Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1911-10-13
UNWRITTEN LAWS
Man Dare Not Place Them Upon
the Statute Books.
THE SHIP CAPTAINS CODE.

Il Demands That tho Skipper Shall Go
Down With His Vessel il She 6s
lssG, and Il 10 Held saersd-Ths
Iron Law Of the Army and Navy.
There Is a class Of unwritten law
which does not and cannot become
written law. says Case and Comment,
because 1t approaches so near the dan.
ger line that man dare not recognize It
to the extent Of publishing 1t and de-
claring 1t IA a part Of the positive law.
1t Is the unwritten law of the sea
that a captain must so down with bis
ship. Men dare not write 1t into the
contract. and nations dare not incor-
porate IT. in their navy or marine regu
lations. yet the tyrants of the sea know
the law and believe that to obey It
betters their service. and there are
few instances of its being disregnrled.
1t Is the unwritten law of the army
and navy that an officer shall not seek
prehenslOn of danger to his person In
time Of hattie and In the presence Of
enlisted men or common sailors. In
the Franco-l'russian war nearly 1900
officers Of the German army were
killed. and the great majority of them
gave up their lives because they be-
iieved In this law of conduct.
In obedience to this law Farragut
bound himself to the mast. Lee rode
at the head Of bis charging column at
the bloody angle. and Lawton walked
coolly In front Of the line and was
shot IN the presence of his men.
The law Of the right of revolution
has been much talked about and much
written about Every intelligent citi-
zen believes that he has the right un.
der certain conditions to oppose the es-
tablished government Of bis own land
and join In an effort to establish au-
other IN Its place. Just prior to and
during the war between the states
there was much discussion In this
country by learned men on either side
Of the right Of revolution and the
"higher power" and the greater law"
The law justifying one person In the
killing Of another has required the
serious consideration Of every country.
Every criminal code provides certain
punlshments for homicide. and many
Of them graduate the punishment with
minute particularly. according to tue
circumstances Of the killing. 20 that
any one Of six crimes may be Involved
In a xingle tragedy. Such codes also
attempt to define what killing II justi-
liable and what issexcusable and with
their Interpretation BY the courts at.
tempts to describe the only conditions
under which one human being can kill
another and not be guilty Of crime.
The Hebrew code almost stands
alone In its recognition Of mans desire
to kill aud bis right to have that de-
sire and that climax Of all satisfactiops
which come to him who under great
pfovQcatiop Stays another. II Is not at
oil strange that In this branch there
SHOULD be an exteudei code of unwrit.
ten % written law. unwritten now and
always to he unwritten for the reason
that the recognition given by its en-
bOdlment In the statutes would be tax
en- as license BY dishonest men and
would result 10 harm rather than good
1t is nm unwritten law among the
officers Of the army that II q subordi-
nate officer kills superior officer be-
cause that officer has publicly degraded
him by striking him ar w other action
equally hnmlliating then the court mar
tiai will nat cQnvict. l'urlug the war
between the states ~ memorable oc-
casi0R at Louisville. n.y.. General Mel.
son said to General Davis:
"How many men hnve your
General Davis replied. "About"-giv.
ing an approximate number
Nelson said: 'You an army oflcer
and say about: Why don't you
know how many men you haver'
And With that be struck Davis IN the
face with bis glove. pavis shot and
KILLED him. and the court martial &C.
quilted Davis