The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-16
WHAT ARE VIZ COMING TOT

WHAT ARE WE OVmlN9 IOt
The Advertiser is not Srouchy pes
simist or a prophet of evil. but there
are times when we are almost tempted
to wonder IL free government in this
republic is to prove q failure. The
news columns of the prominent jour
nails bristle with daily accounts of
murders. plots. assassinations. con-
spiracies and every other form OF vio-
lence and lawlessness that the de-
PRAYED heart and mind of man can de-
wise. 1t Is not an occasional report
that comes to our eyes but the daily
register of facts that occur through
out the country.
We have been so long accustomed
to read Of lawlessness in foreign coun-
tries tina. we have come to expect
nothing else and feel no surprise at
any accounts we may read. In Rus
STA. in China, Turkey, or other civil
lied or half civilized countries. or
among the savages of the earth we
may expect dark deeds and british
acts. but in our own free country we
have been taught to believe in and
expect something of a different and
higher type than these. We expect re-
spect for the law, regard for human
rights and examples of Christian CIV
ilization
We repeat that facts are discourag-
ing. Take the disclosures now. being
made at Boise during the trial of Hay
wood and others for the assassination
of the Governor of Idaho, and espe-
cially the confessions of Harry Orch
ard, as a present example. 1t matters
not what opinion may be formed OF
Orchard himself. so far as the facts
are concerned. We might set him
down as the most monumental liar OF
the age If 1t were not for the corro-
borating evidence coming in. Then
again we might properly pronounce
him the most thorough villain and
criminal now unhung, but that only
adds to the blackness of the affair In
its conception and details. The evil
dence goes to show beyond even the
possibility of doubt that there was a
conspiracy. deliberately planned. dark
and damnable in conception and detail
wide spread and far-reaching, and II
the program had been carried out al
designed the result would almost have
been equal to some of the anarchistie
performances in darkest Russia"
That the conspiracy was not a COM
plete success was no fault of the plot
tiers. Whether the leaders of 1t were
anarchists, unionists or simply sblood-
thirsty criminals is immateral. from
one point of view. The main thing il
that here was a conspiracy SO dark
and bloody that it seems almost toe
black for belief. 1t was desi. ned to
take life and destroy property on a
pre- arranged and carefully considered
plan, and good citizens shudder when
they reflect on That would have been
the result If all the nefarious designs
of the criminals had succeeded.
We have dwelt on this Idaho con-
spiracy because of it's prominence in
criminal history. and because of the
publicity now being given to it, but ii
is by "a means a solitary instance, ex-
cept, perhaps, in ~xtent. 1t is notable
for its extent as well as for the con-
LESSONS of the chief criminal of the
lot. but IN San Francisco and other cit
les of the country there have been
plots and conspiracies equally dark
and damnable. whether they have sue
ceeded in whole or in part or have
failed entirely. Plots to assassinate
individuals or to destroy property are
continually coming to light and moth
Ing but constant vigilance prevents the
consummation of the dark and bloody
designs of the criminals.
Reading of these continual occur
rences and designs 1t cannot be won.
dered at If law-abiding citizens and
lovers of good government should feel
doubtful and respondent at times and
wonder If republican government is
to prove a failure in the end. We
know this is a somewhat gloomy view
to take OF conditions, but IL the out
look does not justify it we mistake the
signs. The question Is. Where and
what is the remedy? 1t is not enough
that the law may apprehend and pun
| ish such criminals, at least partially
though that is to be hoped and COM
mended, but 1t is not all lat is need
ed 1t is much more important that
such plots and criminal conspiracies
should be anticipated and the criminals
punished before the crime is commit
ten, II such thing Is possible
Whether it can be done may be q
doubtful question, but certain 1t is thai
crime is becoming so bold, so frequent
and so extensive that We may well
ask What arc we coming to?