The leader., 1898-01-05
MIsdirected Sympathy.

was established to the presen
hour. We believe that the people
should be taught to have rever
erence for the laws they take
sacred oath before Almighty Goo
to support and obey, and thai
there should be a fair and orderly
administration of law i'm the case
of every person charged with
crime, as the Constitution pro
vides, and is supposed to guar
antee to every individual citizen,
We believe that all such Outbursts
of passion and vengeance as usu'
ually characterize mob violence,
and the extraordinary methods OF
punishment sometimes resOrted to
in such cases, are unbecOmIng any
civilized and Christian people, and
that for the time. being, at least,
those who engage in such unlaw-
full and cruel methods of torture
are worse criminals than the cul.
prits they essay to punish.
Because we have advocated the
above policy-for which, by the
way, we have no apology to offer,-
there have been times when those
who differed from us were ready to
say in their haste enormously of
course) that we actually sympa-
thized with and desired to shield
from deserved justice the blackesi
and most outrageous criminals.
And such being true, it will be
no surprise if there should be
those who will miscOnstrue our
motives and wrongly accuse us for
now protesting and warning the
people of Lincoln county against
the miscarriage of justice where
the law of the land has been ap-
pealed to, all of its guarantees
observed, and its judgment pro
nOunced in due form against the
accused. We refer to the move
ment already on foot to have. set
aside the judgment of the court in
the case of Jas. King, one of the
murderers of Joseph Bufkin, by
appealing to the Governor to CON-
mute the death sentence prOnoun-
ced by the court, to Imprisonment
in the penitentiary for life.
We are credibly informed that
Mr.. King, the father of Jas. King,
and possibly others, are inter
viewing the jurors who served on
his trial, and appealing to them
and other citizens to sign petit
ton to the Governor to this effect.
The chief plea urged, we are told,
is that Prentiss Easterling, Kings
associate in the murder, and all
the other white men convicted of
murder at the special term of court,
were given life sentences. and that
Therefore no exception should be
made in his case. The shallow
ness and falIacy of such reasoning
seems too apparent for serious con.
sideration, yet many might. uu-
thoughtedly be influenced by 1t.
1t is a well-established principle OF
law, that it were better for ninety
and nine guilty men to escape than
that one innocent man should
suffer, but it is no where asserted
OH reputable authority that all the
guilty men should escape because
all are not punished as their mis-
deeds deserve. Such reasoning is
based on neither law nor common
sense, and if generally adopted,
would Immediately nallify every
penal law in existence.
According to the testimony, the
killing Of Joseph Bufkin was one
of the most cOld-bloOdei and das
tardly murders ever committed ID
Lincoln county. He WAS shot
down, without warning, in the
very presence of his sister-in-law
aud three children, two Of them
his own, in sight of the church
where he had just been engaged in
worship. That both King and
EasterliDg, his associate in the
deed, did not receive a death sen.
tence, was because one of the ju-
rors in the Easterling trial weak
ened OF was unduly influenced
from the outside. Justice East,
who heard the case on preliminary
trial, the grand jury and the trial
jury, after hearing the testimony
on their oaths, all adjudged King
guilty of murder, without paliation
Tor lawful excuse. Ifthe jury which
tried Easterling had acquitted
him aud let him 60 scott free, il
would have been no sort of justifi-
lcatlon for allowing King to escape
the just penalty Of his crime.
The special term of the Circuit
Court was held at cost Of foul
Thousand dollars, nearly all o.
(which was paid for trying red