New-York tribune., 1907-08-25

Tf-4f ted
iaC I5Illishi,ls COMPANY
- .,e novice in the lore of outlawry il might
y -tat the subject. while holding promise Of
n interest. would prove somewhat crude and
',l+atle for literary purposes. The reader
mid West libraries and dime novels Of the
James order knows only that outlaw
- o,,,lav. While one NAV differ from an
;, glory. they are all very much the
o'"- TIN The novelists who have worked
e, O. ,;s-.,-z of the American frontier have not
'D - rs for the breadth and scope OF treat
a., diversity Of character and fine distinc-
.s IT,. classification which Mr.. Emerson Hough
=. IN his book Here is the crude material
-, aim. novel chastened and refined by the
- hand of Truth: here are the achievements
a.sro-are men. stripped not of their glamour
= g t,7eir rneIodranatic unreality. hacked up
- lie documents and the statements
;,,..ss.s Here. above ali. is that variety As
- ,,ic-r1resauencss Of material which the
~ artist demands The outlaw is not
10 -,-r.7 but a dozen types Mir. Houeh clas-
- hin, horizontally as the outlaw of the
..,,rai,ls and the outlaw Of the plains; he
,.si6as him perpendicularly as the real had
%, and IN. imitation had man: he olassiiies
[I .3lioueIy Is the desperate on the side Of
-ss- and the desFerado who is against order
Trla -
-, RESPECTS from the outlaw of a decade ago.
-,s man who hcld Up stage coach in the COS
= of \ different order from the who shot
-o.-n and robbed a bank in 1892 These
:, eronneed distinctions are evidence Of the
,--onshness with which NJ. Hough has delveG
INFO his subject
,ncisentallv this author raises and discusses
NO nice questions Of law and ethics He is Of
hoss who are inclined to despise an effete civil
.,i,, and resret the good old days when quick.
-or-al rassjone streaked the best men OF the
! ,rni.v Nowadays. he hints We leave the
. -so-raance Of virile deeds TO the bad man,
abe the good man stands helplessly by and
,usis the evil direction which these deeds
.rs Our great cities are centres Of crime ana
;o,onsrass because the men who ought TO op-
oaea these things have lost their hardiho"d and
',ni+r 70 cope with rude physical force With
90. r-s.senting himself an apoiogist for the
,-n.nal Of the frontier. Mr.. Hough has, it is
..in IA So more than q sneakinE fondness for
ts ,.,,raee his independence and personal re
sr,rcef1lness. His ideal mar. il appears. Is the
ne who with the despersldos qualities OF mind
sns heart and body places his skill at the ser
,5os nf the community Many a Western
s1e-ir was of this mould. And when the line
hard 20 draw. when the mans recklessness OF
frrsn life Is paradoxieally Joined with a gen
,,e readiness 10 protect the lives Of others.
orr author is always prompt 70 magnify the
oa in his mixture Of motives For the bad
"a, & hv no means always wholly bad. II was
scornrnon practice III the West 10 enlist him on
he right side by electing him 70 an office where
No co,ld do his killing with the cornfortahie
ecrrictjcn that the community profited Thereby
Tins the des1erado not infrequently rounded out
his career as the official guardian of the peace.
nd co,,nted I'd IN his list Of killings with equal
.or.saacenrv the men he had slain in open de-
.s-oe or -bz Ian and those WHO had fallen VIC
.7 "a his zeal in the enforcement OF the same
hw
Another SIZE of this topsy-turvy condition Is
rzvoseo rhen the deeds Of the California Nlgl-
1 lan.as -. related MI. Hough tells the story,
s-e.v o-,e Of the most remarkable in legal and
p6lrieal annals briefly and fairly His JUST
resfon Of the Tigilantes is pronounced, Wlth
-s-her unnecessary defiance OF the suckiers for
| forms Who hold the opposite view Technically,
he gigiiantes outlaws, defiers of the estSt
5shed government. But there are few. even
| among the unco guid. who cannot see to-day
hat they were the actual upholders of justice
d 2 DE- sqcfO government, while the corrupt
ofiCials whom they brought 10 book were the
RAJ criminals The significant fact is that their
movement was not that Of group Of lnci-
riausls imposing their will arbitrarily on the
community, hut that OF a body truly repre-
sentative Of the people among whom their ac-
tTty lag.
Mr. Hough does not, of course, place these