The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-22
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Recently in a court in Portland. ore, |s man was tried for the crime of mur- der, The evidence was positive. un- elsppfeA and conyincinES but the jufy returned verdict ef mot guilty" The man killed haa srtsvousiy and shame fully wrcnged trusting young sirl and had then deserted her The fath- Tor or brother. we are not sure which, deliharaaeiy put the betrAyer to death. The Facts were not disputed but the inrors invoked "the anwritten law which authorizes man to protect the honor of his family, even to the taking Of life. The nnwrsttcn law in that ease as t Is in many others, was more powerful than all the laws on the statute books.
 Tn the days of long ago. the days of our kar~osf ancestry. the sword and the spear formed the law governing mans actions. When a gglevous wrong had been doae, especially if helpless wo- man was the sufferer relatives or friends of the wrUnged one took upon thenasslvee the duty Of averaging the betrayed and paaishing the betrayer With all our advance tn civilazatson, h Christianity and in law making, there Is still in most of us a strain Of taa earlier thoughts .and feelings. and the .nnwritten law is invoked. we see e.. iaenees of 1t in all parts of the coun. try. in ths frigia North as well as in the torrld south
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 That an fncensed father or brother uf wronegd woman should execute summary vengeance on thes wrong apeE ts not sd. strange. hdt that jurs should dellberatsIy acgu.t the mur- deEer. shows how deep . hold that un- wrftten law shaa on men. The laws written in the statute books are plain and positive. bas tAs. lava written ia han hearts arc more powerful in some cases than Anxthtas in the books, and ar editorial in The Poft. band 0eegonlaA is 80 much 10 the point that Re copy llberaily from it. 'as tolaeNs
 { Ifa1bans Jaw h at beat bat human .tn1ps ecsselas esila imperfect as t ia and neecasar ily peveTiess as 1t Is te .riwsst fsevoak waoMg tfiat grows out sit, sf Solssa s asl aans hslSsn' erasI Eoass S Of It's c6nQueBG such power as dweils in the written law would. if properly used when earnestly sought, forestali aK tho unwritten law We know that. tion ss is possibls sy VT foreiDg GiDa ' an aa. giIia Sdi .s asbsa se sns girl 5sr wnGm ssons as bloodshed has often been prevented that the kiliIng of Lincoln Whitney means, The lesson in this case lies not, therefore. tn depioring the reek~ less appeal Co the. unwritteh law: that is fetile; nor in seelsiRg to. fix the blame for the d0wnfaii Of this young girl upon one or another-~her parehts or those of her betrayer: nor ir striv@ Ing. to adjust the blame between her ssu s..t., ana Whitney That is verse than Ing meres than " hat is already con. aeded-@that both were at fault in the beginning and he in greater measure later in his cowardly attempt to leave the eonReQusnoes of a mutual sin upon
 These are but subtersuses. side is- sues; go to speak, that have no bear turn aside the vengeance of tae un- written law. There Is lesson in this ease. andsit may be briefly set forth in Ah%SS. F&AINi keA NttGa WEktlGH AaW De fulfilled to the letter. when called up- on. to adjust. as far as possible, q wrong of this nature. Let 1t be known that the penitentiary yearns for pol troan who, having lufed a young girl, weak through her aI9aetien Tor him. to her ruin, seeks to abandon her to her shame and to throw his own offspring nameiees upon the world.
 The unWritten law will never be ab- regated while man is man in the rug seq deterninatton sitmmarily to avenge his daughter or sister, if he fails in the attempt to protect her from public disgrace by Inducing her betrayer to fulnlI a freeiy-given promise of mar. riage. Let the discipline provided bv the written law be tully and rigidiS e'i- forced in such cases, and the unwrit- ten law wilf be inoperative. since it Eprlngs into action, pistol in hand. on : " when the written law fails to meet the Legitimate demand that is made upon 1t to compel such restitution as IS possIble---a. poor thing at best, and trequently followed by life for the wife Of pttiful suffering through tlunt and neElect--bet tho best that can be done under the circumstances.