The Cairo bulletin., 1911-05-13
UNWR|'|T'TiEIIN LAWS Y
Man Dare Not Place Them Upon
the Statute Books.
THE SHIP CAPTAINS CODE.

It Demands That the Skipper Shall Go
Down With His Vessel II She Be
Lost, and Il Is Held Saorsd--Ths
Iron Law of the Army and Navy.
There Is class Of unwrltten 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 1t
to the extent Of publishing 1t and de-
claring 1t as part Of the positive law.
1t Is the unwritten law Of the sea
THAT captain must go down with his
ship. Men dare not write it into the
contract. and nations dare not incor-
porate 1t In their navy or marine regu
lations, yet the tyrants Of the sea know
the law and believe that to obey 1t
betters their service, and there are
few instances of its being disregarded.
1t is the unwritten law Of the army
and navy that an officer shall not seek
cover. or at least shall not show APP
prehension Of danger to his person in
time Of battle and In the presence OF
enlisted men or common sailors. In
rhe Franco-Prus war nearly 1000
officers Of the German army We're
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 his charging column at
the bloody angie and Lawton walked
coolly In front Of the line and was
shot in the presence IL 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 I'M
der certain conditions to oppose the es-
tablishsd government Of his own land
and join In an effort to establish an
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
punishments for homicide. and many
Of them graduate the punishment with
minute particularly, according to the
circumstances Of the killing, SO that
any one OF six crimes may be involved
in a single tragedy. Such codes also
attempt to define what killing is justi-
liable and what Is excusable and with
heir Interpretation by the courts at
empts to describe the oaly conditions
Under which one human being can xii
another and not be guilty of crime.
The Hebrew code almost stands
alone In its recognition Of man's desire
10 kill and his right to have that de
ire and that climax of all satisfactions
which come to him who under great
provocation Stays another tits not at
I'll strange that In this branch there
should be an extended code of unwrit
tep as written law, unwr1tten now and
always to be unwritten for the reason
that the recognition given by its EN-
bodiment In the statutes would be TAX
en- as license by dishonest men and
would result In harm rather than good
1t Is an unwritten law among the
officers of the army that IL subordi
nate officer kills superior officer be
cause that officer has publicly degraded
him by striking him or by other action
equally bumiliating then the court mar
Inl will not convict. During the war
between the states Oh memorable oc
casion at Louisville, Ky, General Mel
son said to General Datis:
How many men have you"
General Davis replied, "About"-giv
Jug an approximate number
Nelson said: You an army officer
md say about! Why don't you
'znow' how many men you haye?
and with that he struck Davis In the
face with his glove. Davis shot and
lilled him. and the court martial ac-
anitted Davis