The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-09-30

II NAC Hah A44N WSaAa ~
| to continue the commission OF violence
to that one offense- I need only refer TO
the history OF lynching In this coun-
try to illustrate this. Before the Civil
war there was no such thing as lynch
ing IN North Carolina. From my own
| information ! can recall but one, AMI
: that was during the Revolution FL.
: in the last twenty years there has been
many
The following from the above edi-
torial of the Richmond Times-Disparcn
comes with ali the force OF an epigram:
The law has no inherent strength. The
Jaw is the creature of public sentiment,
and unless sustained by public senti-
| ment IL VIII become a dead letter" The
! tory confirms this view. and it cannot
| be too often and too persistently inl-
| pressed on the public mind Leg1sia-
| ton may be framed with the wisdom
! Of Scion and the justice and i~nfiexibil-
| biIity Of Aristides; but. unless pubic
! sentiment uphold il. better that it were
| never on the statute books.
The laws of Draco, an archon OF
Athens. who lived acout 600. years
before the Christian era were writer
in blood" and the comment of the mrs
torian on the legislation of Draco IL
that its very severity prevented its en-
fOrcement and execution. The peace
| and good order of communities will be
better conserved by a wise and temper-
4 ale IrdInc"OTh Oh. Id W, uEIlly Out DllIO-
ly administered than by a system OF
| crimina Jurisprudence characterized
by Spartan rigor and severity. History
delights in contrasts and surprises, and
il is recorded that Draco's life was
sacrificed to the very lawlessness Of his
| popularity. Recognizing him dn a the
atre at Aegina, the audience saluted
him with .he mark of appreciation. Gus
tomary in that age. Of throwing their
caps and garments upon him, and iE
such volume that he was smothered
to death.
No people were ever governed with
more iron hand h the French during
the reign Of Louis XII. The provost
n the executioner were the hardest
worked men in the kingdom, who, far
from waiting for victims to be carried
to them, secured the country, hang
ing and auartering, without judge or
jury, not only on the gibbet but on
the first convenient tree. and for Of
lenses that in this day would bring Il
punishment of perhaps thirty days or
the public roads. The two villianou5
officials, Tristan LHermite and Trois
Echelles. who have been portrayed by
he magic pen of Scott in ''Quentin
Durward," boosted at the court of
Louis XII at Plessis Les Tours that
they had slain 5000 malefactors with
their own hands-and no doubt they
had.
And vet. from 1860 TO 1885, France
was the domain of lawlessness, and
the city OF Paris-a vast labyrinth OF
dark, narrow, crooked streets and lof-
ty, gloomy buildings. in the cellars of
which burrowed like wild beasts,
bands Of thugs and cut-throats-was
a cesspool of %iniquity, the bloody the
alter of violence and murder.
In the reign of William III. and after
n glorious revolution of 1858. which
gave to E~nglishmen the ineStimable
4 bill of rights the fra Up16~ MIGHT $40
from the deck of his ship the chalky
cliffs of Albion dotted with gallows af-
ter gallows festooned with chains; and
even throughout the reign Of George
III "Tyburn Tree has it's thousands of
victims for theft, coin-clipping, count
erfeiting. burglary highway robbery,
etc. And yet just as many thousands
continued to mutilate and counterfeit
his majesty's money, break into hous-
es. and steal liner off the hedges; and.
until after the close of the eighteenth
century,the Captain MacBeaths, Claude
Dewals and Dick TurpinS piled their
nefarious trade on the pockets and
and sometimes on the lives of traders
within sight Of London town. With
a penal code almost ~sanguinary as tina
of Draco, England, all through the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
was a vast, ever-ripeneing harvest for
Jack Ketch;" with it's criminal law
salutary, firm and moderate, England
10 no" lIc UcSt SONeIIou country Oh
earth.
No. "the law has no inherent
strength" and it will be the effectual
CONSERVATION Of the peace only when its
pillars and stones are
made up Of the sound. healthy public
sentiment. Let the minister in the pull
pit cease to deal with theological alb
stractions and get in touch with the
people, get down closer to humanity.
There is nothing more beautiful in the
life of C~hrist-Christ. one of the God
head. Christ the Divine-than his hui
manity. Our Lord said: Render unto
Caesar the things that are Ceasar's.''
Let the professor in the class room
turn once in a while from the mystic
ries or physical science, from the pre-
misses and deductions of metaphysics,
and get down into the hearts of youth
before him-their aspirations, doubts
a2@ perplexites-and let him Undue the
souls of the rising generation with an
enlightened respect for and steadfast
support of the law. Let not only the
judge on the bench. but the lawyer
prosecuting or defending a client, the
jury trying the case, the people filing
the courtroom, realize to the core of
their hearts that, save the sanctuary of
the Most High, there is nothing in all
the land more sacred than the temple
OF Justice; let them see to it that the
mob assault not its walls, that violence
undermine not it's foundations.
1t is a woeful thing for a republic
when the civil law must be upheld
and protected by the bayonets of mill
tary force. The soldier is glorious
storming a battery, scaling a rampant.
c1ashfng steel with steel on the field of
battle: the soldier is noble, fighting
for his country, his affairs and mis-
fires the soldier is majestic, gray
haired and bent, bearing his scars, re-
ceiving the grateful love of his people,
Il WAITING nou- nn1r- f0r %o.- a~l 1919
OUT" the soldier is terrible. bearing the
sword in one hand and the constitu-
ton in the other! J.. H. NJ.
Fayetteville, Sept. 20.
A Power For Good.
The pills that are potent in their &C
ton and pleasant in effect are De-