Amador ledger., 1901-07-26
WHITTIER ARE WE DRIFTING

an extended report OF the trial IN
the Justices court of Jackson of one
McGregor, on a charge of INSIDE
meanor in exhibiting on the street
lot of homestead I'd snakes, per-
hitting child Of tender years to
participate in the performance We
do this not on account of any special
significance attaching to the case in
itself, but because it serves to bring
into strong relief the methods re-
sorted to in the judicial centre of
Amador county in the prosecution
Of alleged crime = methods which
are fast becoming intolerable, and
which constitute a far greater men
ace to the freedom of American citi-
zens than many of the paltry evils
they are trotted out to cure. Should
any citizen venture to suggest that
the legal machinery, supposed to be
set in motion in support of the peace
and dignity of the people of Califor-
MIA, is running dangerously close to
the border realm of persecution, he
is at once met with the cry in behalf
of the officials concerned, "But this
is law; we are simply doing our duty
in trying to enforce the law" In
the presence of this appeal all op-
position is supposed to be silenced,
and the chorus of curses changed
into hosannahs of praise. But we
decline to accept even this plea in
extenuation of official conduct in the
particular case under consideration
1t is just as easy to prosecute man
under color of law as in defiance of
law, and both forms of persecution
are equally opposed to the spirit of
the law. The sins committed in the
name of law are only equalled by
those perpetrated in open defiance
Of all legal enactments. Why, many
of the most infamous prosecutors of
history reached their unenviable dis
tinction by just such line of de-
fence. But this has not saved them
from the retributive verdict of his
tory. Their iimsy excuses are
shuf1ed out of sight by the hand of
time, and the naked infamy of their
deeds alone remains to perpetuate
their memory. Law is merely the
concentrated wisdom of the ages as
to what is right and fair between
man and man. When an officer out
RACES public sentiment-the very
basis upon which law rests-he to
that extent ignores the spirit of the
law, no matter how careful he may
be in keeping within the letter there
of. Furthermore, we hold that when
an officer pursues an alleged offender
from motives of personal resentment
he thereby forfeits all respect for
his official position, and stands out
as an individual prosecutor. So ex-
tremely narrow is the dividing line
between legitimate prosecution and
persecution. Law officers are not
to be commended, but rather con-
demned, for manifesting an over
whelming anxiety to affixsthe stigma
of crime upon a defendant. That is
nothing less than the spirit of perse-
cution, which if persisted in cannot
fail to land its possessor outside of
the letter as well as the spirit of the
law. 1t is infinitely nobler to try to
stop wrong-doing in its incipiency
than to wait until the victim has
overstepped the line, and then ex-
ultingly pounce upon him, like
an eagle upon its prey.
A man named McGregor, with wife
and one child, came to Jackson last
week. They had a number of rep
tiles, and made living by exhibit
ing on the streets or wherever they
could find an audience, their absolute
mastery over these snakes. It was
not an attractive business, but there
was nothing wrong or dangerous in
it any more than in a menagerie of
chattering monkeys or other wild
animals, which young and old are
delighted to see. In their nomadic
life, they had wandered through the
greater part of California without
official interference, paying the Ii
cense fee wherever it was demanded.
Strangers in every place visited,
they depended for protection upon
that love of justice and fair treat
ment which constitutes the bulwark
of the liberties of free people, and
which is especially strong in the
American character. 1t was re-
served for Anador county officials
with the chief executive officer blaz-
ing the way-to rudely shake their
dreams of hospitality and fair treat
ment for the stranger within the
gates. Three times the man was
arrested in less than that number of
days. First, it was for non-pay-
ment 'of license. But the license
money was promptly paid when the
demand WAS made. Where, then,