Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-12-19
WHY HUMAN LIFE IS CHEAP. !.
OUR LAWS ARE, TO A GREATER OR LESS
EXTENT, RESPONSIBLE.
SOCIETY, TOO, BEARS HER SHARE
OF Responsibility for the Cheapness OF Lie
by Bestowing "Hero Worship" on tho
Man who Has "kiIled His Man."

The Atlanta Journal publishes an
editorial, "a National Shame" in
which it recites the statistics of
homicides in this country for several
years past, showing the average to
be something like twenty-seven a
day in the United States, or about
ten thousand for this closing year of
the century. 1t concludes as fol-
| lows:
"Why is human life less safe in
this land of the free and home of
the brave than anywhere else on
earth where men claim to be even
semi-civilized :?
"This is a great question, and it
will not do either to ignore it or to
make flat dcnials of recorded facts
Of which all decent citizens of this
community are heartily ashamed.
"Where is the philosopher who
will explain the reasons for the horrid
phenomenon to which we have al
luded ?"
We lay no claim to being a phi
losopher, but as an observer of cur
rent events we can cite few rea-
sons why the state of things exists
which the Journal dcplorcs
|
First, our criminal laws, either in
letter or spirit, and certainly in their
administration by the courts, tend to
the defence and escape of the mur-
dcrcr, rather than to the protection
of society and the avenging of the
death of the murdered man.
Second, our juries do not want to
send a man to the gallows, and will
seize upon the vericst quibbles of
law and the most strained theories
Of the evidence to escape their duty
under their oaths Of finding verdict
in accordance with the law and the
evidence.
Third, our law against carrying
concealed weapons is a farce both in
its letter and its enforcement.
Fourth, society instead of turning
its back upon murdcrers and making
them feel the weight of their offence
against it, rather pats the man upon
the back who has killed his man, and
makes him hero in the sight of
our young men instead of an out
cast.
These are some Of the reasons, we
think, that lead to the frequent homi-
cides and acquittals which disgrace
our society and our courts of Justice.
TO elaborate, somewhat, the reasons
we have assigned above we think the
law which presumes the innocence of
the prisoner is decidedly ovcrworked
in the dcfcndamt's behalf. 1t is q
humane and perhaps wise provision
that the prisoner shall come before
the jury with the presumption of
innocence, but when that prcsump-
tion has been upset by the proven
fact of the killing by the defendant,
nothing more should be heard of it
in the trial. On the contrary, hav-
ing taken the life of a human being
the presumption should then be that
he did it unlawfully, and the burden
Of proof should be upon him to show
that he was justified. "This is the
plain letter of the law" some one
replies. Yes, but how strictly are
the lawyers held to it? How many
murder cases are argued in the courts
in which we hear the lawyers for the
defendant claiming "the presumption
Of innocence" for their client in the
closing argumcnt2
Again, the law of reasonable doubts
is strained to the point of absurdity,
and we hear lawyers argue to the jury
that their client comes before them
with the presumption Of innocence in
his favor and despite the evidence they
have heard from the stand tending
to incriminatc him, still if there is
any other theory of the killing that
is possible to have occurred besides
that charged by the State, and which
would tend to create a doubt on
their minds, then they must give the
prisoner the benefit of the doubt and
acquit him. Jurors who are not
anxious to send an acquaintance, or
the relative of an acquaintance to
the gallo%s are too ready to seize
upon some ingenious theory of the
crime which the defendants lawyer
accomodatingly provides for the
purpose of furnishing them with the
loopholc Of q reasonable (?) doubt.
Another law which is strained to
the point Of absurdity is that con-
cerning tho "fcars of reasonable
man." If man will make the
statement that his victim had put
his hand behind him in a threatening