The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-24
y HTEO on TIIE EI>CH.

this state. s~r in an editorial oC one
column in length IL calls him
Hero on the Reneh 1t esir0s 4
charge and honorable bearing 81
judge shaw AZ Nome, ANA Sass
"Eicrc Is evidently ! judge who i- a
hero Fer IL must - noted that TN
his charge. Jusc" shaw SBt3 uafhtnE
that could h- construed as unfair tv
any IF the defendants He ~tfupiS laid
+, down tho taa - the ,9*yJ THAT INneh-
ing MIS- murder aud THAT members ~
thut mott were uugdef.r~ That much
hc Was privileged. axe. bound - dec.
III the interests 81 Justice. Eut. tn the
| specific case OF each defendant tn.
question v.I b.. Mas ny 80 tnc u1oh
and what Mas his share in the murder
Of ohuS0n ana the assault upon thc
Jail2 Phc issue which Judge shaw ~l
| Squsrtly and Co~ug&gvouSIA met in hts
| COURTROOM on Mon,LtN Wts between
him and the public sentiment % TN.
/ locality. Tho people hello t. tlc si"N
that the lsnchluE. white irregular. was
still 4 mora act hlch thu State
should nndon Judse shaw. glazing
INTO their Ncrt faces. clustered their
conception - law aud sacrificed their
ethics Whoever did this. he thdn-
dcrcd. was a murderer, ana. in 4li
probability, no more wholesome hoe
trine has been preached Ia Arson
county foF q generation. However,
the iA31t> HAY IF~uAt -.tiltt fIft fltItfA~
must linaliy depend upon specific vNt-
dcnoe and upon iuIles-JudEo shaw
has struck 4 blow lar the supremacy
Of laW that viii not soon Doe forgotten
This appreciation II Judge shaw by
New Engiand's greatest newspaper rs
in line with the best thought and sen
timcnt in North Carolina. 1t is no
reflection upon amy other good judge
in North Carolina Ia say that Judge
Shaw has done more t" command re-
spect for the law during his eight
years term than any other Superior
Court Judge in the State. 1t is a mat
ter of deep regret that the failure OF
the code Commission to fully incor-
poratc the Watson act into the Rc-
ViSed Statutes made it impossible for
the eases To be tried this week. rhe
fact that because the crime was COM
mitted in Arson the parties could not
be tried III Union because the Code
Commissioners had failed to correctly
bring Onward the ~anti-lynching act is
such a construction of law that the
lay mind cannot appreciate. Judge
Shaw was forced, however, by the
written law to let the ease be con
NhtAAA w Z NJ b3'' ~ ~
GREETED the blundcr in transcribing
the law as much as amy other gooG
citizen, for he never shirks Il duty or
fails to enforce the plain letter OF
The law.
There is a sentiment that has been
worked UP in a small circle in North
Carolina that Judge SI4w is a hard
man without the quality OF mercy"
Nc more incorrect estimate OF q judge
has been made. 1T originated because
Judge Shaw was firm III executing the
law and imposing sentences in accord
ance with the letter and spirit of the
law upon men who had violated the
law. He refused to let the men op-
Grating blind tigers escape by pay
ing fines, but sent them to the roads.
With a certain class of people this
sort of punishment was regarded as
harsh and severe. but it is the only
sort that will prevent Wanton violation
of temperance laws. Fines, as a ruIc, !
merely constitute license to violate /,
temperance laws. Judge Shaw undcr
stood this and he imposed sentences
that broke up the practice that was
= i1N' - tC'Ii' II '
stood aghast when the just judge sent
to the roads the man from whom they
had been purchasing their drains. An
other class called him "h~ard-hearted'
when he sent the inmates of hell-holes
to prison instead of charging them a |
license, falsely called q fine, to con-
tinue their disreputabIc business. And
sad to state-some lawyers. DESTROYS '
of having their Jaw defying clients
let off with the costs and Il small fine. !
joined in the cry that Judge Shaw is
hard hearted because he would not
give heed to their pleas for mercy !
where mercy WAS equivalent to en-
laWlessness. But the great
have watched Judge Sha care
fully. understood that his course was
prompted by a sincere desire to do
and, in the hundreds Of cases
tried in his court. his critics have
never been able to cite a case in !
which he did not hold the scales of
justice evenly, and where his sem
fences were cruel or severe or NOT
warranted by the law and the facts
Judge Shaw believes in the oId-fasb-
Toned method Of Furnishing crime.
1here are not Il few among us Who'll
been converted to the maudlin
s|entlmcntaIty that it is better to let
the criminal say Il am sorry and re-
10 a life of lawlessness. These
some of them are good
not approve when Judge
imposes a sentence that il real
punishment. They would prefer ,
mild lecture, d fine. and moral s,a-
But that Is not the way the
reads that Judge Shaw has sworn
TO obey and which he does obey.
There is another class who criti,izo
Judge Shaw because he adminietar.
ne Id" lmpartially and without fear
- iaNoT- one Of them recently said