The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-26
To DrsCoURAGE HAxING.

I'D OlSCOUHA0E hAZhN0s
 In the following editorial. The Port land oregonian speaks in very plain English on a subject that Is of late attracting no little attention:
 one of the surest remedies for the hazing evil, which has not yet been relegated to the rubbish-room of bar barism, Is vigorous exercise of the right of self-defense. There was q attacked to retreat as far as possible and then to make as little resistance as need be in defending himself. Killing his assaiiant was justifiabIe only m ns eesnsS snsar his gSe os eosrs s abandoned this rule in nearly every State and now hold that a man m 2 place where he has a right to be nsed si not of his seeking. He may resist force with force to protect hts person from injury and his defense IS gou,u even If he takes the lire or nis ussa the life of another in self-defense no longer hinges upon the question whether man thinks his own life in imminent person is as sacred as his life and so long as he is himself innocent oi W<2ns he need not submit to injury If he s, mas the power of resistance. Let q IeM hazing brutes meet death at the hands of their intended victims and we snali wttness more advance in civilization than the world has recorded in many a a year. As last resort, gunpowder IS a good civilizer.
 We remember once prominent Ala bama Judge who, in charging jury in a case where self-defense was the piea' always told them that "every citizen is entitled to the ground he stands on.' vx,r- t.t- of ta1ltnr them that the law does not require one citi- zen to run or retreat from another 1T he is able to defend himself. If that principle could be taught in all our colleges. v would have tendency to discourage or put a stop to the coward ly and brutal practice of hazing-a practice which so frequently results in serious injury and sometimes In death.
 If a student, while quietly walking the streets, or while on the college grounds, should be set on by three or four fellow students, would any one deny him the right to defend himself. even to the extent of taking the life of an assailapt. if necessary? We think not, and we can see no difference in that case and in one where a stu dent is overpowered and maltreated in his own room.
 The real fact is that hazing is an outcropping of the brute that still re- mains in many human beings in spite of the civilizins influences of modern times. That 1t is cowardly is shown by the fact that sthe victim is over powered by numbers and is not able to defend or pfotect himself. We believe that the authorities of col leges and other institutions Of learning could stop the practice if they would. but too often they either refuse to take any action 1T else they try to shield the culprits If those in authority re- fuse to take any steps to protect new attendants, the latter should provide for their own protection. and if "a few hazing brutes meet death at the hands of their intended victims" as The Ore gonian says, it would go great way towards abrogating an evil for which there is no defence or palliation. The law of self-defence should be held as inviolate in case of this nature as it Is when a man Is assaulted by robbers on the highway. The person of the student in his room should be as safe from outrage as is the Professor in his home, and when that theory is recog- nized and acted on. the human brutes who would maltreat their fellows will be taught a>lesson that is badly needed and that has been too long delayed.