The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-10-04
ARE THE HOMESTEAD RIOTERS
ouILry OF IREAsONS

most interesting and important news that
- co,,o from that disturbed quarter
for some time. The fact that the war
no,,s ,vore issued after conference be-
tveen a number Of the Justices OF the
sr,ramc Court Of the State, and by the
Cb;ef Justice himself, shows that the
,,,o,tar ;e tn be treated as q very serious
one.
Students of English history read more
of treason than Of any other phenome-
non in our past In its name martyrs
hovo zone TO the block, whilst 1t mas
coually shed the blood of those who were
reallv traitors. 1t il the highest anG
most important crime known to our laws
and is. therefore. not to be bghiiy
| charged Whilst yelled and shrouded In
tho mystery that belongs to on offense
of State. the idea Of it exercises
wholesome influence upon the minds OF
the people. To charge it seriously IN
the everyday affairs of life violates its
| nature and degradcs it from its useIu'
dignity.
However desirable it may he that law
lessness should be suppressed at Home
stead, we fear Pennsylvania authorI'
| ties have made mistake in charging the
rioters with treason.
The essential idea Of treason-the sine
qua non of treason-is an attempt 10
subvert and overthrow The existing gov
eminent. Without this design there can
be no treason. it is true the law I'M
putes 10 all men the intention TO effect
| the object which is the natural result Oh
| their acts. and resistance to the law of
a country naturally tends to overthrow
| the government Of that country. Inc
| strikers at Homestead have undoubtedly
been in contempt of the laws of Penn
| sylvania. and. therefore, by making
forced application Of the principle or
construction referred to, il would be
possible to hold them guilty Of treason.
But the same might, by forced construc-
tiCn. be held of every intentional viola
| ton Of law. 1t might be said on such a
principle that the man who resiSts a
police officer on Main street is guilty Of
treason, because the natural result OF
! his conduct is the subversion and over
! throw of the government. But it would
shock the moral sense of the community
to make such a charge. The essential
element, a true, active intention in the
mind of the party to overthrow the gov
eminent to which he owed allegiance,
would be wanting The intention would
| be transported into his mind by princi-
pie of construction, instead of having
been Matched, bred and nurtured there.
That the attitude of the Homestead
strikers is one of defiance to law and that
the tendency of such conduct is towards
the subyersion and overthrow of Govern
ment, there can be no sort of doubt. But
that their conduct is wanting in the
essential element of treaSon-a determi-
nation TO overthrow the Governments
as clear as the mondays sun. We
doubt if any thought connected with an
overthrow of Pennsylvania government
has ever entered the mind of single
Homestead striker, and we feel abso-
lutely confident that if Pennsylvania
were in danger of invasion she could i'm
medately raise a regiment of volunteers
at Homestead, as loyal to her Govern
ment and as ready TO fight for it as any
| in her limits. 1t is absurd then to talk
! of treason in connection with the affair.
There is resistance to law there. and Il
! conspiracy to resist the law, ana apprO-
pirate punishl1ents for these crimes
should be- imposed upon those who are
| engaged in this lawlessness; but there is
no treason in it, and it is only cOnfound-
ing things wholly different in their nature
to prosecute these people for treason.
Happily, prosecutions for treason have
been rare in this country. There have
been none that We can recall in the
State courts. except that of Dorr of
Rhode Island, whose case undoubtedly
contained the elements of treason, and
we remember now but three in the Uni
ted States courts Aaron Burr's case is
| familiar to all because Of the eminence
of the accused and the lofty self-pos-
session Of that great jurist, Chief-JuStlce
Marshall, who tried his case, and. in the
storms Of passion and party and clamor
for his conviction held the scales Of JUS
tce evenly and unwayeringly and placed
his conduct where it belonged, in the
class of dangerous seditions, wanting,
however, in an element necessary to
treason.
The other two cases arose in Western
Pennsylvania at the end Of the last CEN
fury. One that of Stewart and Wright,
grew ont of the whisky rebellion, put
down by President Washington. There
was here a veritable and organized re-
sistance to the authority Of the United
States. The accused were convicted Of
treason, but pardoned by the President.
The other case was that of Fries
Early in its history the Government laid
direct tax on lands and dwelling houses
The act aimed at getting the proper
valuation of the dwelling houses from the
number and size of the windows it con-
tanned Invasion Of their premises by
United States officers to measure the win
dows was very odious TO the people and
tumults resulted in Western PENNSYLVANIA
which grew into riots and finally into
open rebellion against the authority of
the Government Fries was prosecuted
for treason in participating in this re-
sistance to the authority of the Govern