The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-07-13
THE DERAILIsG oF TRAINS
On the Pacific coast-wsstsrn Punishment for Train Wraekinx.

The derailing of train carrying sol- diers in California is an event of some apparent gravity. It is grave even in itself as an incident; it may possibly be graver in what 1t stands for. Last even- ing's New York Sun remarks: Train wreckipg in California is now a capital crime, made so recently in consequence or the exploits of Il piir of bandits who operated on tho grsat San Joaquin plains. These men committed daring outrages,. and, for a considerable time, IL was found impossible to take them. Train wrecking Is aiso capital crime In Texas, ana for the same reason; the country contains extensive unpopulated plains. In such country a maiefaetor leaves few and obscure tracks, and can often reach Q hiding place whence he commands an outloo< over all lines of approach.
 His doom Is certain, ordinarily, given time enough. His circer can be pro- tracted only througi two influences; either he must terraize the few and scattered inhabitant so that they will give no information against him, or he must have their sympathy, in which case they will not merely contribute to baffie pursuit, but will give him active comfort and aid. The bandit Sontag of California and his companion did the first of these things; two other bandits of native birth, one of them a certain Joaquin Murieta, whose story once commanded many columns of newspa- per space, enjored the advantage of the other. In both of these cases. if we re- member alright, certainly in one of them, the formidable malefactor was betrayed by woman. But for this ad- ventitlous aid iI Is hard to say how long their careers might not have lasted.
 The lines of the Southern Pacific com- pany are operated through many hun dred miles of this sort of country. Leaving 1t, tley traverse mountains also nearly unpeopled, in part travers- ing difficult cuB ill the precipice where, in short time, great damage to the line could be done by few expert men. Under these conditions what are tho probabilities that the kind of interrup- ton interposed by yesterdays outrage will be protracied? The men guilty of 1t operated witt their eyes wide open, with the gallowI in sight. This affords. some measure 4 their own temper. It Is not growl -up proceeding to rail and vent wordy wrath at men in that frame of mind; they are criminals of character suffidently serious to be wor- thy of more ,dult sort of treatment.
 Let 1t be allowed at the outset that if the sympathy If the people of California were really win them, and would re- main with then throughout career of this kind of crime, no power short of omnipotence tolld operate those par ticular railroads. They themselves, the criminals, are tapable, as we see, of do- ing their part; hhe real question then is: Will that part 1 the American people domiciled in California become access sorry, both in piirciple and in fact, to systematized krime of this order? A resident of California remarked to-day in New York: "You might rake Cali fornia with a fine tooth comb, and you couldn't get a ,jsry who'd convict" |" This language may reflect the speakers temper, but theIp need be no hesitation in saying that it not true.
 Men may be very angry, and it is plain that in California number of them are angr1--very angry, indeed; but, first, mer anger lacks lasting quality; and, seDnd, even by becoming angry, man does not part with the oom- mon sentiments of humanity. The kill ing in this cast of several soldiers in the ordinary ditharge of their duty, saying nothing of the unfortunate en- gineer, all done m 8 secret and under hand way, is tod dastardly in the mode of it's performance not to awaken dis gust as we'll aA horror in the breast of any kind of an American. If, there- fore, the guilty hen are counting on the sympathy of ttb plain people of Cali fornia to cover of conceal their tracks or for an acquitttl in the jury box, it is moral certainly that they miscalcu- late. The language quoted above is not merely slander-4t discloses ignorance of the fundamental traits of the Ameri- can people and o{ human nature itself. The press despltch says that 200 men started down the line, and the derailing is attributed to them. Perhaps, then, the man or men who removed the fish plate counts on 1b9 witnesses to an alibi. Bad calculation again; he has 199 po-, tential informerb. Sooner or later be- trayal is certain. And this is 8 truth that will very quickly be borne in on the conscio,,sntks of them all as thev face backward contemplating their. ac- oomplished crime. From this, the de- duction is faiI one that this outrageis is not likely to be followed up in any sys- tematio way. Apart from considerations of this sort, it k well to bear in mind that it is not to the interest of the in- habitants that the railroads should be destroyed or even crippled in any per- manent sense; that the more frantic of its enemies cannot oonceivably intimi- date whole population; therefore that plenty of witnesses, and of jurors as well, will be forthcoming at the proper time.
 Meantime, beGween the just indigna- tion of the soldhry and the exaspera- tion of certain element, some further events of a tragioal nature may quite conceivably occur. If henceforth the soldiers should display more vigor than forbearance, certain it is that no one will blame then. Indeed, as matter of mere military policy, and probably of humane polity, too, it may we'll be believed that procedure of the utmost vigor is now called for. ..4 /. ,,.-. '
 Championship Game. -...,.
 The second game of the Dry Goods league will be, played at the savin