St. Paul daily globe., 1889-03-17
THE HEDGE BREAKERS.

HI II HEDGE BREAh Il KS.
"Whoso breaketh hedge, a serpent
shall bite him." wrote SOLOMON three
thousand years ago; but the wisdom Of
the proverb is as impressively apparent
to-day as it was then. 1t was written to
impress upon the Jewish people the
danger OF violating law. and, speaking
under the authority of Divine inspira-
ton, to give assurance that each viola
tion would be followed by suitable pun
ishment. Next Friday there will be
double execution in the jail of Henne-
pin county which will amply verify the
wisdom of SoLoMoN's proverb, when,
in conformity to the judicial sentence,
the BARRETT boys will be hung by
their necks until they are dead. They
had broken the hedge of protection
which the law had thrown around the
life of fellow being, and now the
serpent which lay concealed within the
broken hedge will sting them to death.
The crime for which the BARRETT
brothers are about to hang was proba-
bly, the most dramatic of which there
is any record in MinneSota'S annals of
crime, and possibly the most fendish
and unprovoked. A poor street car
driver was murdered in cold blood for
the little change he had in his box. The
victim was worthy and inoffensive
young man, who had been recently
married, and was probably without an
enemy in the world Consequently the
detectives could have no clue to the
murderers. because it was difficult to
surmise what fend or fends in human
shape existed capable of committing
such a crime. Time passed on, and the
law officers were about to abandon
search for the perpetrators of the muir
der when that invisible spirit, known
as the laws avenging Nemesis, came to
the laws rescue. One of the three muir
derers had been arrested for another
offense and committed to the county
Jail. While in the solitude of his cell
knowledge of his great crime weighed
so heavily upon his soul that in
very agony he sought to unburthen
it by confession. The bloody secret
which he had expected 10 carry to the
grave with him was given into the pos
session of the state, extorted from him
only by the pangs of smitteu con-
science; and through his Instrumental
ity his two confederates in crime were
brought to Justice. The three murder
ers were brothers, who in babyhood had
drawn sustenance from the same
breasts, had slept together in the same
little trundle bed, had played together
through boyhood days, and had come
up together in the heyday of life, strong
in vigorous manhood and fully equipped
for sphere of usefulness. 1t was so
easy for them to have been honorable,
law-abidiug citizens. But they pre-
ferred the contrary course. They i'm
agined, as many another young man
has done, that it would be easier to live
Oh other peoples earnings than their
own. When they came to that conclu-
sion they had made the first break in
the hedge. We ask all young men who
read this article to remember that the
first step in crime has been taken when
you persuade yourself into the belief that
you have right to live without working
for living, OF that you are entitled to
reap where you have not sown. The
divine law was established in the earli-
est period of the worlds history that
man should earn his bread by the sweat
of his brow, and all the laws of human
society are made to conform to it. A
violation of this fundamental law is a
breaking down of a great barrier which
restraiIs human conduct. From this
point the progressive steps in crime are
made easy. The BARRETT boys found
it SO, and next Friday two of them will
die from the sting Of the serpent which
they released from its concealment
when the hedge was fist broken. Ow-
ing to the peculiar exigencies of the
case, the third one will not hang; but
it would doubtless be blessed relief
to the miserable, guilty creature If he
could swing with his brothers. Death
on the gallows would be far preferable
to going through the world with the
mark of CAIN on lis brow; Stunned
and despised by the whole human race,
without even SO much as dog to own
his friendship, and without a hope of
finding, in all the realms of the uni
verse, a resting place for his blood
stained soul. Verify, whosoever break
eth hedge, serpent sholl bite him.
1t would be the veriest mockery to
speak in sympathy of the two young
men who are to be hung, for their
youthfulness is no eXtenuation of their
crime. They were convicted upon the
evidence of their brother, supported by
the strongest corroborative testimony,
and there is 10 doubt of their guilt.
We may, and do lament that vicious
element in human nature, which, If
given unbridled license, leads to the
perpetratiOn of so foul a crime. We
may regret to see two young lives
blighted in the blooming. But there is
no occasion for sympathy in this case.
The gallows is the penalty the law fixes,
and their miSdeeds most assuredly merit
the EXTREMIST penalty of the law.