Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1901-04-10
WHO is TO BLAME2
BY H. W. ROBERTSON.

of the Kingdom.
Among civilized people. especially
christians, all have agreed that Ahat
and his wicked henchmen and not the
humble prophet, were the troublers of
Israel.
1t seems to me that we have a paral-
lei case In the troubles of Kansas, of
which just now the leading characters
are Judges Dale & HaZen and Mrs Ma.
ton. The point to be decided is this,
is Mrs. Nation the real troubler of
Kansas, or is the real trCubler hid
behind the sanction of law? What are
the facts?
| Everyone knows that there is a con.
stitutional law in Kansas fOrbidding
the sale of all intoxicants as beverages.
This is the law.
Everybody knows who cares to know
that this law has been willfuIly, inten.
tlonally and maliciously trampled un-
der foot, not only by brewers, liquor
dealers, saloon keepers and jointists,
but by the judges and officers of the
law, hence aside from the little Juror
created by Mrs. Nation and others,
Kansas is state of absolute lawless.
ness, or, If you please, anarchy. For it
has been said that when police, sher-
iff, mayor and governor combine TO
nulllfy righteous law, we have a state
OF anarchy. 1t is virtual dictatorship
| by executives. Benjamin Harrison
Justly said that it is monstrous idea
that an executive may select such laws
as it may please him to execute and
nullify the rest. This monstrosity has
begotten the fury of woman in Kan
sas who has violently assailed outlaws
and criminals who are protected by in
fidelity, the unfaithfulness of the Off
GERS of the law"
The three most conspicuous charac-
tiers in this difficulty are Judges Hazen,
Dale and Carrie Nation. These Judges
and all others of their way of thinking,
occupy about the same place in these
troubles in Kansas that Ahab occupied
In the troubles in Israel.
Judge Dale has gone so far as to saw
beforehand that if ministers of the COS
pei are arrested the sacredness of their
office will be no inducement to him to
be lenient. Certainly not, for he is
very Jealous for the law so long as the
supposed law breakers are women or
ministers. But should they happen to
be the orderly and gentlemanly joint
keepers they would get, as they get in
the court of Judge Hazen, the mini
mum OF the law. Such spiritual wick
edness in high places is enough to
make demons IN pandemonium dance
for joy, if such thing were possible.
But perhaps someone would suggest
that we should not rail at dignitaries"
but 1t seems to me that if 1 were a
minister 10 Wichita and were brought
before his ''dishonor" and sentenced,
would risk saying, "God shall smite
thee, thou whited wall; for sittest thou
to judge me according to the law and
| commanded me to be smitten contrary
to the law"
Or IN the language of Elijah, II have
not troubled" Kansas, but you and
your fellow officers who are trampline
under your feet the laws you swore to
enforce, add these Infamous JOINT keep
ers whose villaiDy you wink At if you
do not actually encourage it. l am
aware that at first blush l am treading
on dangerous ground in thus seeming
to defend Mrs. Nation as against her
| prosecutors, for that is Just what they
are.
But while / am not Intentionally de-
Tending her will say that were L in
her place 1 would no more expect fair
hearing before either of these judges
than Elijah could have gotten before
the idolatrous Ahab, for if we are al
lowed to judge them from their words
and actions they are both in full SYM
pathy with the law breakers in Kansas,
that Is, the jolntists.
Farther, these judges can plead the
technicalitIes of court decisions and
also the sympathy of the daily press in
their behalf. But as the buzzards in
nature, so are the vast majority of the
N"hJ PoDCAo III uIolc, lHCy ScCH W
have either an instinct or a mania for
the wrong side of moral questions.
For instance j. u. Mcfarland, of To-
peka, is quoted as saying. Nobody
cares to contend seriously that she,
Mrs. Nation), had any sort of legal
right to do what she did," On this the
Kansas City Journal, of February Goth
remarks, (Which amounts to confess
sion that the joint smashers of Kansas
are knowingly violating the criminal
statutes, and which deprives them OF
the single defense of being considered
simply mistaken and misguided. y
Now if this editor were not smelling
around for bait why should he eagerly
catch at this when he knows that all
the JOINT keepers in Kansas and all the
perjured officials and all their daily
apologizers are daily violating the
prohibitory laws of Kansas"
Why not let Mother Nation and 9th.
er JOINT smashers rest and expose the
acarchistic tendencies of these? have
been watching the daily papers pretty
closely and with two exceptions, so far
as l have observed, they seem to rail
against the joint smashers and yet not
q uOrd a0afnaf tho iotptysto thamoolvoo