Evening star., 1920-03-21
BY WILLIAM CLLMAN.


vastness meant months of weary
plodding. parching thirst. gnawing
hunger and intense bodily suffering
the meanest man in all the land
was the stealer of another mans
faithful broncho-a horse thief.
The hardy pioneers who blazed the
trails and settled the country be-
yond the Rockies were never at vart-
ance regarding the lowest vernin
that infested the plains, the deserts
and the golden hills of the western
United States-it was unanimously
agreed that the horse thief was the
lowest
For the most part. the uen of the
west were honest though rough. They
were trail blazers of new world VINO
had toiled laboriously to obtain their
acquired wealth and chattels they
were ever ready to protect vigorously
what they had gained.
In those strenuous days the law
was not abroad generally in the land.
and where it had sway at all 1t was
frequently represented by some one
incapable of enforcing it according
to it's letter. Therefore it often feli
to the men themselves to punish the
more fragrant wrongdoings. The rope
| atLdcncu 10 tHc Sduule POIIiIiCh "a
every plainsman readily suggested it.
self as the handiest implement for
the prompt execution of these rugged
judgments and by common consent
the penalty of horse stealing was
hanging.
In the frontier days the four-legged
predecessors of our modern nVVer
furnished the sole means of trans
portation, distances were great.
water holes few and far between, and
frequently tantamount to jeOpardfZlng
his life. Hence the rope and It's IN
Huence in reducing horse stealing to
a minimum. Quick. drastic PUNISH
ment was meted out to the WHO
youths of 40 who were wont to spend
a hilarious evening with other peo-
ple's property.
But as the years rolled by and the
so called refining influence or mod
ern civilization began to spread IT.
self over this new land. the pioneers
were taught that it was wrong Tor
them to take matters into their own
hands-that they should turn Offend
ers over to the law. let the law take
it's course. and that right would pre-
vail and justice be done.
These men did not want TO do
wrong. so eventually doses of law as
administered by mobs ceased to be
the vogue and the legal statutes OF
the federal government. the states,
the counties and the towns won gen
eraI recognition. 1t became crime
to possess gun, and skill IN tying
the hangman'S knot became lost
art.
Wonderful indeed are the changes
wrought by the passing years. To-
day in the country where three score
and ten years ago men struggled ana
died in wild searches for the precious
yellow metal of the hills, and where
the horse was king in the field OF
transportation. descendents OF the
forty miners are thickly numerous;
smooth. broad highways are in place
of the early trails; self-propelled We
hicles have taken the places of the
old horse drawn prairie schooners.
and law is everywhere and recognized.
Even the old-time horse thief has his
m\dern successor.
the forty-niners handed down honest
sons and daughters to 1918. so. too.
did the dishonest element, the horse
thieves. bequeath their ilk to posteri-
ty Only, thanks to the softening in
|fuence-with emphasis on influence.
of enlightenment. coupled with some
| linguistic perversion. the modern
is called sjoy-rider." That is, when
cars disappearance is first reported
it's absence is usually attributed to
the exuberance of joy-riders. because
you never can tell just who took it;
perhaps it was taken by the renegade
son of one of our best families, and
| it would never do. oh. no, indeed! to
brand one of these as thief like
| they did in the old days when thief
was a thief and nothing less.
! In those days when man stole
! $50 broncho he was pursued until
caught. and then hanged by the neck
until dead. Perhaps this punishment
was too severe. but at any rate that
| oil hnrSa and his
| fate had not little to do with keep
| ing others from following his life
time commercial activities 1t was
hard, homespun justice, but 1t pro-
duced the desirable result of Riding
! the community of an obnoxious citi-
zen. and it served ample warning upon
1his kind. No doubt the car owner of
to-day who has had his machine stolen
reviews with more or less regret the
passing of the wholesome hempen
rope which was no respecter of per-
sons and guaranteed results.
; 1t is a curious fact that certain
leniency is applied to car stealing
which has no parallel in the applica-
! ton of the statutes to other thIeving.
| There is an inclination-wholly un-
warranted and difficult, to def1ne-to
attribute the disappearance of a car
to the playfulpess of .effervescent
youth, and as general rule the Of
tenders, if caught at all are lightly
4
how the motor car seems to be out
side the pale of protection which Sc
cures undisturbed possession to every
| other valuable thing owned.
| During the past several years when
a mans motor ear was taken and he
reported the fact to the police he
was told that sit would turn up all
right probably in the hands OF joy
| riders" Frequently the missing car
was found abandoned by the road
side, more or less damaged, and re-
| turned to the unhappy owner, who
increased zeal More frequently. as
| time went on, the car was never re-
| turned.
| The names of oy-riders. II ascer-
| tanned by the police. were seldom
made public and the miscreants there
by encouraged TO repeat their prac-
| tices became bolder and bolder until
today we have in our midst organ
ized and financed gangs Of motor car
| thieves .
Largely cause automobile clubs
have demanded greater protection for
the property of their members, and
have agitated official activity. the po-
ly in chasing down car thieves. Too,
some thieves had the temerity to-
steal policemen's automobiles. In
some of the larger cities "automoolle
| squads" have been added to The po-
lice department The men OF the auto
squads devote their time solely to To-
eating stolen cars and hunting down
| the thieves And these squads are pc,
| coming more and more successful, and
| many car stealers are brought into
| court.
But in court. it seems. the penalties
inflicted upon joy-riders and plain
auto thieves are not except In rare
| cases. sufficient to deter the prisoner