Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-12-07
THE PASSING OF THE DUEL
BY Frederic j. HaSkin
ASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. 2.-Duel-
~ ling has been dealt a heavy blow in
Erancp We learn hu the refusal Of

L6Ou Dduu0t d m6luD6r Oh the CQdmD6r OIL
| deputies, who fought eleven duels before the
! war, to accept another challenge. He de-
clares that >tuelling is foolish practice, and
| that there is no excuse for it "since the
war;
1t seems strange to Americans that in
France men still formally fight to death, as
! they do also in other European countries
and in most of Latin-America. 1t has been
| more than half century since :. duel of any
| imp Jrtanee was fought in the United States,
and almost a century since the duel here was
| in its heyday.
| We might claim from this that we are
more civilized country than France, but that
would be a hard claim to substantiate by
any other evidence. 1t would also be hard
to claim much credit for not 'uelling when
we will have our little lynchins parties and
race riots, and in view of the record we have
made in Haiti. A malicious critic might say
that we have given up the fair fight for the
unfair one.
AS matter of fact duels have undoubtedly
held high and recognized place in countries
which were by every other standard highly
civilized, and a study Of the subject leaves one
not at all sure that combat between man and
man, strictly regulated, is a wholly bar
barous proceeding. The duel seems to be
condemned more and more, not because it
is essentially uncivilized, but because it is
wasteful of human life, and because it tends,
especially in democracy, to degenerate
into means of legitimizing murder.
Why Duel Declined
This seems to be the real cause of it's de-
cadence in this country. Duelling is an
aristocratic practice. In theory, it is a COM
bat between two peers regulated by the
strictest regard for fairness But in this
country everyone is peer One man is as
| good as anothe: in theory, and all had, until
few years ago, the right to bear arms.
Hence the duel became means by which
a rascal skilled with gun could kill useful
man and go free.
| Long and interesting is the history of the
duel in America, and it makes us realize
keenly how much we have changed A book
on duelling, written in 1868 by an English
man who had travelled extensively in this
country, says that America is the land
where life is hel cheaper than anywhere
else There duels are off-hand diversions"
| He goes on to say that the walls and fur
niture of Washington hotels were Scared by
the bullets which excited legislators and
politicians had fired at another
| In word, SO years ago we were the most
cantankerous, truculent and self-assertive
people on earth. All men went armed and
were always ready to lay down their lives
! in defense of their honor, their property
and their dignity. In those days you did
not even jostie man on the street without
making elaborate apology or else fighting
| for your life.
| Now we are as completely disarmed as
medieval peasants. We are driven about like
sheep in great herds We peacefully stand
| on each others toes in the subways, while
| consideration for the stranger is a rare vir-
tue in our midst There would seem to be
| just a mite of truth in statement Of an old
writer on the subject that "the duel is a
sharp but salutary remedy for rude and Of
| fensive conduct" He also points out that
there is little excuse for ny nation which
still goes to war to pride itself on the abo-
lition of duelling. when individuals and
nations have learned to treat each other with
respect" he thinks both duelling and war
may be unnecessary, but he does not think
that the one is either any worse or any less
| n ecessary than the other.
Loss of Personal Prowess
Certainly no good brief can be made out
in defense of duelling. Yet it does seem I'M
deniable that when a man renounces all per-
sonal proWess and entrusts hi. safety ana
honor to policemen, he loses something The
typical good citizen of today, sedentary,
short-winded, physically unfit for any kind
of encounter, and nervously unable to face
disaster is surely not altogether an a&-
mirahle figure. We hank back with pleasure
to tales of en- who welded / wicked sword
shot straight and faced death calmly.
This is not argument in favor of fighting,
but it does seem to indicate that civiliza-
ton has robbed the individual of something
valuable. This was what William James had
! in mind when he said that war might be
abolished if we could substitute something
Else Ooo
gested that your young men be enlisted IN
armies to go out and conquer the Wilder
ness-to reclaim deserts, explore rivers and
forests. That Night be substitute for duel
! ling, too.
The trouble seems to be that the heroic
| impulse-the will to dare and SUFFERS de-
| cadent among us. We are too comfortable
to fight each other or the wilderness. The
man who Graves battle and adventure is as
much out of place among US as a lion In
barn yard.
Old Laws ON Duelling
Public opinion on duelling was always dl-
yided in this country, even in colonial times
There was a feeling that men had right
to settle their differences by combat, but 1t
was also recognized that valuable lives were
lost in that way, and much crime committed
in the name of honor. The killing OF Ham
ilton by Burr probably gave the duel It's
first serious setback. Various laws were
passed to prevent duellng, and lone OF them
were strange. In New Orleans, court or
honor was established for the arbitration OF
Individual differences. This apparently was
to do for individuals about what che Hague
tribunal tries to do for nations, and 1t ap'
parently succeeded about as we'll. Massa-
| chusetts law forbade duelling and provided
that the body of killed in duel
should be used for dissection. Mississippi
| In Wy dealt bodv blow to the practice by