The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-11-24
TUESDAY. NOVEMBER "a. 1908.
"WDGE NOT LEST YE BE
JUDGED"


Heney to vindicate himself. His life
was ruined by sin ere he was brought
to court.-Corpus Christi Sun.
Is there no redemption for the man
who sins? And did not the Savior
come on earth to save sinners? Morris
Haas, in his younger days, sinned by
violating the laws of his State. He
paid the penalty of his transgression
by serving term in prison. Coming
from prison he started life anew. He
had paid Justice the debt he owed
and there was nothing against him
on that score. His crime was tri-
vial one, for he had taken no human
life. nor had he done that which
marred anyone's happiness save his
own. He had committed an 'indis-
cretion" which, in the eyes of the
law, was a felony, and without in
duence, friends or money to assist
him in his trial. he had been con-
victed. He served his term in prison
and came forth to fight life's battle
with the record of a convicted Grim
NAL against him. He had this to con-
tend with. and it was much. but he
struggled hard and obeyed implicitly
the laws of the land. He pTospered
and in the course of time he married
q good woman and to them children
were born. The people among whom
he lived had forgotten his crime and
his many acts of charity made him
friends of the poor and needy. Per-
haps he had made a mistake in not
telling the woman who became his
wife, of his past. but that is neither
here nor there. Others had forgot
ten that past, and why not he. who was
most deeply concerned? He and his
wife and his children were happy,
and why impart to them story of
which they we're happily ignorant.
and which had naught to do with the
present? Abe Reuff was placed on
trial and among those called to serve
on his jury was Morris Haas. Assist
ant Prosecuting Attorney Heney
knew that Reuff had been a friend to
Haas in other days, and he had also
learned in some way that Haas had
served a term in prison. He did not
want Haas on the jury and in most
sensational manner, in open court.
he pointed his finger at Haas and
charged him with being an ex-cOnvict.
It was the truth and Haas knew it,
but he saw no necessity for Heney to
ruin him and his wife and children
by proclaiming it then and there. He
was not armed, or he would have shot
Heney at the time. The more he
thought of Heney's cruel and uncalled
for charge, the more it preyed upon
his mind He thought of his wife
and children and of the humiliation
and disgrace that they must suffer
on his account, and as soon as he
could secure a weapon ne sought the
author of his misery and woe and
shot him down The shot did not
prove fatal, but it meant prison
stripes and a felOns cell for Haas,
and, knowing this. he ended all by
subsequently taking his own life.
Morris Haas was noted for his gener-
osity to the poor and needy and was
ReveT known to turn a deaf ear 10 the
cry of misery and distress. But he
had worn a felOn's garb and this was
ghe shadow in his life. Assistant
Prosecuting Attorney Heney was a
man who was never known to have
sympathy for others, how great their
misery. He had himself taken a hui
man life on a former occasion. and
the courts had declared that he act
ed in self-defense. But the incident
embittered his life, and pity for the
woes Of his fellOWman seems to have
departed from him, leaving him a
heart of stone. Whether or not Nor
Fis Haas was justified in trying to
Kill the man wLo had ruined his life
and bligbted the happiness OF his
home, we leave to others to Judge
That his life had not been without sin,
we are free to admit, but does the
Bible not teach US that a man may