not checked in its tendencies, woui'
have made murderers Of deputies wit
more intelligence and cooler heads tina
he ever claimed. It.is sad that the Gu
lnatlO OF ouNLaSS9 oH@
administration Of the office should b
the killing Of a worthy and highly re
spected citizen, whose offense at mos
wss no more grieyous than = petty MI
demesnor. 1t is s%orrowful to thin
that q good man has lost his life an
viz $ and children been deprived {
.,5 and father before the evil ws
entirely cured and the law officers bee
made to sense in its fullness what th
inevitable consequences must be of CIV
Ing loose rein TO brutal and irrespon
sible Deputies. employing rufhans 10
officers OF the law. and throwing aroun
them the protection Of the courts
their outrsges, wicked assumption