The gold leaf., 1910-09-15
The Pistol Toter-Master Criminal.
Atlanta Constitution.

AIlduIa constitution.
Judge John T. Pendleton, one oi
Georgia's calmest, most conservative
iurists, in his charge to the Fulton
county grand jury, summarized else
where, told the members that pistol.
toting was the most indeiensible
crime on the calendar. 1t was often
the first step, he said, to moral and
financial ruin. He demanded the en-
forcement of the law against it.
The other day, in Anniston, Ala,
Judge Thomas ". Coleman, OF the
city court, charged a grand Jury III
substantially the same scathing
terms.
''The old law against carrying con
cealed weapons" he declared, "is
practically antiquated in this State.
He also urged its revival and enforce.
ment in emphatic language.
The Constitution cites these two
almost simultaneous instances OF de-
nunciation of pistol-toting from the
bench as an Indication that the crime
is one of universal prevalence.
Regarding GeOrgia's share in the
Indictment, census taken last June
by the Constitution strikingly cor.
rOborates Judge Pendleton's declara,
tiOn that the CARRYING of concealed
weapons is at the head and front OI
all crimes. That census proved that
in approximately twO-thirds OF the
counties in this State 500 indictments
for all manner of crime were pending,
despite the wedding out of the spring
terms.
If pistol-toting, and the crimes
growing out of it, were dwindling,
there would be a CLEAN of hope. But
the exact reverse is the true status.
Month in and out, year by year, it
increases at a sinister ratio.
Pistol-toting is the parent OF most
crime. In most transgressiOns of'the
code it figures in one way or another.
Unless he be an authorized officer
of the law, every man carrying a con-
cealed weapon is apossible murderer
He needs only the provocationt to be-
come an actual murderer, destroy
er of homes, maker OF widows and
orphans-always a fattener OF the
cemeteries.
The class of men typifying these
Outrages against society should be
branded as pariahs. That is their
only accurate designation.
So far as Georgia, specifically, is
concerned, it is up to the thoughtful
citizen, mindful of the radical in
crease in this anarchistic state OF al
fairs, to brush aside the constitu
tional kildees that would shield the
master criminal behind the States
constitution.
This way lies Georgia's escape from
a condition that likewise threatens
life and ignores law in every Ameri
can commonwealth.
Following is the article above re-
fprred to:
''Of all the crimes on the pages Oi
the criminal records, none is more
reprehensible than the carrying oi
concealed weapons said Judged. L.
Pendleton yesterday in his charge to
the September grand jury, exhorting
them to enforce the criminal law to
the limit.
GAS "a general rule" continued
Judge Pendleton, "the men who carry
concealed weapons are towards. In
90 cases out of a 100 they could get
along without the weapons, but in
stead they carry them around until
a few words. a slight misunderstand-
ing, results in someone being killed.
OF course, there are exceptions, and
sometimes at night a man may feel
he needs protection ofsome kind, but
in most instances a stout stick will
suffice, and every good citizen should
take chances OF that kind in order
that the law may be upheld"
The necessity for enforcing this law
was strongly stressed by Judge Pen
dleton, whose charge dealt generally
with the enforcement OF the criminal
law.
He called attention to the law OF
gambling. Gambling stands about
on a par with the carrying OF con-
cealed weapons the Judge said.
"There is no excuse for it, and it is
the first downward step toward
ruin"