The Daily Alaska empire., 1927-10-20
Defends Jesse -amcs.

(Wslter Britt. writing in New York World1
 The recent press dispatch announcing that friends of Jesse James were to erect monument in his memory and to his honor at Kearney. Mo-. confirms opinion long have held. There is no legal injustice of the present which deserves more sweeping amends than the long g-ago persecu- ''on Of Jesse James. The crimes with which he was charged even If all true, arc pale in com parison with those which society and postcrity committed against him. dign'fed stone in the village churchyard is the very least be- ginn ng which should make toward restoring q memory thus far abandoned to the lurid fancies of those who write two-cents-a word thriller for tran-butchers to sal.
 To understand the later career of Jesse James it s necessary to picture the M.sscuri-Kansas bor- der of Civil War days. K"nsas Jayhawkers under Inc Union flag were masing forays across th' State linc shooting men who sympathzed witt the South. driving off horses, burning houses at night over the heads cf women and children outraging civilization Southern fighting men particularly Quantrell's band. made reprisals in k'nd and with good measure Here the young Jese James went to school and learned his les sons. It irregular and isagreabe, but il was war.
 When Gen Lee surrendered at Appomattox a great many young Southerners did not consider themselves demobilzed- There have been such frnges of persistent beligerency at the close or all wars. Aguinaldo for instance; but he was absorbed and exalted as elder statesman of
 
 other Russian btter-enders were ranked as heroes by all the allied nations. In many of the South ern States the veterans came back to virtual armed resistance in that original and honorablF ku Klux Kan which settled local problems in spite of Fedora! Provost Marshals.
 Young Jesse James. full of patriotism and fight simply refused to haul down his flag There were bitter local grievances which the defeat or tn, South did not cure, and he applied himself industriously to them. He received gladly by hundreds of his oppressed neghbors. just af Robin Hood had been in his day If the repu- tation of Robin Hood had depended upon ac- counts by King John it would have come down to us not quite so glamorous-be sure of that Elderly folk of the Missouri border counties still remember Jesse James with affection telling how he was brought up regousy, never swore, was devoted to his family generous to the poor, gallant in battle, honest in personal dealings He was the hunted quarry in of extermina- tion His mother wounded and nearly killed when his pursuers bombed her home. He took the only course of sef-defense left open to him.
 venture the prediction that this monument to Jesse James will be followed by many another act Of tardy justice to his memory. His personal worth and heioism will shine through the roman tie. dirl which has been flung against him. He win appear in his true role an artist who painted brilliant scenes in the pageant of our de- velopment He will be acquitted by history or the criminal indictments and recognized as great tragic hero. struggling manfully against the jugerpaut of fate