The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-11-01


the sole judge of the facts and theil
finding should be finai in the absence OF
error OF law on the part of the judge
and | can see no error that he has com
mitted in this case
JUSTICE FURCHI1S CONCURS.
Concurring with the opinion writer
by Justice Montgomery, Judge Furches
says:
But the State was asked to point out
the evidence upon which it relied to
prove deliberation and reconciliation
The response to this inquiry was TIL,
fact that there had been Il riot that
evening between the negroes and the
whites in Selma, and that there had been
a riot in Wilmington last November.
and the evidence that the prisoner said
that he had read about the Wilmington
riot until he could not sleep.
THE Attorney General who contendeG
that this evidence showed deliberation
and generalization, was asked il he had
read about the riot in Wilmington, and
he said he had. He was then asked.
suppose there had been a riot between
the negroes and whites in Lexington on
the evening of the 26th of December
and you had been in Lexington at the
time, but had nothing to do with it, and
that ut 10 or II O'Clock that night three
men had come To your house in the con-
dition and manner that these three men
went to the house of the prisoner, and a
fight had ensued between you and them,
and one of them had been killed. as re-
lated by the States witnesses: DO you
think you ought to be convicted of muir.
der in the first degree, because YOU Were
in Lexington that evening or because
you had read about the Wilmington
riot? He answered that he thought not
and so it seems to me, that every homes
right-thnking man would say. And ii
it is to he no evidence of pTemegitatioi
and deiberation against the Attorney
General, it should not he against the
prisoner, unless we should have one rule
of law for the trial of a negro and anoth-
err for the trial of Il white man. This
we cannot have.
This affair and the riot at Whining.
ton and the riot ut Selma are greatly t
be regretted by all good men, and it is
hoped that the like will not occur again
Let these riots be among the things OF
the past Let the dead bury their dead
but do not bring their ghosts into tbs
court to bury the living"
JUSTICE DOUGLAS CONCURS.
Touching the part of the evidence that
says the men who were in front of
Smiths house were harmless roister.
ers," Judge Douglas, also in a concurring
opinion, says:
There are no harmless roisterers
That species of roisterer, if it ever ex-
listed. became extinct before the dawn
of history Various definitions of the
word are given in the dictionaries, al
| unfavorabe. The Century Dictionary
says it is derived from the old French
word 'rusterer,' meaning ruffian, and il
we look to Shakespeare and the current
literature of the times. we shall learn
the character of the 'roistering blades
that followed Falstaff and Prince Hal
| SO far from being harmless, they became
such an unmitigated nuisance that theil
leader was sent to JAIL although the son
of England's King and the heir of Eng
lands throne.
"Iet us reverse the case for the sake
Of argument: Suppose that three ne
groes disguised and armed had come to
a white mans house, and after he had
come TO the gate in a friendly manner
had threatened to get into the cart with
his aged father and mother, what would
he probably do? / fear it would not
require any premeditation for a ready
weapon to meet willing hand.
Il do not say that the prisoner is inno-
cent of crime. If the verdict had been
for mansaughter or even for murder in
the second degree | would net have felt
justified in distributing the judgment Of
the court below, for the killing with a
deadly weapon presumes malice, but not
reconciliation.
I'm conclusion i can only say that
am not follower of Draco, and have
no desire to be considered the especial
avenger of blood. | can do the right
only as | am given to see the right; and
have no ambition beyond the per-
Torrance of my duty in such manner
as to make every one feel and know
that, so far as depends upon me, no one
is so rich and powerful as to be beyond
the avenging arm of the law and Done
so poor and humble as to be beneath its
completest protection"