Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1919-04-04


torn have been raised If con-
tables had shot fleeing man
of any other felony |
han that of transporting liquor,
would so many jealous cham
>ions of the law have arisen to
inquire whether the constables
had been fred upon before they
delivered their fusillade
These questions, of course, do
not assume for a moment that if
the prohibition agents were gull
ty Of murder. they should not be
prosecuted. A rigid investiga-
ton should be made IN this and
III every other case where there
is the slightest evidence that
officers Of the law are too quick
with the trigger. The questions
are asked rather to remind read.
ers of the curious mental atti-
tude so many men unconsciously
assume toward the prohibition
law. a man may be railroaded
to the penitentiary through some
miscarriage of the law and
scarcely a corporal's guard can
be mustered who will take All in
terest in procuring his release.
A court of Justice may be de.
graded into a circus-ring and
few will protest. A murderer
will slip through the fingers oil
the police and none will inquire
why. An officer of the law may
be shot ia the discharge of Ills
duty and the only comment Of
the crowd is, 'That's HARD
luck" The highest courts oil
the land may adhere unyie1ding
" to archaic doctrines of con
tributory negligence" and ''fel
low-servants," and the genera
view of the public is that the
man who complains has been hit
But let a revenue officer shoot {
blockade-runner WHO is armed tt
the death, and the very eartl
seems to yield up sudden cham
pions of due process of law"
We have no doubt that the i'll
spectors of the prohibition COM
missioner would make a very
poor showing if called upon te
explain the legal refnements Of
the law of self-defense. We
cherish no delusion that they
are knight-errants inspired by
lofty ideals Of quest. If the i'll.
spectors were Of high judicia
ability or lofty mentality, mani
testify they would not be spend
ing their day in humping suit.
cases or their nights in sllivering
by the roadside. Nor are we
prepared to say more concerning
the charges that are going the
rounds than that no man has tile
right to allege that a man is a
crook on the vague ground OF
they say" or fellow told
me- Neither, for that matter,
has any man the right to COM
plain Of the non-entorcement of
the law and to conceal violence
lie claims to have.
But we do know that with the
approach of national prohibition,
bootleggers are glimpsing tre-
mendous profits and are operat-
ing on large scale. Parties are
now being organized with two
or more heavy motor cars work.
ing together. One is employed
as a pilot car the other carries
the cargo. Both are equipped
for any emergency, and usually
are crowded with well-armed,
desperate men. TO all intents
and purposes these are armored
motor cars" violating the law as
deliberately as would smugglers
WHO crept into our bays from
gunboats anchored with their
guns pointing inward. 1t is as
impossible to deal with these
blockadd-ruuners by deliberate,
slcw-footed law as it would be
to attempt to serve subpoena
on a mob. The law, of course,
must be observed in respect TO
arrest, but the law must not be
denied force for its maintenance.
Viewed in the light. the "af-
fair near Winchester" is of course
but should be re-
garded by the real friends of law
as anything more
than the inevitable clash between
m IN who were bent on enforcing
tIie law aoaiuSf mon 1,I,op, <I,a,