The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-12
RECKLESS AUrOING.

President WoodroW wilson. or . Prineeton University. in a recent aa dress in New York said:
 Nothing has spread sociallstic feel ing in this country more than tho use of automobiles. To the countryman they are picture of the arrogance of wealth with all it's independence ana carelessness. And the country is not all made up of those cooler spirits whom reflection will pacify.
 Is there not something rather start ling in that? The anarchistic spirit which would arouse mop to lynch the owner of an auto is not a spirit of hatred aroused against the man who is rich enough to own and ride in such a carriage. It Is aroused by the known fact that so many of the autoists are reckless and unfeeling. They drive their machines as if they owned the road or street and with total disregard for the rights or the safety of others. In number of cases where these wealthy and arrogant speeders have run over and killed human being, they have hurried away without any effort to aid the victim or to ascertain the extent of the injuries inflicted.
 Is it any wonder that the poor peo- pie in the country find themselves feeling resentful, revengeful and even murderous? That is what President Wilson means by saying that the auto mobiles are responsible for the spread of socialistic feeling throughout the country. If he had said anarchistic, he would not have been too extreme, perhaps. The recent case of young Vanderbilt in Italy bid fair at one time to cause trouble, but he seems to have paid himself out. Not so with young Elliott F. Shepard, son of a rich man and grandson of old William H. Vanderbilt. He ran over and killed a little girl in Paris and the authorit- ies refused to be fixed" Neither the wealth nor the influence of the young man has exerted any Influence on them. and 1t seems now that Shepard will eX- plate his offence in a French prison. In a somewhat sarcastic vein The New York Sun says of his case;
 We are sorry for young shePsrda. It is more than possible that he didn't l know any better Bluff old William Fl Vanderbilt once said of young | Shepards father. I have son-tn-law | who is more kinds of fool than any | bodv in the world Old man Wander l biIt knew a whole lot too. His head was as level as the west portico floor of the capitol. Maybe young Shepard couldn't help It. Maybe he got it l from his pa These things run in fam l flies, like money and badness. and l things But we hope, even at the worst, that our. French friends VIII ant for young Shepard. They needn t | shave his head, for instance, or clip i him a la malcontent, breaking stones. No. no! Surely they might be easy 1 m and leave him there to think. That | will be cruelty enough"
 We have not yet heard of q similar application of law in this country. If 1 Shepard is forced to serve his term it may cause other reckless autoists to be more careful-when in France. Whether it will have any influence at home is a different matter. but we think not. But if no effort is made to surb the reckless speeders in thls coun-
 try, the spirit of which President Will
 son speaks, is bound to spread. We
 have more than once expressed the op-
 inion that people whose lives are en-
 dangered will finally be driven to take
 the law into their own hands, and we
 see ho reason to change our views.