Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-02-11

I.
We are face to face with condi.
tian of affairs in South Carolina which
calls for increased emphasis upon the
sacredness of human life. The fire.
quency of murder is indeed appalling
and the ease with which the murder.
er is 30 often acquitted shows want
of respect for the law and the cheap
ness of life.
Such state of affairs has made
South Carolina stop and think. The
pulpit of the State is speaking out
plainly in denunciation of lawlessness
and crime. The press has taken a
stand for law and order. There is a
general feeling that we have reached
a real crisis which demands that
something be done to check the flood
of crime that is sweeping over our
State, and especially that vigorous eff
forts be made to guard the sacred
ness of human life.
With sincere desire to contribute
something toward that end, l call
your attention to the value set upon
life in the law of God ,"Thou shalt
not kill" Life is sacred. To pro-
tect it God gave to man this definite
law forbidding murder. The law of
God also fixes death as the penalty
of murder. "Whoso sheddeth mans
blood, by man shall his blood be
she'd" But, what is even worse than
the penalty of death, the murderer
shall be excluded from the city of
God and shall have his part in the
lake that burneth with fire and brim-
stone. "Without are murder.
ers." "They which do such things
(murders, etc. shall not inherit the
kingdom of God" "Murderers y
shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brim-
stone."
There is yet another and higher
law which acts as safeguard to hu-
man life. 1t is the law Of love given
by Christ. 1t is the fulfilling of the
law, "Thou shalt not kill" and of
all law. Glove is the fulfilling of
the law" In the teaching of Jesus
love to man is second only to the
love to God; and these two, which
are inseparably connected, are the
greatest commandments. The law
of love, when obeyed, affords perfect
protection to life, for Glove worketh
no ill to his neighbor."
Based upon the laws of God, which
are intended to guard sacredly the
life of man, are the laws which men
have made for the same purpose. If
life is cheap, it is not because it is so
regarded in the laws which men have
enacted /; it is because men do not
respect the law.
In all law, human and divine, mans
life is regarded as sacred. But even
without definite law on the subject,
the sacredness of life might have been
inferred from the exalted nature of
man. God has dignified man by cre-
ating him in His own image. "God
created man in his own image"
Shall the life of being, who bears
the image of the Creator, be esteemed
of no more value than the life of
beast? Shall it be counted 80 cheap
that it may be taken on the slightest
provocation, or on no provocation,
without fear of punishment? Is not
the murderer wanting both in respect
for man and reverence for God, in
whose image man was made?
With these facts before US, it is
with shame and with anxiety for the
future that we think of the long list
of murders committed in Sout i Car
olina in the last few years.
Speaking of this Mr.. W.D. Woods,
of Darlington, says in a recent letter
to the News and Courier "The mum.
ber Of murders that have been COM
mitted in South Carolina in the past
twenty-five years is simply appalling,
and if anything could possibly be
worse than the crime itself, it is the
fact that very large proportion of
these takers of human life have es.
capped punishment, and to-day are at
large; when they ought, had justice
been meted out to them, have ended
their own lives on the gallows or be
life convicts in the walls of the peni-
tentiary. Things have reached such
a pass in this State that a man can,
provided he has influence and friends,
with much greater immunity from
punishment, take the life of his neigh.
Dor, than to be guilty OF some small
misdemeanor, like the violation of the
dispensary law"
In proof of what Mr.. Woods says
we have only to mention a few of
the many murders which have dis.
graced our State. One of these is
the brutal murder of the negro post
master and his children at Lake City.
The murderers in that case escaped
punishment. Last yeara man was
murdered il Bamberg by minister
OF the Gospel, and the murderer was
acquitted. A few weeks ago N. G..
Gonzales, editor of The State, was
shot down and mortally wounded in
Columbia, under the shadow of the
State Hou Q, by J. III. Tillman, who
was then Lieutenant Governor of the
State. In Oconee county there have
been in recent years large number
Of murders.
These all go to prove how cheap
human life has become in South Car
olina. 1t is high time we were maxi
ing more determined efforts to bring
about a better state of affairs. Law
lessness and crime have had sway