The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-01-11
THE SANCrITY OF HUM L,Ft;.
"A Question OF Great Importance in
Promoting the Enjoyment of Liberty
and HapDiness.

| Promoting the Enjoyment of Liberty
and Happiness.
Yorkville Enquirer.
A few years ago it was quite com
mon idea among arresting officers that
not only was 1t their right but their
duty TO kill any prisoner under certain
circumstances. There was belief,
amounting to certainty, that q bench
warrant meant that u prisoner should
6e brought dead or alive, and that II
he should be disposed to resist, even
to the extent Of lying down and refus-
ing to 60, he should be killed and
hauled to court in n wagon. Where
such absurd ideas could have original.
ed we arc unable to explain 1t is
true that improper ideas on the part
OF arresttng officers, on this subject
have mover caused much blOodshud In
this section; but that was due more to
the lack of occasion than to any other
cause. Now, however, there is not so
much danger. Arresting officers gen
orally realize thGt in dealing with
prisoners they have practically no au-
thority beyond the common laws OF
self defense, and that If they kill an
escaping prisoner. who has not pre-
viously placed their lives in jeopardy
der. 1t seems to be generally under
stood that the proper way to transfer
prisoners from the place Of arrest is
not by the intimidation Of revolver {;
but with the hel p Of q good stout rope
| about the hands and arms, and feet
| also, If necessary.
But in our view, the former ideas OF
arrestipg officers was only a phase Of
mistaken actions which too largely
pervade the body polite. The form Of
an Indictment presented by grand
| jury which roads the Estate against
William Rowdy," ought to be sufficient
TO teach the object of u prosecution at
law. From this every individual in
the land should realize that he per-
sonOlly is at once the prosecutor and
judge against William Rowdy. II
William Rowdy has committed an Of
Tense at all, and that Is the first fact to
be determined, then that oifense is
against every citizen of South Caro-
lima, and the object Of Furnishing him
Is to prevent him from repeating that
otfense. If the State of South Caro-
lima. i. G., individual citizens, fail to
| concern Them olives on the question as
to whether William Rowdy ls guilty or
Innocent, or il for any reasons except
cold bloOdcd principles Of justice the
citizens OF South Carolina allow Will
liam Rowdy to go unpublished, then
there is just that much encouragement
for William Rowdy to repeat against
some other individual the otfonso for
which he was not properly call d TO
account.
Not long ago, in the lower part Of
this State, desperate of Influence
ana position killed fellow man in
cold blood. The man was brought to
trial but through the influence of
friends on some of the jurors, they
Jailed to agree. He was released on
bond, and the result Of The second trial
was the same. During Christmas,
while waiting on his third trial, and
probably acquittal, the fellow was mur-
dered by 81 relative Of the man he had
killed, Comment on these facts is un-
necessary. There will naturally be q
fee' ing that ii the first murderer was
really guilty, he got justice at the
hands of the relative. Maybe so ; but
relative had no legal Or moral right to
commit murder; and instead OF set
tling the account he only placed himself
in the murdered mans shoes. If the
| jury in the first place had done its
duty to itself, it's State and its God, it
would have returned o verdict Of guilty
of murder or manslaughter as the case
might have been, and that would have
settled the whole matter, so far as the
State Of South Carolina is concerned,
| forever.
The Haselden-Sellers affair ia amat-
tec that is still fresh in The public
mind. The Haseldens made a .mur
derOus attack against the Sellers, and
the two parties shot it out among
themselves. A great crime was ther
and there committed against the State
OF South Carolina and Marion county
So far as we have heard, not one thing
has been done to punish the guilty
How does this affect the view of oul
own people as to the sacredness OF hu
man life in their midst? How do they
know when they might be tho victim
Of some lawless thug, who in the
carrying out OF his bloodthirsty design,
fears but little restraint beyond his
own brutal inclinations. We Who feel
that we ought to have the projection
Of lay, how do VIC know when, un-
armed and defenSclcss as we have TO
be if We keep within the law, may have
to yield up our lives to armed despera-
does?
| n number OF years ago, In this coun-
ty, o Negro was charged with a horri.
Bile murder. As the result Of the deep
and patriotic interest Of u whole neigh.
borhood, he was convicted beyond a
shadow OF doubt. Owing to the
complexity OF the case and the large
number Of witnesses required to estab.
lish the different links in the long
chain Of testimony, there was reason
to believe that II q new trial could be
secured the case could not be made out
again. There was q possibility OF g
new trial on the strength of some
technical errors. The attorney took
advantage of his right OF appeal. not
withstanding the absolute certainty o
the prisoners guilt, and the people in
torested waited until the day that haG
been fixed by the circuit judge for the
execution, and hanged the prisoner
Notwithstanding the fact that the ap
peal was still pending in the supreme
, court This case was one In ten thou
. sand where lynching seemed to be jus
, tifiable, not on account OF any 'dcrclic
ID ti6n Of jury but on account OF tho
act Of lawyer making an improper
use OF safeguard that is only inten
ded to further rather than obstruct
justice. =