New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-09
GOTERNOR PATTISON'S FIXTURE.

81
ed by the reputable portion Of the press OF
both parties. and with few exceptions by
Senators and members Of Congress. 1t would
be too much to expect that sensational news
napers would not seize upon the opportunity
TO work up the trouble by appeals 10 pieJu-
dice and passion, or that there would not be
dema gogues in Congress who only see III
bloody riot the chance for making poli'lcai
capital We have to congratulate ourselves as
citizens however. that the discussions 10 Whch
the occurrences have given rise, III the press
in Congress and by the public generally, nave
bcen so free from excitement and passion. ana
60 far removed from hasty judgment upon i'm
nerfcct knowledge This is especially note
worthy at the beginning Of political cam
nagn of which the temptation Is strong
TO make these occurrences an important factor
and nj n time when the best OF men, II at all
interested in politics. arc moro or less swaycd
bv partisan considerations. and tempted per-
baps nconsciOusly, into one form or aho'hef
of demagogy With few eXcep-
tions the disposition has been manifest
cd evoryvbcre to wait for the facts before
nronouncng Judgment. Upon the facts now
known there appears TO be a general agree
mont that neither side can be entirely exon
Grated from blame, but that both were in fault
in greater or less degree. On one side there
was too little effort to conciliatc and too
strenuous insistence on the letter OF legal
RIGHTS: ON the other there was ineXcusable
lawlcssness 1t is to he borne III nina tha''
however unwise or mistaken may have been
the policy of the former, they were, strictly
speakinc. within the law, while their opponents
we're violators of the law and trespassers
The theory of self governing democracy the
fundamental principle in fact of social organ
ization. is that wrong is only remcdiable by
law. the due processes OF which are open 10
all citizens and cannot be corrected or avenged
bv violence. The safety Of all of us as lndl-
viduas, as well as the pcrmanence OF Govern
ment and the existence OF all social orgaiiiza-
ton. depends absolutely upon the sanc''y OF
the law. its observance and enforcement. The
individual who, as the phrase goes, takes the
law into his own hands to avenge an IN
iurv. however great, is not so much the avenScr
of his own wrong as the enemy OF all his fcl-
lows. the foe of social order upon which the
lives and property and well-being of all OF lis
depend The newspaper that juSties such an
act panders to passion and teaches crime.
When, upon any preteXt it defends organized
or unorganized lawleSsncSS, and finds excuses
in anv provocation for mob violence, 1t be-
comes a public enemy. If it is the duty, as
undeniably it is, of all good citizens to oppose
lawlessness and violence with calm cOunsels
and dispaSsionate judgment, much more is IL
the function of the press. both as the organ
and the guide Of public opinion, to exercise
its wide influence in the same wholesome III
rection: above all is it its duty to refrain from
utterances calculated to inflame passions al
ready reused Nothing could be more cred
liable to the whole press, irrespective OF party,
than the GOOD sense and conservative sound
Judgment which, with few exceptions, II
has shown in its treatment of the deplorabe
occurrences at Homestead.
There is one aspect of the affair which it
seems TO us. whatever may be the outcome.
shonld not be lost sight Of. Governor Pat
tison if he is correctly reported has taken the
position that it was not his duty under the
law as commanderin- chief of the military
forces Of the State, TO respond 10 the call for
troops to preserve order and defend the lives
and property threatened with mob violence
until the Sheriff of the county had exhausted
all the means at his disposal by the summons
of a nosse comitatus, including all the citizens
of the county. to maintain the peace. He may
he we'll advised as to his duty in this regard
and perhaps has some justification for his
course in the limitations placed upon HIM by
the law. The question then arises how far
mob may 60 in taking violent possession OF
property in defiance of law, and to what eX-
tent the inability of the Sheriff To summon
nosse or the helplcssness of the posse against
the mob must be demonstrated before the
Governor would feel warranted in calling ont
thc military. In this case if the reports are
true any attempt to Quell the disturbance by
q posse of citizens, unorganzed and undiscI-
plined as they must necessarily be- would nave
resulted only in waste Of life. They would
not have inundated the mob and they would
have been powerless against them. The Gov
ernor would then, perhaps, have felt lustliled
in calling out the military, and peace would
have been restored. But the mischief would
have been done much more than has been
done already; and the trouble would have
been aggravated.
As il is several lives have been lost, and
q great many persons have been wounded and
manned for life. One cannot help thinking
that all this might have been avoided If the
Governor in the exercise of a wise discretion.
instead of waiting for actual violence and
bloodshed had taken the responsibility OF
maintaining peace and preventing riot and
murder by a reasonable display of military
force lie not only waited until blood was
spilt but refused to act even then until a
| Sheriff. posse. comprising all the citizens of
the county. should be summoned to undertake
ha for
| which the State had an ample force, we'll
trained and fully competent. Governor Pat
tison may have meant well, but in the light
of the facts as they at present appear, it must
be said that in an important emergency he has