Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-15
THE OHIO IDEA rs. THE TEXAS
IDEA


Governor Foraker of Ohio has had
something to say in times past about the
laxity of Southern views with respect to
law and government. When the battle
flag order was given he promptly ap-
peared at the front in battle array ready
for marching orders and anxious to cross
swords with some champion of treason and
secession. All this went to prove that
Governor Foraker was not merely pa
triot, but brave and gallant one,
man whose only anxiety was that fate
might cut him off without giving him
chance to prove his devotion to his coun-
try and his inflexible courage. Not long
since this doughty statesman was called
upon to deal with organized lawlessness
in an unexpected Quarter-his own state.
The White Caps not being pleased with the
administration of law in Ohio, in several
localities took the matter into their own
hands. Their doings have been reported
in the dispatches, and were of nature
demanding, in many instances, the
ernor Foraker grid on his sword anew and
| swear by the eternal that the law breakers
should no Longer defle the name of the
Buckeye state? 1t does not so ap-
pear from his recent message to the
| legislature. His method of suppressing
| lawlessness has the merit of originality +,
| to say the least of it. He thus tells of IT.:
1t was finally determined to accept the follow
| ing agreement, which was signed by members OF
| the order, as a settlement of the whole matter,
1 viz:
eswe, the undersigned members of the organi-
| cation known as White Caps, do hereby agree
and bind ourselves to procure the immediate dis
| banding of said organization; and we do fur
! Their promise and agree that there shall be no
more raids, whippings, threatenings, 1ntimida-
tons terrorzing or other violation OF law OF any
| kind whatsoever by said organization or the
members thereof, acting either together or sepa-
rately; and we further agree that II this stipula-
ton on our part be violated by any members OF
! said organization who may refuse to be con-
trolled by US, we will in such event, do all IN
our power to give information and to aid the
| officers of the law in bringing them to justice.
ssTo all who in good faith sign and keep the
|
munity from further proceedings against them. -
In other words, the governor of Ohio
negotiated in person a treaty with band
| of midnight marauders and assassins, I'M
der which their sins were all forgiven as
a reward for their promise to sin no more.
Nearly five years ago fence-cutting
mania was provoked in Texas by the
greed of individuals and companies in
fencing up large areas of land not their
own. IL was the outgrowth of a grew
Gus wrong, and when thoroughly aroused
the indignation of the people took the
form of an epidemic of laWlessness.
John Ireland, then governor of Texas,
met the emergency with two meas
ures: he called a special session OF
the legislature to remove the
causes that produced the trouble,
and he distributed the state ranger force
in the sections most affected by it with
| orders to join the local authorizes in put
ting down lawlessness at any hazard
One or two collisions occurred, but they
were not repeated. The word was given
along the line that the state had de-
| teruined to enforce the authority OF
the law, and the flame subsidized
as quickly as it had blazed up.
Several convictions were secured
of men who claimed to be good citizens
otherwise, and they went TO the peniten-
tiary to atone for their folly.
The two methods of suppressing or
ganized disorder are fairly illustrative OF
the differences between the Ohio and the
Texas ideas.
A great and gallant statesman is Fora
ker of Ohio.
D--,-,r, ..rx-Nr- may