Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-01-18
A TIMELY WARNING AGAINST
LAWLESSNESS.

General Edward S. Bragg, who com
manded the famous Iron Brigade dur
int the Civil War, lawyer, Congress-
man and diplomat, has recently given
expression to a feeling of appre-
hension which will meet with a wide
response. He fears that the steadily
increasing 1awlessness manifested in
this country will, if not checked, lead
to revolution and disaster. There are
coming to be a great many people, he
points out, who, if they find the laws
of the land opposed in any way 10
their interests, do not hesitate to over
ride and defy them, or who if they
wish to pursue any particular course
of action, are not deferred from it a
moment by the fact that the law is in
the way. Farmers think their crops
should sell at a price fixed arbitrarily
by themselves, and if any of the num-
Der do not agree with them and sell
for less, they set upon them, burn their
barns and kill them. Corporations
Gen. Brag says, Cypress and destroy
competitors, swindle the public and
rob stockholders. Labor unions, in
| their attempt to create an all-embrac-
ing trust by combination, increase the
cost of living to everybody, try to CO.
cree every one into unionizing their
business and at times use outrageous
violence and abuse in maintaining
strikes for that purpose. They enact
statues which they regard as superior
to the law, while insisting on their
own legal rights; they refuse to con-
slider the decisions of the courts bind
ing on them, and they practically con-
stitute state of their own to which
they teach their first allegiance is due
Discussing Gen. Braggs views, the
Cincinnati Enquirer says:
We cannot go back too often mol
| dwell too insistently on the fact thai
this is government of law and order
for the protection of personal ant
| property rights, under which the ma.
jority must rule and the minority ac-
| suiesce. There must be government ,ant
no other practicable scheme for one il
this age has been devised. In other
countries different methods are being
abandoned, and rule by the majority
adopted. The only alternative is au.
| tocracy, and if it turns out that major.
| ity rule fails of its purpose autocracy
must come. Society will not for Ions
| submit to be harassed and harried by
fragrant lawlessness, and will submit
to a good deal of curtailment of liberty
for the sake of security Where we
| are lacking is in infiexible, unvarying
| prompt enforcement of the law, under
all circumstances, against high anC
low, rich and poor, without fear OF
| favor. Without this, no matter how
perfect our institutions may be In
theory, thy will crumble into ruin. We
have gone much too far already in per-
hitting and encouraging what has in.
sensibly in different quarters grown tx
| the proportion of open instruction
| The reins of government should be
frightened all along the line, and every
| violator of law, individual and corpor-
ate, held to quick and stern account.
So long as justice is hopelessly de-
layed; SO long as the most heinous
crimes are of common occurrence and
generally go unpublished; so long as
any man is hindered in selling freely
his labor or anything that belongs &c
him; SO long as murders are constant
| ly committed by mobs and the courts
deted by combinations of labor Oh
| capital, we cannot be said to live in d
/ free or well-goyerned country, nor tc
! be in a position to look to the futIre
with confidence.