The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1889-03-21
A WISE JUDGE.
A DANIEL HATH COME TO
JUDGMENT.
The Charge to the Grand Jury i'm
the Clayton Murder Case.
An Eloquent, Brave and Power
ful Plea for RetributiVe
Justice.


be the fault of Judge George $. Gun
ningham or States Attorney Curter.
In his charge to the Grand Jur,
Judge Cunningham said he came t.
plead for law and order, and asked
what II was that protected their wives
ihcir children and their homes in thei
absence on business Orpleasure /; wha
was it that protected their lives from
murdcrcrs, their property from thief
and their homes from arson-and re
minded them that it was the law. He
told them, the people who lived in the
/ towns could easily summon aid whel
needed, by beck or call, but that those
who lived in the country had no Sher
III, no Marshal. no Constable, no neal
neighhors convenient to aid them ii
trouble, but that their sole reliance
was on the law Law is rule of con
duet, not for the weak, or the humbl,
alone, but it is also rule of conduct
for the rich, the strong, and the power
i full; that il is universal in its appllca
/ ton and should been infOrced against
/ all alike. AnacCesSory Is one who stands
/ by and aids or abetS the commission
of an otfense, or. not being present,
aiding or abeting the commission OF an
offense, has indorscd or encouraged ii,
and is just as guilty in morals as he IS
in law as the principal offender, and,
as a general rule, is punished the
same. Bear in mind this law and YOU
will have plenty of work to do i'll this
country. IOu will have to investigate
the Clayton assassination, and who
ever aided and allotted by word or
deed in that cowardly hatchery, should
be dragged by the throat to justice.
They should not be exempt from pun
ishment on accOuntof any standing or
influence they may have in the com
munty. do not know who they are.
| wish to heaven that did, | would
tell you. But mind you, political
aSsasSinations do not originate in the
minds of men in the humhleSt walks
of life. Men who earn their living 10y
the sweat of their hrows, whose lives
are poems of honor and industry, donot
find it in their minds and hearts tocon-
ccive assassination but it is conceiv
cd and planned by more influential,
fne- haired gentlemen who pretend to
he respectable.
While the cowardly villain who fired
the gun that killed Clayton should be
caught and hung. the main object of
our search should be the dastaldly
c0nspirators who instigated it. Some
men seemingly want t0apologize for or
extenuate the horror of this murder on
the ground of politics. They remind
me OF the doctor who was a dead shot
on fits, and every patient he had he
tried to throw him into fits. They
want to throw it into politics. tell
YOU there is no Democracy or Repaid
licaniSm in murder; and want to APP
peal to YOU as Democrats to punish
crime, whether the criminal is a Dem
ocIat or Republican; and if the Dem
ocracy does this it will rule the coun-
try aud rule it forever.
This great Government of ours is
a feet about to engage in war
with one of the most powerful nations
Of EurOpe because the rights of Amer
lean citizenship have~bcen ignored and
in the rocky island of Samoa,
many miles out in the South Pacific.
1t is said our flag fails to pro.
tect our citizens there whom
it purports and ought to pro-
tect Now, | would he willing to
sink every dollars worth of property
in this country to show that the flag is
not an unnecessary symbol or hollow
sham, but to convince the world that
in truth it does protect American citi-
zenslip every where. They are emit
lied to its protection. What would you
think of a man who would be found
around and inquiring about a
mans politics who had been outraged
in Samoa; whether he was Democrat
or Republican A black man or a
white man? The question would not
be, ''Ishe Democrat or Republican
\ white man or black man ?" but, sis
he an American citizen ?" And the
same Jealous care ought to be eXerted
by the courts to protect them abroad,
For the love of justice, don't go out
and indict some poor fellow for not
working the roads, when, perhaps, his
family need his services, or some poor
ia gged mountaineer for killing a deel
on Sunday to satisfy his hunger, and
then march into court with measured
tread and pharisaical look. and say
Won find nothing against these Other
men. Don't fool away your time after
minnows when there are whales IN
sight. Ifyou must make disclimina
ton, get after those prominent men
and let others go.
There is no man with three ideas
above an oyster who does not know
that murder and assassination are the
results, and will continue tobe the re-
suits of the political methods that have
been employed in this county to carry
out the last election, and the meanest
man in the country is the prOfessed
politician who advocates or indOrses
such methods. You must stop this
ballot box stealing, farce and fraud, OF
the title to your property will not be
worth the paper it is written on. What
does the law say? The organic law
and life of this great nation says these
colored people have right to vote
and, if they have no right to vote
where did YOU get your right? If they
have no right to be Republicans, how
did you get your right to be Demo
Gratis = | would urge on you as Demo
Gratis that the rights of citizenship
must be protected and at every little
precinct in this country there should
be free ballot and fair count.
Politicians try to scare you with the
myth and bugabOo of negro domino
4