Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-26

The murder of Don r. MelIett. pub
| Usher of the Canton Daily News, by
gunner because he fought the under
| world in the Ohio city has turned ma
tional attention to municipal crime
conditions, with demands for house
cleaning. There is universal insistence
that the slayers and their instigators
shall be caught and given the full
penalty Of the law.
Mellett's service to the community
Is held to be typical OF his profession.
Tributes to his courage and character
are many. Former Gov. James NJ.
Cox. owner of the Canton Daily News,
in the course of statement eulogiz-
| ing the dead publisher. says: How
foolish were the asSassins and those
who goaded them on! The taking of
q single life in the present circum-
| stances is of no avail. When q gen.
eral falls at the head of the army, the
spectacle of his sacrifice moves his
followers on to increased devotion to
the cause, The soul of Don Mellett
will go marching on. No one deserv-
| ing of the name of citizen fails to
know now that what Don Mellett said
was so in Canton, is so. In fact the
conditions are even worse than pic
tured. The cruel deed of assassination
is abundant evidence Of that. It Is
It did, in the very flower OF his young
manhood, and yet time will not be
long in revealing that the aggregated
results of his labors were stupendous.
The significance of his death will be
more generally commented upon later.
That is the task of continuing days.
Crooks. official and otherwise, have
but made matters worse for them
selves"
The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
holds that 1.-The motive of the murder
was a warning in a very positive, un-
mistakable way that the law-breaking
element is not to be hampered by the
Ilaw-abiding." The Bridgeport Post,
looking beyond the crime, affirms that
those who think they can say the
final word by the argument of the gun
betray their own bad Judgment; when
the gun speaks, the fight has only
begun" The Lima Morning Star sug.
gests that "a perfect vindication of
fha Police Department" which the
Canton News had criticized. will come
when the assailant is brought to
Justice: not the man who carried the
gun and fired the shot alone, but the
man who proposed the deed, ordered 1t
done. and in all probability paid hand
somely for its accomplishment
'The thing that laid him low" &C
cording to the Canton Daily News.
Mr.. Mellett's own paper, was the
Shiny, sinking personification OF the
lcrime hierarchy that has throttled for
Years this fairest city of great State,
that under the domination of the
DEVILS agents has been made the har-
hor of safety for life's pirates. Let
the good people of Canton reflect.
Whose life is safe If this thing may
continue? Yesterday it was Don Mel
lett. Today, tomorrow, 1t may De
your home that Is laid waste by the
sssassin's bullet" The New Haven
Register points out that the sad
thing is that worthy life had to be
snuffed out by the bastard hand or
the assassin before the community
awoke to a realization of the pitt
ableness of its situation"
The Youngstown VindicatOr urges
every assistance in the search for
the murderers," with the assertion
! that every city has great deal at
stake, for while it is bad enough that
a man must lose his life because a
police department Is too corrupt or
| Indifferent to do its duty. II would be
| dangerous, indeed, If the murderer
| were to escape; good government in
every city would suffer from the
blow" The Rock Island Argus be-
| lieves that IF money and active eff
forts can accomplish the arrest Of
| the perpetrators Of this vile deed, they
| will be brought to Justice" although
\ the Bloomington Paragraph feels
| that at is a shame upon COM
munity which requires the sacrifice
\ of a brave mans life to arouse it
| from It's lethargy."
| "As the blood of the martyrs is the
| seed of the church" says the Altoona
| Mirror. so the death of men like
| this Canton editor may promote the
/ downfall of the evil conditions that
| he denounced" The Cleveland News
also sees In Mr.. Mellett "a martyr to
| civic decency and the freedom of the
| press" while the Boston Transcript
remarks that "Mellett will not have
died in vain If there is to result
1.-THE assertion OF the right of honest
people to an honest government. not
| for a year, not only while this tragic
event in the life of the city is fresh
N che public IasuoSys but heuea3E