The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-03-18
GOOD MAY RESULT.

That was great wrong which was per-
petrated in New Orleans last SATURDAY. II
was not great wrong TO the victims of the
mob. They were assassins of the very
worst type. They were law unto them
selves. The principles of right and wrong
did not actuate them. The man who did
not agree with them, who was not in sym
pathy with their crimes, was an enemy who
should be put out of the way. An officer
who performed his duty and sought TO
punish men for their misdeeds was, IN their
opinion, dangerous person and ought to be
killed. Human life was held lightly by
them, and to their minds there could be no
crime unless the offense was against them.
The murderous wretches deserved what
they received, and every well-wisher of
society is glad In his heart that the
murderous fellows have been put where
they can work no more harm. The
wrong was in the manner of their takin 9
off, the offense being against the
laws and people of Louisiana More or
less harm will result from the moD's act.
The effects of the lynching will continue a
long time with the community, and those
effects will be bad.
But we hope and believe that good to the
nation will result from the incident We
believe that the affair will induce Congress
TO take in hand the matter of immigration,
and deal intelligently, effectively and in a
stRtesmanlike manner with the subject. II
will impress upon the minds of our public
men the fact that the time has come to
close the gates against the paupers and
criminals of the old world. For years the
American people and the American press
have been earnestly protesting against the
admission of the revolutionists, the thieves
and the assassins of Europe; they
have asked that the criminals be
turned back and given notice
that they will not be permitted to land and
make their homes Oh this side of the At
lantic. But these protests have been un-
needed, and the scoundrels have come by
shiplosds. A few years ago it transpired
that some European governments were
actually shipping their paupers and crimi-
mails to America, paying their ocean fare
and giving to each sum of money suf=
fcient to pay his way until he should be
Our large cities are crowded with thieves,
cutthroats, burglars and beggars from
abroad, and the dockets in the criminal
courts are filed with the names Of
foreigners.
At every session of Congress bills are
introduced for preventing this undesirable
immigration, but they are not pressed to
passage. Many of these criminals can vote,
and therefore they possess influence which
is more powerful than the right in
the control of the average demagogue VIII o
goes to Congress. Eight out of the eleven
men who were killed in New Orleans were
naturalized citizens of the republic and
could vote. In the slums Of New York city
are so many Italian voters that they can
control the elections in certain districts,
and politicians court the filthy, daggered
wretchus. 1t is easy enough to enact re-
strictiye laws against the meek and in
offensive Chinese, because they take no
interest in our politics and have no votes to
sell or trade, but there are mighty few Con-
gressmen who dare proclaim against any
class that may be useful at the polls.
The New Orleans tragedy, we believe,
will call attention with such emphasis to
the fact that the country is being overrun
with foreign criminals, that vigorous
and efficient measures will be adopted
TO prevent the coming of the
scoundrels who have found this such an in
viting country for their operations. Nor
DO we believe that so many of the criminal
Italians will try to come. Last Saturdays
AFFAIR will strike terror into their hearts,
and cause them to think that while our laws
are generous and their administration lax,
party politics having greater or less infiu-
ence upon the actions of officials, justice is
very apt to overtake the eYil-doers sooner
or later.
Thus, while that prison butchery was a
great wrong, we believe that some good
will result from ii.