The Panola weekly star. (Sardis, Miss.) 1882-18??, 1886-04-10
NO. l3.
1nEY WfRE DUNK.
Ne, Hes Absat tks Mas whs ssia fhs.
the Ifsttlsh Faisaaf

Ne, ns~ Absat the ass whs saia fhs@
the Ifsiiish faisaaf
Osn night, not long ago, nvo San
Francisco hoodluma committed beast
" outrage upon woman who was old
enough 10 be their mother When tho
younn scoundruls were arrested. they
said I'VE had been drinking together
all the evening, and We hardly knew
what we we're doing" That excuse
will not help them Il Is well set
tied principle IN our courts that druak-
enneas does not Justify or even palliate
crime. The hoodlums are verify guilty.
and will be severely punished.
Hut how about the man who tempted
them 10 drink. and who gave them rum
late at night, knowing that u would
fire their brains and send them out Into
the streets as bowling demonsp Has he
no responsibility In this matterf Yes.
In the sight ~ God he II particeps
criminls, an accessory before the fact.
the alder and abcttor Of the scoundrcls
whom he prepared for their deed Of
violence and shame. At the bar Of con.
science and common sense he must b.
pronounced guilty But our human
laws pay no attention 10 him. The
officers Of justice do not inquire where
those hoodlums got their whisky
what ono Of the thousands Of licensed
dram-shops they patroniled that night
Now, this Is nll wrong, and II Is time
that people walked up to SEQ II. II the
rum-seller was arrested whenever those
who had drank TO ntoxcatlon at his
bar were guilty Of crime--a crime
evidently committed because they were
drunk II he had 10 stand with them in
tho dock and bear Disgrace and pun
ishment with them-well, II this did
not drive him out Of the business II
would mako him little more careful
MS 20 when and TO whom he sold his
Siuuid danmation. The coolness 18th
which the liquor business shirks re-
sponsibilitics Is something marvellous.
II will be one Of the wonders Of history
when our great grandchildren read
the annals OF this age.
The case of those hoodlums made me
think Of Samson and tho foxes. Sam
son caught the foxes and tied them to-
gether with firebrnnds between them.
That IL Just what our rum-sellers do.
They get men together. They fire
them up N couples and companies.
They know very well that men are far
more reckless In masses than alone.
And 30 they try to attract a crowd. Ten
men together will drink twice az much
rs the aggregate OF what the same num-
ber of men would drink II they went 10
tho bar one by one Well, Samson
coup cd his foxes and fired them, and
then let them 20. That was all he did.
lIc knew, Of course, that they would
run into the standing corn Of the Phil
istncs, and burn II up. But he didn't
send them there. Then what right had
the Philistincs 10 blame Samsonp What
business had they to 90 and burn his
wife and her fathcrp They did not un-
derstand tho limitations OF responsible
ty rs we do. They did not recognize
tho nalienable right Of men in free
country to catch as many foxes az they
, can and fire them up and turn them
loose. That you and | have standing
corn that will be imperiled by tho fiery
foxes may b. our misfortune. but Il Is
not Samson's fault. All that he does
Is perfectly right and legal. Our wrath
and indignation must be expended only
on the foxes. They alone nre 10 blame.
II we can catch them we ought 10 pun
ish them severely. But as for Samson,