The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1905-09-14
The Assault on Judge Ward.

Raleigh Post.
The attack by Ex-Mayor McCown
Of Durham on Judge Ward, as re-
ported in these columns. is wholly
deefenseless. Writing Of it editorially
the Charlotte Observer says:
a shock must have gone over the
State Yesterday when the people read
that at Durham, Saturday evening, an
ex-mayor OF that town had personally
attacked struck and injured Judge Ward
OF the bench OF the superior court on ac-
count of q sentence which he had pro-
nounced in court that day. The cause
of the assault was that the assallant
thought that the Judge had given too
light sentence to a negro convicted be-
fore him of manslaughter, with a recon-
incubation to mercy, in the killing OF a
nephew Of the man making the attack
The circumstance is most mOnstrOus
We do not know how otherwise to char
acterize it. Nothing like it has ever oc-
Cured in North Carolina in all the his
tory Of the State The only event Of which
it reminds one, is that many years ago,
in one Of our eastern counties, MIR, CATER
wards Judge Warren was shot at and
wounded by a defendant whom he had
prosecuted and who, after the shot,
turned the weapon upon himself, ana
committed suicide. Yet there is no par
allelism in the cases.
There is in our North Carolina people
an Unborn reverence for the judiciary. \
| man who incarnates the majesty OF the
law has their instructive respect. They
do not always, by any means, endorse
his Judgment but they bow to 1t and DO
not improperly call thejudge in question
| TO assail him with physical force for q
sentence imposed is thing heretofore
| unthOught of. And, in this case, not be-
cause the sentence was too full but toe
merciful,
eve pretend to no knowledge OF the
| facts in the case beyond those recited IL
the story Of yesterday morning, but the
| particulars are immaterial. The primary
fact is that Judge OF the superior court
has been personally assaulted for pro-
ceeding taken, presumably, in the exer
else of his best discretion, and this fac1
| OvershadOws all else.
| Judge Ward is one OF the latest ad
ditions to the bench, having served few
months bv appointment and having beer
| elected last year to succeed Judge Brown
| His reputation is that of an able lawyer
and an upright Judge. If he committed
any fault in this case, which is not con
coded at all, he was guilty, at the worst
of no more than an error OF Judgment
That for this a Judge in North Carolina
should be fallen upon with blows-wel|
it is mOnstrOu
The Observer has properly charac
terized the assault-it is mOnstrOus
True, there is in our North CarOlin,
people an Unborn reverence Tor TIN
judiciary. 1t is sad, however, to re
late that the Unborn reverence is no
maintained in all individuals. Tn
attack on Judge Ward has the effec
of being an attack upon the judi
GARY. But the act of Mr.. McCOwl
is not the first and only monstrou
act. There have been newspaper at
tacks upon the acts of Judges tina
We're equally monstrous and outrae
eOus. The sOwer has gone before am
the act of Durham's ex-mayOr is
part of the whirlwind. The Observe
recalls no parallel OF the present case
But in principle there was Il parable
and it was not SO very long age
That case was equally monstrOu
and possessed the same elements {
contempt.