Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-10-25
ED TO RIAL.

7 Asst Friday night in the City Of
Birmingham, Ala, city of the
South and one as clean and as good
as lmost 9cities we believe all will
agree, a-iury returned verdict &C
quitting Rev. Edwin Stephenson o.
the charge of murder for the shoot
Jag to death a few weeks ago OF
Father Coyle, a Catholic priest. The
trial Of Stephenson was dramatic and
extended over period Of seVer2
days. The prosecution was adequate
The defense was able, but no ablel
than the prosecution. The jury ar
rived at its verdict deliberately, but
without great delay, indicating no
great differences of opinion among
the jurors.
Stephenson is Protestant, but not
connected with any organized church.
He has been an itinerant preacher,
without much of following or much
influence, evidently. Father Coyle
was a Catholic.
verdict of the jury. Our respect
ed and able contemporary, the Co
lunlbus Enquirer-Sun, which now and
then takes up the cudgel for the Cath
olic church, though often cOvertly,
walls wildly at the result of the trial
under an editorial captioned, "Must
Civilization Submit to Ths?" Says
the Enquirer Sun:
ut is difficult, indeed, for any
one who has any regard for the en-
forcement of law to comment calm
ly on the action of that Birmingham
jury in acquitting the Reverend
Stephenson of the cold-blooded muir,
der of a Catholic priest To refer
to the verdict as travesty on just
ice, does not seem to fully cover
the ground; for there was, both in
the trial and in the verdict, elements
that removed it from the ordinary
run of murder cases.
THE crime itself was prompted
by religious hate-bitter, murderous
hate in the heart of so-called min
lister of God.'-and the defense OF
the murderer was pitched largely
upon the same miserable plane; it
being evident throughout that lhe cf-
fort was to keep the religious issue
well to the front, and to obscure, as
much as possible, the real issue of
murder.
"And on that issue, the jury voJ-
ed for Stephenson the murderer, and
against the man whom he slew with
out warning-and that's all there
was to it.
1T would have been more decent,
and slightly less outrage on justice,
had the jury based its verdict on the
ground of insanity; for there alone
lies any possible excuse or explana-
ton for this cruel and frightful
crime-a crime that shocked the en-
tire country as few single murders
have ever done"
CATHOLIC readers of the Enquir-
er-Sun will applaud the forego-
ing. But we believe in all fairness
to the Catholics and non-Catholics
certain other facts connected with
Stephenson's case should be stated
We think the Enquirer-Sun at least
should have mentioned that Father
Coyle was slain after and because
he had married Stephenson's incor-
rlg1ble daughter, not yet of legal age,
to a man whom her father said he
considered negro, man of very
dark skin and coarse features, who
admitted he came from Porto Rico,
land of mixed races, where very
pure whites can be found. This man,
whatever the facts of lenage, Pied
TO Gussman, stood before the jury in
the trial. The jurymen gazed upon
his swarthy countenance, then upon
the fair skin of the defendants
daughter. Right then the issue of
religious differences were put aside.
The fathers of daughters on that
Jury-and there must have been at
least some-could not help but put
themselves in the defendants posi-
ton and ask themselves what they
would have done under similar cir.
cumstances. And they voted ac
cordingly when they got to the jury
room, without too much regard fol
the law in the case.
We believe too much importance
Is given by few publications to the
'bugaboo of religious intolerance, il
defence of the Catholic church, Jus
as Senator Watson and others max,
mountains out of mole hills in at
tacks upon the Catholic church
There is religious intolerance, to b.
sure. There should be less of il
And there WILL BE less of it wheI
there is less discussion of it-par
ticularly in cases where it scarcel
exists.
We do not approve murder or otf
er lawlessness. But we cannot hel
but feel that in the case Of the vel
dict in Birmingham the jurors wer
ruled in their judgments by %
ternal instinct deeper and stronge
than law-the instinct OF the prote,
ton of ones own. 1t is the fir.
law of nature. And always will b
SO