Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-10-18
Murder of the Law.

Murder Of the Law.
While the pulpit and the press seem
to be doing all they can to arouse the
public conscience on the question OF
mob violence. they are evidently not
making great deal Of headway. and
1t is just as well perhaps to look the
situation square In the face, and 70
discover the direction in which we are
drifting.
That our people do not fully appre-
ciate the meaning Of anarchy Is eVl-
dent. Otherwise the law would be
held mbre sacred. Long ages ago we
were all anarchists. There has been q
time in the history Of every race when
brute force reigned superior to all
conceptions of right and justice. In
the enjoyment Of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, no individuai
was secure from the jealousy, covet-
BUSINESS or malice Of any other indi-
vidual who might be seized OF the de-
sire to work him harm and have the
ability to carry out that desire.
Justice and Law had their origin with
God. They are part Of God and were
given to man for his preservation.
They did not come to man until ne
felt the need Of them. They are as
necessary to his existence as Is. the
breath Of life; but they cannot De
made subservient. They must remain
supreme and at all times or not at all.
A people who would try to banisn
them at convenience will find 1t I'M
possible to recall them In necessity.
All the experience Of mankind mas
proved that no individual or no people
can get above the law, without invit-
ing destruction. The man who defies
the law defies God, and defiance OF
God brings punishment that cannot be
mitigated by any power on the earth
beneath or in the heaven above.
That the law is being set at defiance,
we can all fully appreciate. and when
we seek to place the responsibility we
need look no further than ourselves.
Have each of us done our full duty at
every call? Can we be depended upon
to do our full duty under any circum-
stances? Say we are sitting on jury.
The accused defendant Is a man for
whom we have a kindly feeling. Al
some time or other he has done US
good turn for which we feel that we
owe him a debt Of gratitude, or his
crime Is one that we would have COM
mitted ourselves under the same cir
cumstances. The facts. however, are
against him, and under the law there is
no doubt Of his guilt. Shall we pay a
debt Of gratitude, or listen to appeals
for mercy that is not ours to give? II
we do either Of these things we murder
the law and commit a crime infinitely
more dangerous than the one we are
trying to correct. :
This has been done time and again.
Those Of us who have not done 1t our
selves have seen others do it, and those
of us who have condoned 1t have
become partners in the crime. And
when law and justice have been de-
throned, what Is to take their place
save anarchy? Where the individual
has the power Of mercy in his own
right, 1t is most commendable; but for
one man to attempt to exercise mercy
that Is rightfully vested elsewhere Is
crime.
The consequences Of the shortcom-
ings to which we have referred are ap-
parent on every hand. Failure Of the
individual to do his duty as a juror
not only encourages the beneficiary OF
that failure to additional crimes; but
it destroys the confidence Of whole
communities in the vaunted protection
of the law, and where the individual
no longer fears the ability Of the law
to punish or the community no longer
has confidence in its ability to protect,
anarchy must necessarily prevail.
Where are we to reach the end Of
the terrible conditions now prevailing
throughout this country? The history
Of frontier civilization, as a rule has
been that OF law growing out or an
archy. For a time men would plunder
and murder at will. Then the spirit Of
law would begin to assert itself, and In
the course Of time become established
beyond question. In the more civilized
parts Of western America, law is more
securely enthroned than in the east.
Is it because Of the still fresh recollec-
ton of the terrors Of anarchy so re-
Gently passed. Conditions here must
grow better or worse. Can we
commence now and return to our al
legiance to the law, or must We pay
the full penalty Of our shortcomings
and descend to depths Of anarchy, so
intolerable that we will eventually be
compelled to inaugurate the new or
der just as is done in sections where
better things have never been known?