The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1926-10-08
PIOUS THOUGHTS
On the Latest Killing in Silver Bow County.
BY HARLOW PEASE

On Friday morning, October 1st a man was
killed in the Silver Bow County jail 1t is relat-
ed in the daily press that he objected to being
killed. that he resisted and defended himself with
lead pipe and improvised knife. He chung
stubbomly to life
1t is told that the victim fought savagely
against his executioners until he was smothered
by gas bombs He refused to dignity the occa-
sion by putting black suit appropriate to his
approaching funeral. He wore only his Jail garb
of overalls and shirt, which became torn in the
struggle, and he was indecently exposed in the
efforts made to subdue him. He was partly naked
when bound and dragged to the gallows He was
reluctant even in the manner Of his death, for
his neck not broken, but life was gradually
extinguished by strangulation.
There, in that Jail full of suffering prisoners
physically tortured by the asphyNiating gas,
morally shaken by the spectacle of determined
homicide-Tony Vettere was taken from the rope
and prepared for the grave.
A crowd surged around the Jail, eager to
smell and taste.
This man was not killed by the men who
killed him, but by something called the Law. The
prosecutors who demanded the death penalty, the
]
it. the governor who confirmed it, the sheriffs
deputies who executed it, did not kill the man.
The Law killed him.
Justice killed him.
Law and Justice usurped freedom of choice
from the prosecutors, the jury, the judge, the
governor and the sheriff. Consequently none of
these persons incurred any moral responsibility.
Can this l learned by reading books)
The moral reeDoue ibilif. ic accs1nnad nv the
constituted spokesman of organized society-edi-
tors, business persons, clergymen.
Theology proves that the doer of homicide
forfeits his own life and that the State possesses
the fright of the sword"
Publicity declares that society trembles when
ever a slayers life is spared, and that the wicked
turn to ways Of peace when the sayer's life is
strangled out. 1t becomes more than ever appar
emit that God was pleased at the killing of Ton!
S Vettere, and that the German gas bombs smelleC
n as incense in His nostrils.
a There was one serious blemish upon the af
fair, and that was its privacy. Properly 70 i'm
&c press the minds of evil doors, they should see tn
y gallows work They should not be left to tn
e feeble powers Of the news writer's. The hangin
% should have been at noon, at the corner Of Par
4 and Main streets, five stories high. There is n
merit in hiding from the public the doing OF
le good act.
le Another error was committed. It IS custom
airy in these days to give illustration Of the wors
he ing Of courts and other branches Of governmer
S, to the school children.
I'd They are taken to court rooms to hear tn
ne lawyers maneuver, and the judges pronounc
at They are taken to legislative galleries to wtne.
Of the making Of the Law. Why not take them
he the place where the Law is carried out?
ey So, in addition to having the next execute
m take place in the center Of Butte's business Sc
81 ton, want to see the seven thousand school chi
r dren Of Butte conducted to the scene by the
CT teachers, and there be shown the highest fun
IT. ton Of the state-the execution Of the Law.
d In this way the future generation will be Il
es delibly imbued with adherence of murder ar
or the love of Justice.