Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1913-04-03

Judge Cdrl0F spoke DIT LILIES Will
considerable animation. He confess
ed humiliation and even ofense in the
repetition Of trials which end with ac-
Quittal of the influential and punish
ment of the common man:
Not Safe to Steal.
'eThe weakness of our criminal law
is that it does not afford the proper
protection to human life," Judge Car
ter said, but property rights are very
well protected. 1t is a dangerous
thing to steal a bale of cotton, gentle
men of the grand jury. Ordinarily it
is not dangerous thing to kill a man.
Statistics show that there is thirty
times as much homicide on this side
of the Canadian line, an imaginary
line that separates people Of much
the same natures as we are, as there
is on the other side. OF course this
applies to relative population, thirty
times as much homicide to the hum
dred thousand. Why is it that the
average man who goes abroad finds
himself exposed to thirty times the
danger of personal assault as the man
above this imaginary line?
Think Too Lightly.
I'VE think too lightly of human life.
We are liable to say after a homicide
that the poor devil is dead, that it was
a personal matter between the men,
that whereas the dead mans wife is a
widow and his children are orphans,
there is no reason for making the
other mans wife a widow and his chill
dren orphans. We don't think it is
going to help to do that.
Unreasonable Doubt
I'VE have magnified reasonable
doubt until it has become the most
unreasonable thing in the world, :"
Judge Carter said, and all the courts
room turned to him and smiled. /" We
can still convict niggers and poor
white folks, but you may examine the
records and they will show that the
convictions of the influential is almost
impossible. And it Offends me deeply
to see the convictions Of q poor negro
while the white man goes UNPUBLISHED.
And / should feel that l have done
very much better here if / had
brought such influential men to justice
than if / secured the conviction of ever
50 many of the more unimportant men.
we needn't say that we are the
best people on earth when we don't
enforce the law" Judge Carter con-
tinued with the entire bar looking
straight and nodding with his empha-
sis beaten upon the desk where he was
sitting.
The Pistol TOter.
"The carrying of pistols does more.
in my judgment, to make US lawless
than anything / know. 1t causes more
trouble along with blind tiger liquor
and the remedy for this lawlessness is
a quick and public conscience that will
punish these violatoTs.
eff a man puts a pistol in his pocket
and keeps it there long he will shoot
sometime. That's what he puts it
there for. 1t would be foolish to say
that a man puts a pistol in his pocket
without expecting sometime to use 1t
against his fellowman. And the man
Iho carries a pistol long soon loses
his courage and his virtue. / don't be-
lieve any man ever carried a pistol
twelve months without becoming a
coward. and a coward is much more
dangerous than a brave man. The
coward will shoot when the danger is
fanciful. The brave man will wait
until it is real.
Blind Tiger Liquor.
"This pis~tol-carrying travels with
the blind tiger. No wonder we toler-
ate among the lower order Of our
society. We must break it up. When
a man embaFks in the liquor business,
he makes a business of crime. Armed
with a pistol and infiamed with bad
liquor, a man is ready for crime. No
blind tiger liquor is good. 1t is so
adulterated as to make three gal
Ions sell for six. 1t has to be done that
way to deceive the buyers, who are
but little better than the sellers, be-
cause they are conscious aiders and
abettors of the criminal. I'll tell you
when you break down the prohibition
law, you are breaking down all law,
because it breeds a popular contempt
for the law"
Honest Differences.
Judge Carter declared that there are
honest differences of opinion as re-
CARDS prohibition o regulation. Zone
o. our troubles has been that prohibi-
ZIONIST have been intolerant and the
anti-prohibitionists have called them
fanatics" Judge Carter continued.
And between these contending forces,
the blind tigers have reaped a rich
harvest and held high carnival. There
are plenty of men, just as good citi-
zens as we have, I know them, who do
not believe in prohibition. They are
in the minority now. But there is no
difference of opinion as to the obey
apce of the law.
I'm the enforcement of the law,
gentlemen Of the grand jury. you have
partnership with God. You try cases
by God and by the country. This is
one of the cases In which God Is pow
erless unless the jury does it's duty.
It is a great thing to be the mouth
piece of God. The lawyers find their
laws written in the books, but you find
your written upon the feshy hearst
of men,"
As to Jury Duty.
'HThe most ~disagreeable thing that
I have to contend with as a Judge is