The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-17
Servia and Kentucky.

itself with tho guild Of assassins and
regicides. has placed the country under
its heels and dictates what the public
shall do and think, assuming greater
.breadths Of tyrannical action as 1t be-
comes manifest that the registration Of
the massacre by the national assembly Is
increasingly regarded as roaring farce.
Colonels Maschin and Mitschitch, in their
brilliant uniforms, control the situation
and the aspect OF affairs Is that the grand
tson of old Black George, the 'Deliverer,"
many have reason to curse the day on
which, thru blood and violence, his par
,tizans held the glittering crown before his
ieyes and dictated his election to the as
Isembly. Peter Karageorgevitch would
consult his own safety by remaining In
Geneva. Bullets are very handy in Bel
grade just now.
Turning from assassln-ridden Servia to
assassin ridden Kentucky, it is crafty
ing to note that in the dark and bloody
ground" the military are operating. not
to suppress liberty but to promote the
orderly process Of administering justice
thru the courts which, time and again,
has been prevented or obstructed by what
appears to be hereditary lawlessness on
the part Of the people In some Of the cas-
tern counties. In Breathitt county, the mill
tary have to protect newspaper men at
tending court and citizens in the transac-
ton of ordinary business, and the county
seat threatened by the activities Of in
transient frebugs In Mason county,
the military are guarding the courthouse
at Maysville, and the Jail, with small
arms and gatling guns to keep the citi-
,zens from getting at three negroes to-
lynch them by burning, a process with
which they have some acquaintance from
previous experience of a most awful char
acter. >. - AK
In Kentucky thousands Of people have
made a code of law for themselves which
they deem has far greater authority than
have the federal or the state statutes
The moonshiner under this code thinks
he has a clear right to shoot a federal
deputy marshal, If he finds one within
gunshot of his still. Under this code, a
Kentuckian, allied with either side in a
bloody family feud, considers that it. Is
very pernicious lawlessness for the author
ities to interfere with his amusement of
shooting down members of the opposing
family at sight. He regards such cunning
as one of his inalienable and natural
rights. He denies the right Of the state
to insist that an impartial grand jury
shall be selected to draw up indictments
He believes 1t Is another of his inaien-
able and natural rights to superintend
the construction Of all juries grand and
petit, in his own and his familys interest.
He Is ready. to defend his assas sin's code
with his own life il necessary, and, un-
fortunately, this homemade code has
still a formidable degree of vitality and
continues to defy the state and federal
government at intervals. The Kentucky
colonies, while a considerable number of
them believe in the home code, are
generally loyal to the constituted author
,ity. Some Of them have been charged
with the assassination Of the late Cover
nor Goebel, and with attempting to estab-
lsh q military dictatorship after the man.
ner Of those doughty Servian colonies,
Maschin and Mitschitch. It has not been
very long since a number Of Kentucky
colonies, finding that all their efforts to
seat defeated candidate for governor
were failing, deliberately converted the
legislative branch of the state govern
rnent into a mob with the avowed purpose
Of subyertins the law and defying the
constitution and stirring up insurrection
These Kentucky colonies were not a whit
more law-abiding than are the Servian
colonies. Mitschitch and Maschin.
The fact is, that when we look with
horror upon servian or Russian lawless-
ness, it Is we'll to recall the existence
of a very ugly and dangerous tendency to
lawlessness in our own country which is
inevitably working toward the same ex-
cesses which have startled the civilized
world, In servia and Russia.