Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-20

/
stable had, was mere copy of the writ
| issued before the writ of error and super
| seGeas were sued out.
What there was 90 call for or justify
or IN the slightest degree palliate this
! outrage, is the wonder of all dIsinter-
ested people of this vicinity cognizant OF
the facts. The people of Miami and all
| the surrounding country were III the
| peaceable'and orderly pursuit of their
| daily avocations, not expecting and
uuprepared for any such demonstration
! No attempt had been made to resist tue
| officers Of the law by the defendant osfbY
| anyone else. All the resistance taaf has
ever been made to process in the case re-
! ferred to was TO question its legality by
! legal methods, and verbally refases to
! yield obedience to it. And this was the
! act of the defendant alone, and hfs9egal
| advisers, in which he and they We're
/ backed by no one. And this refusal vas
not made to an officer, but to the plain
! tiff and his counsel
As to the part taken by the rangers in
| this outrage, while they were ostensibly
/ here in the interests of peace, it was OBJ
vI0us they were in reality the bac kers of
the constable and his posse. II they
were here to keep the peace and in the
interest of law and order merely, why
did they permit the demonstration that
was made? If they made the
slightest effort to disaTm or in
any way control the lawlessness of
the invaders, no one in Miami is aware
Of it. The kind of peace they were here
to enforce was the subordmation of an
unOffending community to the terrorism
Of rGffians. And what brought them
here at all? There had been no disturb
ance of the peace, no acts Of lawlessness
in Roberts county and nothing
of the kind was threatened.
They and their allies were the only
disturbers of the peace. No one
else had attempted violence or intimida-
ton. Their very presence under the cir
cumstances above detailed was a menace
to the community, and far more caIcuIa-
ted to provoke disorder than to allay it.
If they are here to ferret out crime and
bring criminals to justice, there are Of
tenders among the very men they are
backing, whose laWlessness has never
been made the subject of complaint or
arrest, or legal action of any kind.
Referring to the statute providing for
the organization and employment of
mounted police, we protest that no such
use of them was contemplated by the
legislature. In the preamble it appears
that in several counties in the western
and southwestern part Of the state dep
relations had been and were being COM
united against persons and property at
the time it was passed, but by whom?
"By bands of criminals and law
less men too strong to be sup
pressed by the civil authorities, unaided,
and by bandits and robbers from
Mexico. - This recital shows the circum-
ON ,.vz~1,5 N, 1,-feC
is followed by another declaring its pur-
pose in the following language:
''Therefore, for the purpose of main
tanning law and order, and giving secu-
rity TO that section against foreign inva-
sion and domestic disturbance and to aid
the civil authorities, the governor is
authorized TO Immediately organize a
company, - etc. The remaining provis-
ions Of that act relate to term of service,
equipments, arms, pay and rules and
regulations, all of which charao-
terize it as essentially a military
force, and then follows the only
definition of their duties embodied
in the law. They are s'clothed with the
powers of peace officers, and shall aid
the civil authorities in the execution of
the laws. They shall have authority to
make arrests, and in such cases they
shall be governed by the laws regulating
and defining the powers and duties of
sheriffs in similar cases. In
order to arrest and bring to justice men
who have banded together for the Dur-
pose of committing robbery or other feIo-
MES and to prevent the execution of the
Iaws-they may accept the services of
such citizens as shall volunteer to aid
them, - etc.
From these statutory provisions it does
not seem to follow that there was any le-
gal ground for the interference of the
rangers in the case above stated. The
manifest intent of the law is that they
are TO be used only as against bands Of
criminal and lawless men TOO strong to be
suppressed by civil authorities unaided -
and ''men who have banded together for
the purpose of committing robbery or
other felonies, and to prevent the execu-
tiOn of the laws. - And when called !
upon to act in such cases Their powers |
and duties are only those of a sheriff or
any other peace officer.
In the case under consideration what
are the facts? The sheriff of Roberts |
countyswas not on any ground or for any |
reason disqualified from acting. He was |
iguOTed-was not called upon to exercise |
the ordinary functions of his office With |
no suluClSLL IC-dl IGdSOu LOT OOlDg so,
process was placed in the hands of Jim |
Crow constable as ignorant OF his duties |
in the premises as was the captain of the |
Texas rangers who aided him The
first and only demand this constable |
ever made for the Office, under and by !
virtue of his writ, was at the point of
pistol, under the circumstances above de-
tailed. Before he made any demand he
or someone else had called for and OBJ
tanned the cooperation OF the rangers
Not only was the conduct complained of
anomalous and Illegal in the particulars
mentioned, but by the very terms of the
writ under which the constable acted,
the incumbent of the office was to be
ousted, and his opponent installed,
only after qualification of the lat
ter by taking the oath of office and
the execution and the approval of his
bond. Whether he was rightfuIIy or
wTongfully prevented from taking these
steps we insist was not a question to be
decided by a constable or captain of
rangers, but is point for judicial deter
nination. The consequence of their as
suming to execute process before the con-
NH Th