The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-11-02
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

son for November is, 1.-The Cities of
Refuge" Joshua 20: lie.
CBY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
The increase of crime in North Amer
lea is one OF the serious portents on the
days horizon. Shockingly bad in itself,
1t is worse in what it indicates. For
this CHASTITY succession of criminal
deeds, especially of crimes against the
person, reveal a lack of regard for
human life, and an absence of respect
for law, which make one pause and
question the effectiveness of our boast
ed twentieth century civilization The
problem of blood shedding is as acute
as it was when old Israel, in the forma-
tive period of its history, was instruct
ed how to deal with s1ayers of their fell
low men.
Law, all law, ought to be sacred: it is
the foundation OF civilization. Yet law
is not so regarded in our land and time.
There is not a considerable section of
the country that is free from the blight
of mob rule, and of privately admins
tered punishment to public wrong
doors; or, what is worse, Of purchased
immunity from the laws sway. From
the race riots in Vancouver to the labor
wars In Colorado, the reign of terror in
New York City, the lynchings, south
and north and the carnival of clever
crimes in Wall street, and in the circlcs
which that term represents, there has
been a veritable tidal wave Of law
breaking. No wonder thoughtful per-
sons are asking whittier all this will
lead. Not without reason are travelled
observers pointing out the superiority
Of most old world countries, a. d espec-
ially Great Britain, with respect to law
enforcement.
Stern Dealing With Crime.
Justice should have a heavy hand in
dealing with offenders. With the Jews,
as with all other Orientals, the she'd
- LIT
and certain punishment in kind. Who
so sheddeth mans Blood ran the sure
law, ''by man shall his blood be shed"
Crime was vigorously dealt with. There
was no maudlin sentimentality shown
to murderer; condemned slayers of
their fellows did not in those days re-
ceive baskets of flowers and fruit from
sympathetic women.
Undoubtedly one cause for the in
crease of capital crime is the fact that
SO many murderers go unpublished.
That. too, is why lynchings have at
tanned the proportions almost of an
epidemic. All of this is closely relat-
ed to the fact that certain classes of
powerful criminals have been able of
years to defy the law with impunity.
1t Is impossible thus to overthrow
justice from her seat in one case. and
then to expect her to resume her !
sway IN another. Except law be I'M |
hindered always it's operations can |
not be surely counted upon ever. |
America has been more sorely |
wounded than she now realizes by the |
men who have tempered with justice. |
A sorry sight greets the eye of one |
who looks around him to find justice. |
The wheels of the courts move slowly |
for one who has ''pu1l' or pelf. Pris- !
ons strangely open their doors for the |
release of such who may have been :
forced to enter them. Law is quite |
to evade; lawyers draw largest fees
for their skill in finding technicalities
which the plain purpose OF
statutes may be evaoed. Even courts
show an excess of zeal In
the most rigid letter of
the law, to the neglect of its spirit.
Corporations pay salaries which at
tract the brainiest legal talent, in or
der, usually, that they may defeat, In
it's enactment or administration, leg1s-
latfon which conflicts with their in
terests ALI this is one with the vast
popular demonstrations in behalf or
q labor leader on trial for his IRE;
and with the unrestrained utterance
Of others IN condemnation of him be-
fore he is convicted. The Sunday
school teachers of America will be
this proper occasion for laying stress
upon the sanctity of law.
A Bedouin's Tale.
Private vengeance is by no means
with justice. The avenger
IL seldom noted for his calm Judgment
and discriminating temper That 10
WHY "Cities OF Refuge" became neces-
sary. For family feuds, whether In
Breathitt county, Kentucky, or in
Canaan, DO not work out the social
weIl-being of the people. They are the
cause of great injustices and terrible
loss OF life.
The east has not outgrown the system
Of privately administering law, of the
sort that the wise Mosaic legislation
endeavored to overcome. Swinging
along on the backs of dromedaries, over
the Ltbyan desert, one Gay this spring,
NV Bedouin Dire CONAN told me tale
that illustrates the theme under discus
sion. In brief and shorn of its pic
turesuue local color, and the quaint
speech in which Abdullah told it, the
story is this: A lad of twelve one day
was in quarrel with some playmates.
They haunted him with the fact that
his father mad been murdered, and that
the slayer still lived. The crime had
happened in the boys infancy, and he
had grown up ignorant Of 1t. Going
home, he awaited his opportunity, and
when he found his mother near the fire, II
he suddenly grasped her and held her
face near the blaze, threatening to burn