Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1902-12-11
THE HIGHER JUSTICE.
The Tribunal of Conscience Is AL
ways just and Men May Not
Escape It's DEGREES.

ways OOU LIZ VAOu MAY NOU
Escape Its DEGREES.
Charles F. Kelly, of st. Louis, has
surrendered to the authorities. It
will be recalled that he was the
Speaker of the House of Delegates of
st. Louis, and was indicted upon
various charges of corruption in of
flee, He is accused of being the
leader of the combine, composed of
nineteen members, who offered their
votes in a lump to the highest bid
der whenever a measure was intro
duced. He is said, also, to have
handled the money in one of the cor
rupt deals in which the. "combine"
participated. Although arrested as
soon as indicted, by a ruse heves-
capped, and for months has been a
fugitive from justice.
He was arrested the other day and
will have to stand trial. The fate or
his reputed companions in crime.
who have already been tried, is of a
character to inspire the belief that
Kelly will find it difficult to escape
conviction.
There never was a striking
example of the certainty Of Justice
than in the case of Kelly. Not the
justice necessarily that in the person
of the judge condemns the convicted
culprit to a sentence in the peniten-
tiary, but that higher justice, which,
Nemesis-like, pursues the criminal
Ii nlo WaAlnSaIld nIssIeeplnS hours;
that justice which has decreed that
n sins with impunity, and that
as a man sows so shall he reap.
A philosopher has well said that
the wicked are never prosperous:
they only seem to be prosperous.
This view has some application to
the case of Kelly and the ST. Louis
.oodlers. They were living upon
the fat Of the land. They spent their
lll-gotten gains with a free hand.
They were envied, perhaps, by those
Who saw the surface indie alton 0
prosperity, and who knew nothing
Of the grinning skeletonsin the closet.
1t is unlikely that a single boodler
knew a single moment of hap
or cOntentment after his be-
Of the trust imposed in him..
.nclean money makes the possessor
pauper, for it robs him of the dear
EST possessions a man can have-self-
and a clean conscience.
1t will not do to dismiss comment
upon the certainty of retribution as
mere moralizing. The experience of
since Adam fell teaches that the
of sin is death. The institu-
ions which have been created for the
government of society may prove at
lines inadequate, and the criminal
nay escape the penitentiary, but
rom the consequences of his crime
here is no escape.
And thus it is that Kelly came
back from Europe to give himself up
o the law. He could stand the pun
shment no longer. Better a life
ime in prison than to feel the dread
md fear which haunted him in his
He is a ruined and broken-
man. He should be pun
shed by the courts if guilty as
charged, but even if he should escape
~ t~echnicality, there can be no ques-
ion that he paid a fearful price for
he prosperity of the hour. It is
veil to hold the Kellys of this life.
Up to the calcium light, not that any
nay revel in their anguish, but that
men may learn from their sufferings -
he salutary lesson that 'Ethe way of
he transgressor is hard"
X y "He alone is great
Who by a life heroic conquers Fate; A
Who fights the daily battle without
fear;
lees his hopes fall, yet keeps unfal-