The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-08-22
THE REDDING LYNCHING.
Clay w. Taylor Not Afraid to Speak
Plainly.
He Denounces the Lynchfng of the
Ruggles Brothers in Vigor-
Gus Language.

The San Jose Record having published
certain statements about the lynching OF
the Ruggles brothers at Redding, Hon.
Clay w. Taylor has sent the following
letter to the editor of that paper:
REDDING Cali, August 20, 1892.
To the Editor of the Daily Record, San
Jose, Cdl.-DEAR SIR: To-day my at
tention has been called, for the first time,
to an article published in the issue of
the Daily Record of Tuesday, July rs,
1892, under the heading OF Saw 1t, and
which purports to be the statement OF an
eyewitness to the lynching of the Rug
giles brothers, and who is at present
holding a position in the city govern
who has been visiting Redding and was
present and saw the proceedings of the
mob.
Ordinarily no attention should be paid
to any statement which is so full of gross
misrepresentation as to render II almost
incredible upon its face, but, inasrnuch
as it connects my name with the unIaW-
full acts of the body of men who COM
mitted that deed, l feel that it is but
justice to the community in which l live,
and the large number of acquaintance l
have throughout this State, that | should
expose and deny some of its bare-taced,
nnmitigated, unfounded, outrageous and
whole-cloth falsehoodS.
Your informant states, as you report,
s'that the lynching had been talked of for
nearly month, and was the result of
three public meetings" Also that lit
was an act resulting from the best legal
advice to be obtained, that of the District
Attorney of the county" This statement
is false in its every feature. The matter
had not been talked of so that the best, or
any considerable number of the good citi-
Zens of our county, were aware of what
was going to be done, nor had there been
any public meetings, nor had the legal
advice of the District Attorney of the
county ever been sought or obtained in
the line of advising or approving Of any
such unlawful proceeding, nor were ahy
of the officers of the county aware of the
fact that they were about TO take place.
have known the present Sheriff, the
Under Sheriff and the principal deputies
for over twenty years, and 1 can vouch
for the fact that if either one of them had
known that such lynching was in con-
temptation it never would have been car
ried out.
Your informant stated to you that sat
the second meeting held District Attor-
ney Rose and myself were present, and
that upon being asked for an opinion
they both advised that convictions of the
Ruggles brothers could not be had, as
there was no evidence against them; and
that l said THAT if they intended to hang
the men they had better do it at once and
save the county 10000, for a conviction
in the court would be impossible" Also
that l 'had refused a retaining fee from
the father of the boys, but had offered
my services to the District Attorney free
of charge"
The whole of this statement is as bold,
bald and black a falsehood as ever was
uttered by Ananias, the King of Liars.
l was never present at any meeting of
he l. i i, Il
tain any such sentiment | was never
offered a fee, nor even approached to be
retained in defense OF the Ruggles
brothers, either by their father or any
other person, but, on the contrary I was
applied to to assist in their prosecution,
which l declined to do, because of per-
sonal feeling | entertain against one of
the Assistant Superintendents of Wells,
Fargo ~ Co., and for no other reason.
Having been compelled to thus de-
fend myself against the yilest charges of
being advisory to, cognizant of and
thereby partlceps criminiS i'll the unlaw-
tul taking of human life, hope you viii
now do me the justice to allow me,
through your columns, to say that l re-
gard the hanging Of the Ruggles brothers
as an outrage and disgrace to our entire
community, not only locally, but also to
the State of California. 1t is blot and a
stain upon our judicial system, a re-
pIOdCu 10 our OIIlC6IS anu menace to-
ward law and good order. Never before
did / feel so keenly that deep and last
ing disgrace rested upon the citizens of
my own town and county as I did when
npon the Sunday morning / turned upOn
my pillow and on looking out from my
window saw the bodies of those men
hanging from the blacksmith's derrick.
where they were hanged in violation of
law. have no excuses to offer for stage
robbers, murdererS nor criminals of any
class, and am proud of the record which |
made during thirteen years of consecu-
tive service of District Attorney of our
county, within which period five robbers
and murderers were hanged and upward
of 100 telons took up their abode within the
penitentiaries of our State at my especial
instance and request; | am also proud of
the record which Shasta County has made
IN the punishment of criminals, and I
know of but one or two instances where
the guilty escaped; but with all this l
find no excuse for the unlawful proceed
ings in this case.
They had been duly arrested and the
machinery of the law was being put in
force just as fast as the circumstances of
the cases would permit; they were in a
good and safe jail, closely and securely
guarded against escape, and without bail;
so far as L am advised-and think /
know pretty well-no successful defense
could have been ihterposed; the law
would have taken its course, which must
have resulted in their execution.
am not unmindful of the fact that the
body polite will look favorably, perhaps,
upon the proposition that the end which
must have been ultimately reached under
the law having been reached in an I'M
lawful manner, the Irregularities and
unlawful proceedings should be ignored;
all this, however, can make no differ
ence to me, for as one whose life is de-
voted TO the study of the law, and whose
oath has been given to uphold and main
tain it, believe in it and am bound to
denounce all such outrages and viola
tons of it.
And here again we shall see whether
the statement made by your informant
tnat they would mob any one who de-
nounces the action up there" will be yeri
fed, for although am here, and propose
to stay, l have never yet failed to de-
nounce the action upon every proper oc-