Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-04-17

| the people Is with the farmers In their
effort to force the trust to pay rea-
sonable and remunerative price Tor TO
bacco. Defeat means starvation prices
and continued scarcity of money. Vic
| tory means prosperity for grower ana
| merchant alike. For this reason the
merchants are straining every resource
| to carry their tobacco growing custom
ers ON their books and the farmers are
cutting expenditures to the lowest pos
sible limit 1t is a struggle in which
practically all of Kentucky has vital
| interest Everywhere one goes he hears
word of commentator for the Equity;
the only condemnation is for the ex-
cesses to which the night riders have
gone.
But there is an excuse for the night
riders Their mildest action is OF
course, illegal, but it Is understand
able. The law is slow In every COM
munity in which there is great strug-
gle for betterment, with consequent de-
privation and sacrifice, there are al
ways those whose cupidity prompts
them to take advantage Of the situa-
ton and reap q personal benefit, even
at the cost Of aiding the common enc
N.Y. These individuals, though strict
| ly within their legal rights, are neces-
sarily,> not popular with their neigh
| bers, and to an extent these neighbors
are excusable when, persuasion failing.
an appeal is made to coercion. There
| is the law of the statute books; there
| is also the law of the community. In
fraction Of the one may be punished In
| the courts; defiance of the other is
| more difficult Of correction.
So long as the night riders confined
themselves to the raking of tobacco
| beds there was little criticism. When
valuable warehouses were burned there
| was a general expression Of indigna-
ton and condemnation. When murder
was resorted to the manhood and de-
cency of Kentucky were reused to a
| height which demanded that all night
riding must cease and that the crimi-
| nails who had gone to such terrible ex-
cesses must be discovered and pun
ished.
1t is not difficult to account for night
riding in it's incipiency. And from this
basis perhaps it is easy to understand
how irresponsible, daredevil young
| men, prompted by love Of rough adj
| venture and occasionally by personal
spite, took advantage Of conditions to
commit excuses and outrages
Accompanying the night riding which
has been such an unfortunate feature
Of the tobacco producers fight against
the trust there has been more than one
tragedy, but the one which attracted
| the most attention and created the
greatest Indignation was the killing of
Hiram Hedges by some member OF
masked mob
Hedges was Woodworking honest
man for whom it has been a long strugv
gle to support his numerous family. He
was man of decent morals, was count
ed a good neighbor and was not known
to have had an enemy. Like all farm
ers in his part of the State, he was
tobacco grower, but in a small way. In
his immediate neighborhod there had
been very little organizing among the
farmers and he was not an Equity man.
One night he was visited by mob of
about seventy-fve men, called to the
door, accused of planting tobacco, and
in the presence of his family was rid
died with shot.
The murder Of Hedges was about as
unprovoked and cold-blooded a crime
as could be committed. 1t was result
Of night riding. Nevertheless neither
this nor other outrages should be attrib.
uted either to the organized farmers or
to their officers. They condemn such
criminality heartily and, outside Of the
immediate sufferers, are the greatest
losers.
Don't Fold Your Arms.
By folding your arms YOU pull the