Suwannee Democrat. (Live Oak, Fla.) 1897-current, 1909-01-15

Capt. Rankin and gave six Of them the
death penalty and the other two TWEEN
y years each in the pen. In ell that
part Of Tennessee and the nearby re-
giOns Of Kentucky the very foundations
Of civilization have long been shaken
by the increasing crimes Of widely or
gained maIefactOrs claiming to have a
grievance, VINO, grown bold by immu-
nifty from punishment resulting iron
the terrorism they created, went from
one form Of outrage to another until
TIE elimination came N the peculiarly
brutal and cruel murder Of Capt Ran
kin, appointment citizen, merely because
he wanted to protect his property from
their depredatiORs. They went about
this murder with the deviHsh delibera-
ton Of sayages tOrturing seaptive, and
the crime was 80 atrOciOus and the
criminals so numerous and weI-Organ.
lied that the nation was shocked.
Governor Patterson filed the county
with troops and their vigorous work re-
suited in the arrest Of a large batch Of
the scOundrels. The conviction Of eight
Of them by jury made up of citizens
Of the county, after a fair trialin which
guilt was fully proved, is 3 triumph Of
law over lawlessness of the most for
midable character which brings a deep
sense of relief to decent people all ever
West Tennessee.
But the significance of this verdict is
by no means limited to Tennessee. Il
Is rift IN the black cloud of crime
which, finding its origin in the night
riding iniquity of Tennessee and Ken
lucky, spread rapidly through several
Southern States and is creating most
OminOus and distressing conditions in
large areas Of the country districts.
Burning property, posting threats,
whipping helpless peOplen their homes,
and IN some instances torture and mur.
der by vicious, eOwardly degeneratel
armed and banded for the purpose are
typical crimes under these new anC
fearful conditions. Their perpetrators
living amid a weak enforcement of thu
law and seeing the sbOrtiOns on justie,
30 frequently resulting from the tria
Of criminal cases in the courthouse
came to despise the law as a thing eyi
IDENTITY weak and worthless, and 50 tool
it upon themselves to avenge their owl
wrongs, real or fancied, crafty thei
grudges against neighbOrs, cOerce then
in the disposition of their crops AM
feed the reEengeful passions of thei
Ignorant, primitive natures in any di
rectiOn their laWless caprice nigh
point. All this presaged the reign O.
conditions in the South worse than thos,
Of the civil war, for then the line wa
broadly drawn, We knew friend from
foe and had an open enemy to fight IN
der the rules Of civilized war-no
masked assassins riding to their fou
work sheltered by darkness and out
raging and shooting down their yer,
neighbOrs to crafty their brutal pas
siOns. The dispatches for weeks pas
have told US Of the spread of this nigh
riding form Of crime like moral pest
lenee, cropping out inunexpected spots
and like most things evil, rapidly en-
braclng within its scope vicious and 10
nOrant elements already depraved a
heart, reckless of the rights of others
and wanting only the prospect of i'm
Eunity from punishment to jOin tn
criminal ranks and inaugurate reigns O
terror IN every neighbOrhood infeste
by them.
A lesson was needed, one too plain
sharp and decisive to be mistaken. an
it comes in this verdict from Tennessee
which bids all the law-abiding Sout
brace up and be of good cheer, for q
last a jury has been found not to b
hoodwinked or cajOled by the pleading
Of the lawyers or external influences J
any kind and that dared to do right in
grave crisis when the very civiIizatio
OF their State was one of the issues q
the trial. The news of that verdict
and its example, too, will gprea
through all those regions cursed BY tn
lawless spirit of the night-rider, carr,
ing hope to the oppressed and disma
to the OppressOr, for a fine instanc
at the right moment may inspirit
whole people and send the elixir of il
saving grace through all the current
of their life.
Congratulations to Bro. Jordan. Z
4.