Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-11-29
To The Highland Recorder.

citizen untitled to sucn honor by
his deeds. We are a free and liber-
ty loving people, but we ought not
to haye a wrong view of liberty.
Unrestrained freedom can never be
any thing but calamity.
Nav We forever be delivered from
the time when every man does
what is right in his own eyes.
once heard an Italian denounc-
ing Virginia because it was not Il
free country!
lie said he was not allowed to
work on Sunday and if lie went
hunting he was fined.
If he got drunk or had fight he
would be arrested, and it was not a
free country
His idea of free country was a
place where every man does as he
pleases.
Every many has 4 right 10 do as
he may see fit provided, in doing
so, he does injury to no other per
son. According to this law there
is but one class of persons that
have right to he drunkards.
That is the man who has no
family relations, no neighbors, is
not citizen Of any country and
has nothing to do with any other
being. We have as good people as
there are anywhere. The vast ma
jority are worthy citizens. Why
could not this be said of every one?
Sometime ago | read in the Re-
corder that the Jail was empty and
that there were no cases in court.
This is a credit to any county
and speaks we'll for the morals of
its citizens. But it is thing of
which to be pround only under GER
tain conditions.
A veil filled jail under certain
circumstances might be more hon.
orable than an empty one and a
full docket more commendable
,han a blank one.
These are splendid things when
due to the lack Of offenders but
when they are due to the lack of
prosecutions they become an alarm
ing evil. No good society can ex-
list long without the punishment of
evil doing.
am not lawyer and hardly
know whether a private citizen is
all executive officer or some special
one is selected to fill that place
but know that every body's bust
ness is equal to nobody's business.
So just for fun Or every body'S
benefit | will jot down few hap
perings that have been omitted in
the items from the Bull-Pasture
and not entered on the docket at
the court of offences.
The first thing that will men,
ton is the free for all fight at the
Colored Camp.meeting for white
people.
In this every one did what was
right in his own eye. Each one
selected his own weapon, there was
no uniformity of arms or ammuni-
tion. There was no Captain, every
man fought according to his own
plan.
1t was not as orderly nor as
bloody as the fight near the same
ground in which Cyclone Jim Mar
shall was MORALLY scared and |
slightly wounded. But that was Al ,
time of war and this is a time of |
peace, though not peaceful time. !
On another Sabbath at a white
church drunkenness and cursing in
and around the house of worship.
Cursing and abusing an aged and
worthy citizen and frightening his
horse on the public highway on the
Sabbath.
Not many days ago little boy
sent to the Post Office was fright
ened away without his mail by a
fight in front Of the office. This
seems TO be IA case of interfering
with the delivery of the mails, and
was case of using fails. But |
have never been informed whether
it was buck wheat or cabbage heads
they were failing or what kind of
IL turnout they had after being run
through the windmill.
Sunday week ago team was
hooked up, and gun aboard load
started somewhere the writer does
not i:now where, but some folks
say they brought back some kind
of game that looked like ground
hog?
And some other folks thought
they were rather qaeer; that be-
sides killing gronnd-hog they were
firing liquid air out of their gun
barrels and pouring liquid fire into
their air pipes. | may add that
these were not all citizens Of High
land.
And now as | have written some
things ] may say that
have done so that the other side
may be represented.
And as the chief g r. of the
is in seeing his name in
print | have spared the performers