Evening star., 1926-04-25
A Reign of Terror.

OF the mountain counties OF IehheSSee
where moOnshining is favorite occu-
patton. A farmer vigilante. member
of A posse OF citizens seeking to root
out hand of Illicit distillers in the
hills, was killed on the highway near
his home. A reward of 81 .0O0 was OF
fered for his slayers and shortly alter
ward the following notice was sent OUT
for circulation throughout the district:
'If any man is arrested for the Evans
murder. seven more men VIII die.
Immediately seven members OIL the
vicilant committee fed their homes.
A CLERGYMAN who raised haf OIL
the reward has called mass meet
ing for today to consider the sltua'
ton. The attorney general or the
State has been notified Of the lawless'
ness and urged to act. Thus the case
stands at present.
Leave us alone to make liquor or
we will kill" announce the moon
sinners. "If we kill anybody and one
Of us is arrested. we will Kill sever
others" The law is flouted. The la"
enforcement officers are dehed. Inc
law,abiding people are threatened
with death.
All this. according to some "i those
who have lately been testifying ne
fore the Senate committee on the
..wet dry" question. is directly at
inN There
fore. repeal the law which forbids the
making of liquor let the people make
all they want: give the moonShlnei
free license to do as he pleases. ano
thus solve the problem of law enforce
ment.
No matter what harm is done. re
move the cause of evil and there viii
he no evil. II is evil to forbid the
making of liquor. because it leads tc
lawbreaking. Therefore, change, the
law.
Persons who have no property ant
who desire the property of Others
break the law when they enter prem
ises and take what they wish. There
fore. cancel the law against theft and
burglary. so that there may be no law
breaking when any person takes what
he wishes.
In earlier times. when a man s
horse was one of his most priced pos
sessions, horse stealing was held as
q capital crime. In the frontier
regions. where horses were necessary
end when law was laxly enforced
through lack of organization, the
horse thief was pursued by posses OF
citizens and. if caught. was given
short 81 rift Did any one then call
for freedom of property rights in all
horses. because there was so much
termination to steal them. and because
Ii was so troublesome to punish the
thieves? Not appreciably. The posses
went ahead and enforced the law as
best they could. in defense of the law
OF ownership.
This Tennessee reign of terror is a
symbol of the state of mind of many
of those ~'hO. finding that enforcement
of. the prohibition law is difficult and
that prohibition has led to lawbreak-
ing. would in panic seek to correct
the evil by removing what they have
been assured by distinctly interested
persons is the real cause. prohibition
itself Every possible crime commit
ted nowadays is attributed to the re
action from prohibition. Murder, bur-
glary. outrage. gang depredations. all
are ascribed to this one influence, the
natural resistance" to law.
The indictment against the law as
the cause of its own defiance and VIC
lation is the shrewd device of interests
that seek the restoration of the liquor
ira affic i'm all it's vileness and strength
of political influence.