The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-03-21
FRON OTHER PENS
OoNTEMPr or Co1rRr

The last lynching case-up to this
| Wr1tlng-contains a side blow at q
| legal theory that had had much prom
1nence for some decades. 1t is indicat-
ed epigrammatica1ly by the remark
that the Texas mob which took q pris-
oner from the courtroom where he
was being tried and killed him, did
worse than mere lynching. 1t COM
m1tted contempt Of court
| The theory has been indirectly dis
sem1nated, though not specifically ad-
Vsnced as a necessary part of the logic
Of government by Injunction, that con-
tempt OF court is sure to be visited by
prompter and more severe penalties
than the violations of criminal statutes,
to issue injunctions against them and
punish violations Of the injunction for
contempt. Hence alleged riotinr. con-
spiracies to boycott or to prevent oper-
been forbidden by injunction. The
resort to this process is essentially an
affirmation OF the theory that it is
more eHoactous than the regular oper-
alton OF the criminal 1aw.-Pittsburg
Dispatch.
ROLLING STOCK AND SAFETY.
A recent accident on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad demonstrates once
more that IL an occasional collision by
trains Is inevitable, the danger to the
travelling public may be greatly re-
duced, IL not entirely done away with
through the Improvement Of train
equipment. Last Saturday morning,
some 35 miles west of Pittsburg, a linn
tied, running at the rate of a mile a
minute, "sideswiped'' a freight train
The locomotives were badly damaged;
every Pullman coach of the limited
was deratled, and the cars of both
trains were scattered about in confus-
lon- But it is stated that not a car
was overturned, and not a passenger
was In the least injured. In fact, even
only a severe shaking up. Presumably
something may be allowed for the ele-
ment OF good luck. but there is no
sengers was in large measure due to
the construction and equipment of the
coaches of which the train was made
up: In the old days on all roads, and
unhappily on some roads even now
such a collision would inevitably have
been accompanied by all the familiar
and heartrending incidents of rail
road horror. ''-Manchester Union.
THE DISMISSED CADETS.
A dispatch from Washington report
ing Secretary Dickinson's uncompro-
missing attitude against the reinstate-
ment Of the seven West Point cadets
dismissed last summer for hazing two
sentinels on duty furnishes the best
possible reason why Congress should
not reinstate them. It Is known that
Secretary Dickinson is not in favor of
the single penalty of dismissal from
the academy for hazing Of all forms
and degrees. Yet, after a careful re-
view of the evidence, he believes that
these young men concerned in the
brutal maltreatment of Sutton got ex-
actly what they deserved.
That is very damaging to their cases.
If an official who is disposed to re-
gard leniently attractions of the stern
disciplinary code that governs the ca
diets at West Point is so Mortified at
what he finds has been perpetrated by
the men now seeking the favorS of
Congress that he sets apart their cases
at least, ought to be dismissed and
kept dismissed. Congress ought not to
be slow in making up its mind about
them.-New York Times.