, 1891-08-18

4 PRACTLC1L Z


TIE Buffalo Bulletin c]onraius the FOL
lowing sensible and practical editorial
IN upon the vital question Of stock
stealing:
The state press has taken no the sub
ject of thIeving on the cattle ranges and
The CHEYENNE LEADER Is leading the
wal on the ''rustlers. Some papers
have ventured to question the fact OF
there being any very genera t]ilcying go
Ing on, but the strength .uf testimony Is
against them, It seems to be undcniable
that larceny of live stock is now being
carried on over the whole state With IN
precedented persistence and boldncss. to
an extent never dreamed Of before. 1t is
so in this county. aud all reports 20 to
show that we are not a whit worse than
our n%eiGhbors.
"'Rustling' has been tolerated on ac-
count of the prejudice existing against
the large cattle companies, as it was sup.
posed that they alone were the sufferers.
Many a ranchman has thought to him
self, If only | am not molcsted | have no
right to complain. But immunity in
one kind of depre lations leads 10 an
other. If it is profitable to steal one ami
nal, it Is more profitable to steal ten.
And il they cannot as readily be rustled
from the big outfits. the little ones must
suffer. Safe az far as they have gone,
the offenders soon learn to tie down
calves and run off or kill the mothers.
Brands are blotched. and every device
known to the rustler is practiccd. They
have come to think that no punishment
can overtake them, and their boldncss is
only eaualcd by their assiduity. The re
suit is a continual menace to the rights of
every mar who has a hoof Of stock, and
is even more ~far-reaching than this. 1t
concerns the ownership of all property
and the tranquility of our social in-titu-
tons.
1t is futile to say that these men were
schoJled IN the large cattle companies.
and it is the tactics Of the latter which
are now used against them, tor two
reasons-first, the large companies are
not by anv means the only sufferers, and
second, that is not the evil that is before
us. There have been great sinners
among the large companies, no doubt,
but that does not help the matter.
''The question is not how this state of
Affairs came to exist, but how it may be
remedied. But let us first notice that
the fault is not in our laws nor in our
courts, and not, in general, with the
officers of the law. 1t is the fashion
frequently among unthinking people to
attribute the imperfections which arc
inherent in the very nature OF things to
the faulty make up of the courts. But
the best laws and the best tribunal which
human or divine wisdom could devise
would be powerless to convict if there
were no one to testify to the crime.
Every honest man needs to realize so
long as his neighbor's property is not
safe, neither is his own and that no COM
munity can prosper where the reasonable
and just laws are not enforced against all
offenders without regard to wealth or
social position. One thing more he should
understand: that each citizen is an
essential factor in society, and society has
a right to rely upon his corporation in all
matters leading to good government If
this duty should impel him to become
an informer, it may be unpleasant, but
he cannot shift the responsibility without
suffering the consequences himself and
iLficting them upon the community.