The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1901-09-27

OF GARFIELD he of Christian thought and bear
| ing, yet IN the retrospect Of history We can
| Ind in Analysing the conditions of those times
some assurance that partisan hatred OF resent
| ment of supposed wrongs may have furnished
a motive, which, feeding upon It's own exist
| ence. grew into morbid and irresi ,tible i'm
| pulse to Stay the innocent but suspected cause
| OF their fsncied wrongs In our charity we
can clothe the act of Booth in the garment of
vain glory-a mock heroic, misguided iudg-
| ment, arrangement Of the mind II cried
sic semper tyrannus"- he would DESTROY
| tyranny; yet he shot to death the most loving
soul tins world has ever known, and the best
| friend the people of the south ever had utterly
unmlndful of the fact that he was himself a
| child OF the worst tyranny recorded in al the
ages the worst because of the enlightenment
of the people indulging it.
We can say that Guieteau was naddened
to the point of frenzy by disappo1nsment in
| politica! ambition. But what motive prompt
ed the hand that feIled Mckinley? No real
or fancied wrong to his class justified Cool
goscz in his murder No personal affront or
| grievance lurked behind the mask of his
| placid exterior.
On great fete day of the republic. when
amid the gathered products and the popuIa
ton of ali the world, peace Astounding and
good feeling manifest, the cOngregated thou
| sands assembled to listen to his words OF wis
| dom, and meet with cordial hanGshaEe, q
KIND and gracious man, the serpent strikes to
| death our ruler Though elevated high in
station above his fellows, performing the
| functions Of true ruler, our president was
nlnghng among the people, that he might
| inset them and know them, and command
| their esteem, as he already enjoyed their con-
| udence, he met with the same cordiality the
| high, the low, the rich, the poor-for he was
| not given to preserving distinctions among
m~n. With head uncovered, unresisting, he
| Wa subject to open attack Why thon, we
ask, was this gentle being suspectiug no VIC
lenca, marked a. the object of the most cow
ardly form of assassination. q form deepised
| OF ali men, since the time of .,oah?
Us there a crime
Beneath the roof of heaven
That stains the soul of man
| With more Internal hue
Than damned assassination
The crime Of Czolgoscz hGd not even the
element of an original IDEA in the execution of
his helllsh purpOse-no saving grace to raise II
| to the dignity OF murder.
And Joab said to Amaaa art thou in
health my brother? and Joab Sooh Amasa by
| the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
But Amasa took no heed of the sword that
was in JOab's hand; so he smote him there
with in the fifth rib and shed his bowels to
| the ground, and struck him not again; and he
died"
The ways of Providence are inscrutable.
and God does all things we'll; why then CIV
out in our blindness at this awful fate, this
violent invasion of our American ideas?
The hearts of men bled when our Savior
died upon the cross, but it was '',}ods waV":
| and all the world is better for the life he gave
Men were dumb with agony when the blood
of the immortal Lincoln was shed in the cause
of liberty; yet it was "God's way, and all the
world is better for the LIE he lived and the
death he died. "a touch of nature makes
the whole world kim" Grief is common
ground upon which we can meet unseLfishly,
and without partisan feeling, admit our faults
and correct our wrongs.
Let us look then to our situation: The as
sassin was not prompted by desire to better
conditions, but to destroy all semblance of
organized government Unmindful of the
obligations owing to US, if indeed there be OBJ
legations due from this spawn of nell, he
would strike down the representative of
authority in the only country on the face Of
the earth, where his breed have been per
mitted to openly ply their commerce in human
blood Have we in our indulgence, not
strained beyond all reason our notions of
human liberty? Have we not sown to the
whirlwind? In the generosity of our natures,
in our delight in successfully lnstitutlng q free
government, we have held out to the world
that we could furnish asylum for the op-
pressed of all nations, needless of the fact
a
dumping ground for the criminal element. as
we'll as the oppressed" Of all the world
With prairle5 to conquer and forests to re-
duce we have allowed canker to grow upon
the body polite Gross with commercialisln,
saturated with selfshness, content with our
wage per day, we have had no time to draw a
lesson from the repeated murders in conti-
mental Europe The fate of Alexander,
Humbert, Carnot and the Empress of Austria
are but recent exemplifcations Of the methods
of the people who have no country, and fear
no God. We heard not the rumblings of the
volcano gathering under our feet More than
that, be it said to our shame, we have allowed
schools of anarchy to be maintained under
our careless definition of liberty of speech,
and have furnished more than one of the as
ssssins OF the persons named. Instead of
maintaining an asyl um for the oppressed, we
have rather suffered college for murder TO
exist
AS the seed of Christianity was blood as
science quckened into life after the persecu-
tions at Galilia, freedom sprung into eX-
istence hitherto unknown when the blood of
our forefathers was shed at Lexington, so, in
this awful hour, the blood of our dead chic f.
tain cries out for a renewed vigilance at the
portals of our country and for renovation
within The saddest and the most trying CON
sideration, arising out of the death of the
president, especially to YOu, my cOuatrymen,
VINO IOS6 but EtlUudilU VI IL OIACS glorious
army, organized to preserve our government
as one people, is, that our idols arc shattered.
eur forefathers organized government
upon the theory that all men were Patriots
and that for the priceless gift Of liberty all
coming within the shadow of the flag would
yield obedience to lawful authority. Time
has demonstrated that this unrestricted idea
invites, not participation in our affairs by
those of evil disposition; it has not served as
all appeal to their honor, but has been &C
cepted as a license to execute Individual ideas
of whatever degree of impracticabiity, and
howsoever vicious. Under these conditions
Gus country could not long endure in its
present form. But the country aroused to
action, and doubt not when congress meets
definite and unanimous means will be taken
to expel forever, if not from the country, then
| from the sight of men, every adherent of this
| modern doctrine of government by assassina-
| ton. Let US hope that more stringent laws
| respecting immigration will be passed. [
| would go further, and to some degree censor
| ze the press. This would not affect honorable
men in such work, but would work to the ex-
| clusion of Gil documents of anarchistic ten
| denotes, and possibly to the temperate use of
| the modern cartoon-a vehicle of politics
which appeals to the baser emotions rather
than reason, and to which can be attributed
much of the disrespect for public men within
| the past thirty or forty years.
| | would make anarchy murder.
| Anarchy: Oh! damnable and execrable Of
fense Oh! crime unspeakable, that hath not
| Al l.aR, OF