Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-09-24
The Murder Business.

The press and the pulpit continue
to thunder against murder and murder
goes on just the same as IL there had
been no laundering.
Some individuals are inclined to lay
the blame for so much murder on the
judges and juries and others say 1t Is
the lawyers.
We shall not attempt to relieve
anybody from a just share Of respon-
sibility, but we are Of the firm convic-
ton that the greater part Of the trou-
BILE Is due to a weak, cringing and
cowardly public sentiment.
If the people Of this state desire TO
put a stop to murder there is a quick
and easy way. They must hang some
murderers-as many as 1t Is possible
to hang before the practice is checked.
There will not be a. great deal OF
hanging to do in each county. Let
some one county set the example by
swinging up one Of these vicious
creatures, and 1t will be quite while
before it will be called upon to swing
up another. Let the second offender
follow in the way Of the first, and the
third will be hard to find.
Hanging is most capital remedy
for murder.
There Is no desire to deny that In
the question as to how juries can be
prevailed upon to convict, there is
quite a problem.
Tradition and custom have estab-
lished murder as a rather trivial Of
fense in the eyes Of many people, and
a change Of sentiment along this line
involves conditions that are not to be
lightly overcome.
How often does 1t happen that a
whole neighborhood Is shocked by the
perpetration Of a murder that outrages
every sense Of fairness, justice and
Christianity, with the facts all show
ing up against the murderer to an eX-
tent that seems to make conviction
dead certainty, yet when the case
comes to trial it appears that the dead
man was in every sense the aggressor
and for the murderer to have done less
than he did was next to impossible.
Almost every individual Of mature
age, who reads this has recollections
of one or more murder cases that have
come under his direct personal obser-
walton. In many instances there
was a lawyer in the neighborhood
within a very short time after the oc-
currence Of the murder, and within a
few days after the visit Of the law
yer, people who had been telling of
seeing and hearing certain things
were either keeping their mouths shut
or telling their stories with different
coloring, changing some Of the cir
cumstances to exactly the opposite
from what they were at first. When
the case came to trial. some Of the
most important witnesses for the state
neglected to tell what they knew. and
witnesses for the defense testified to
alleged facts and circumstances that
never occurred.
OF course, the lawyer for the defense
is largely to blame for failure to con-
Wet He generally knows all about the
case. He is not going to let anything
that is damaging come out If he can
help it. Too often he feels warranted
in resorting to trickery and intrigue
to defeat the ends of justice. 1t some
times happens that with the help OF
witnesses available, he deliberately
manufactures and proves" an excus-
ing story, and the public is astonish-
ed at the result Without knowing
exactly why it unjustly blames the
Jury. which cannot and should not
convict except upon proper evidence
1t is a fact, however, that juries
sometimes allow themselves to be mis-
led by very specious pleas. by appeals
TO sentiment and prejudice. 1t Is not
right for lawyer to do these things;
but still If he can divert a verdict by
this means, the responsibility Is upon
the jury.
The judges may be to blame In part
lsouatimeS the LAWYERS are often able