The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-23

rw5" mum TIC Dilccr. u the Law as
servants Of the Almighty. And until
This j, done there will be no change
for the better in the present state Of
affair.
/. lntcmpcrancc causes many muir
ders. How many men have been
ushcrcd into eternity without a mo-
mcnt : warnine by this enemy Of man
kind And yet there arc many pco-
pie who want to license this agcn-
cy of evil and send it abroad through
the land upon its mission Of d|cstruc
ton.
,. Carrying concealed deadly wcap.
ons j, another cause Of so many muir
lcr-. 1t seems that there are many
mcn today who look upon the pistol
81, a necessary part Of their toilet. 1t
certainly has a bad look. The man
who carries the pistol is prepared to
use it when the opportunity presents
itself. He certainly would not carry
it %nnlc,> he thought there was Il prob
ability that he would need it. When
a man carrie. Il pistol in his pocket it
is Frequently an evidence that he ear
sic~ murder in his heart. .iiany a
man as been killed b. the ready pis-
toi which va, close at hand who
wonlI ucycr have been killed if the
pistol had not been there. Such Kill
in.S usually result from some momcn
tary excitement. If the men involved
had time to think about the issues at
stake, perhaps, in nine cases out Of
ten the killing would never occur.
But The ready pistol is at hand to DO
its work. it is brought into rcquisi-
ton aud life is destroyed.
&. Failure to execute the law is the
last cause that | shall mention, and
thi, cause needs to be emphasized.
The Fact that 30 many murlcrcrs are
acquitted encourages this crime, and
has been one Of thcchicl causes Of its
Increase. In lSct; there were in this
country lao homicidcs and only
eighty three legal executions. In
1893 there were 10000 humicidcs and
about los legal executions. More
than seven times rs many lomicidcs
i'll less than ten ycurs, and not twice
as many legal executions. Here is Il
satisfactory explanation Of the rapid
and alarming increase Of this crime.
Our Courts fail to do their duty. In
stead Of being Courts Of justice, as
they arc called, they are frequently
places where justice is outraged. 1t
is almost impossible these days to con
Wet Il nan who has money and social
standing.
Let me call your attention now to
the remedy.
/. The slayer should be brought to
a speedy trial. The longer the MUIR
dcrcr can have his case put off, or
continued iii tho GouT.=, The stronger
the probability that he will be cleared
Of his crime. If he, has a bad case,
this is the course he pursues. How
many guilty mon have gone free be-
cause thcir eases have been postponed
from time, till the people have lost
interest in them or some important
witness had died. 1t is a shame!
The newspapers tell of a ease that oc-
CURED recently in Alabama, where a
ma murdered a woman. 1t took FIVE
years to settle the case. The man had
advantage Of five trials. At the first
he was sentenced to death; at the
second, to life imprisonment: at the
third, to fifty years Imprisonment: at
the fourth, to ten years ;mrrison-
mcnt, and ut the fifth he was cleared
altogether. This may be an extreme
ease, but it illustrates what is going
on every day in our land.
When a human being is killed the
matter ought to be settled just as soon
as possible. The law ought to be so
framed that an extra Court could be
held in such cases, and have the man
who is charged with such a crime tried
Immediately. If the mar is innocent
he ought to want this; and, il he is
guilty. the community and law and
justice ought TO demand it. If this
could be ~donc-and it can bet would
exert a tremendous Influence in the
right direction. But how is it now?
Everything seems to be in tho muir
dcrcr's favor. The poor man, who is
dead, has very few rights, even before
the Law, as it is administered at the
the present day. And yet Gods
word says that the murdered mans
cause is so just and righteous as to
demand nothing less than the blood Of
the man who shed his blood and to de-
mand it as early as possible.