The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-17

escSsA VI t8v XnmxX1S &;
q duelins. When indivtdrsss' ~.
nations have learned 70 t,sss z M i
other with respect. be thiss 49,
duell1s ana war may b -. &
sary. but he does not thin IN =
one b either any worse Of -, -,
necessary than the other
Less q fefseaal Prev...
Certainly NO good brief - s
made out in defense Of dpeliss -
It Goes seem undeniable IN, u
= man renounces all personal Ma
ess and entrusts his safety "a ~
or to policemen. short-vindsS ~
sically unit for any kind of es,,
ter. and nervously unable a Al
disaster l. surely not altofeth,, !.
admirable figure. We harf -
with pleasure to tales OF man ~
welded 9 wicked sword ~.
Straight and faced death calmi.
This 10 not argument In fs,cs n.
lighting, but it does seem to ~;
So.e eaal cisillzatlon has robbed a.
individual Of something I;alrsss
This was what William Jane ~
IN mind when he said that =
might be abolished if We could ~
stitute something else strenuss.
and dangerous for it. He snsss.,
ed that our young men BE- enlisss
In armies to 60 out and CONQUER n.
wildernesS-t0 reclaim deserts y.
plore rivers and foresta ~,
might be a substitute for dueIi.,
too.
The trouble seems to be that n.
heroic impulse-the will to dars ~
SUFFERS decadent among u.s. u
are too comfortable to iiKht "a
other or the wilderness. The M
who Graves battle and adventure !.
as much out Of place among M 1,
lion in q barn yard.
Old Laws On Dueling,
Public opinion on dueline ~;
always divided in this country. svn
in colonial times. There was . ~.
! ing that men had a right to sstA
their differences by combat. but i
was also recognized that valuaAls
lives were lost in that way. IA
much crime committed in the na.s
; Of honor. The killing Of Hamiltm
by Burr probably gave the DUE 4.
first serious setback. Various lsu
were passed to prevent dueling. -
some of them were strange, II
New Orleans. q court Of horws
twas established for the arbitratin
of individual differences. This =.
parently was to do for individual,
about what the Hague tribunal tn
to do for nations, and it appareptiy
succeeded about as well. A Mas,
chusetts law forbade dueling ~
provided that the body Of : m
killed in q duel should be used N
dissection. A Mississippi law deal.
a body blow to the practice By mo
viding that man who killed aroth.
er in . duel must pay his victimt
debts!
The famous Cilley-Graves duel, d
which one Congressman killed a.
other. also resulted in a great'pop
ular revulsion against dueling. 1
committee Of congress Investigate
this fight and recommended the e.
puleiop OF Graves from the houte
Cilley was challenged. shot M
killedsfor remarks which he mAds
on the floor Of the house, and whlcl
we're perfectly in order. This M
u in violation Of the constitution 4
the United States. It further q
peared that the whole thing M
very nearly q frameup on Cilley,
and there was a plan on loot b
murder him in case he was ut
killed In the duel. These unsavcly
revelations brought it to the attea-
ton Of the people that duelingth
America had degenerated from !
test of skill between gentlemen Y
a deadly weapon in the hands &
DULLES and criminals. AlthougA
dueling continued more or less M
til after the Civil war, 1t declined
y from the time Of Cilley's deatA
}, which was In 1888.