Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-02-22

Arthur Williams is nice Young
man, strong and Industrious: has a
loving and helping wife; had a good
situation for both. He came to town
to take New Years dinner with his
folks, and to return to his work after
dinner. But an invitation to enjoy a
quart of whisky tempted him-he
went after it and found himself a
cripple for life and near deaths door.
1t is lesson for him. and we hope for
others, that they will never forget.
Had he gone home promptly he would
be man. the county saved thousands
of dollars. 1t should be warning
and we say to our young men: Pull
yourself together, be a man, before
the trouble comes. Hays Free Press.
The reason that the railroad COM
pany has not paid its tax for 1895 is
because the company is in the hands
of receivers who have their authority
from the q. S. court. and the court
has ordered that no taxes be paid at
the present time, and this order is
not confined to Wallace county alone,
but includes all the counties along
the line. So the theory advanced
that they have refused to pay their
tax in Wallace county on account of
an eXtravagant and useless expense is
not worthy of notice. The county is
getting in better condition financially
each year, and if the people will only
be little more careful when it comes
to voting extra leyies for gopher scalps
it will not be long until Wallace cOun-
ty will be in better shape financially
than any county in western Kansas. -
Sharon Springs Times.
Our readers will remember Fellows,
the Oakley wife murderer, who was
tried and convicted in the Trego
county district court in 1887 and SEN
fenced to be hung which meant.
under peculiar law, imprisonment
for life. There was absolutely no
doubt as to his guilt, in fact the
killing was admitted, but his at
tOrneyS attempted to justify on
the plea of insanity. About four
years ago Governor Humphrey par
dOned FellOwS-a circumstance, which
to our mind, was very suspicious mas
much as there was not a single miti-
eating circumstances. Now the word
comes from Arcadia, Kansas, that
Fellows is again imprisoned, this time
for attempting to kill the city mar
shall. We have always opposed lynch
we think there are circumstances I'M
der which an exception might be
made and this is one of the cases.
Fellows ought to have been hung
when he murdered his wife and he
ought to hang now. Such men have
no right to live; they are enemies to
society, are unsafe and their lives
should be terminated for precisely
the same reason that we would eX-
terminate a poisonous serpent or a
mad dog. That there have not been
more hangings in Kansas, considering
the reckless exercise of the pardOning
power by our executives, is stand
ing encOmium upon the character of
our citizens and emphasizes in the
strongest possible manner that Kan
sas people are law abiding. The
power of the governor should be cur
tailed, the board of pardons, as at
present constituted, should be entire
ly abolished and the next legislature
should provide machinery whereby
our law relating to capital punish
ment may be made operative. Our
present law is farcical and ridiculous
and has as much tendency to foster
capital crimes as it has to prevent
them.