The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-04-22
Fair Enough
By WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1916,
BY King Features Syndicate, Inc.)

BY King Features Syndicate, Inc.)
A citizen OF Butte, Mcnt., wired me few
days ago that organized mobs were wreck
ing the homes Of staff employees of some
struck properties, his idea being, apparently,
that fearless denunciation in print would fix
Everything up fine.
This Butte situation will have to take its
regular turn on the business calendar of these
essays but meanwhile some primitive ad-
vice might help.
| The thing for the American citizen to do
when hoodlums attack his home, as in these
cases, is to get down the shotgun, push a
couple of shells into the breach, draw a bead
on first one and then another of the mob,
and let fly. The thing to do is blow their
heads OFF, If there is a rifle in the house that
is even better because the defending party
can stay in there pitching without interruption
until the cops or the deputies come tearing up
to arrest him on technical charges of homicide
which, OF course, will be dismissed at the preli-
mlnary hearing because, no doubt about it,
man does have a right to defend his life and
family and his home.
Although the victims here were non-striking
maintenance help Of the Anaconda copper
mines the union absolutely disoWned the crirni-
mails and insisted that none of them were
members That makes it all the better for
the defending citizen because, say what you
'AAA' NAANS1 1tooSSVSlt, OuI people QlQ QeVel-
op superstition, and the Supreme Court boil
stored it in five distinct cases, that a thug
intent on felonious assault, stickup man.
thief or extortloner had a right to practise
any or all their arts But the court did not
say that the law-abiding victim of these legal
lied crimes could be punished for resisting in
the most effective and appropriate manner
ana there nave been many decisions upholding
his right to kill in such circumstances, if he
thinks he must.
Only few months ago we had a case in con-
necticut that caused considerable bad feeling
because here the victim was young blue
jacket who was shot dead by woman carry
ing an overload of beer and quite few of the
nelghbors thought she was looking for trou-
BILE The state quit cold on the prosecution
however, with the observation that the defen-
dant, who was real pretty, by the way, had
occasion to fear that the sailor had a notion
| to deprive her OF her virtue by force In that
situation, she had right to use force her
SELF The force here was applied with a tar
get pistol.
Now this is fundamental but because most of
us are law abiding people who never dreame j
OF having to do our own police work against
MODS, we don't know the extent of our rights.
and shrink from the very thought Of shooting
COON Or busting his head open with an axe.
government, with us. is not really supposed to
be OPA and the Labor Relations Board and
quintuplet forms to be notarized and filed bv
such and such date but for preservation of
the peace and the rights of the well-behaved
against outrageous imposition by the ill-be-
haved. Government has the power and, more
taan that, the duty to use force against those
who violate the rights OF others including, of
course, the rights to person, peace and safe
ty and the security of their homes.
Like the tails by whic., some scientists in
MA ala L.
quite long spell back, our self-reliance in
critical moments has disappeared. The police
man Is our most familiar symbol and weapon
OF government. He carries pistol and he is
supposed to do our shooting for us when the
heed arises but, because most of us instinc-
lively refrain from messing with other people
many cop reaches retirement without ever
having fired shot except in the range down
the cellar at the police station.
Butte is many years closer to the era of
primitive law-es1forcement in which each in
dlvldual was mentally and physically armed to
take his own part when the law and govern
ment happened to be lying drunk in some
saloon or otherwise unavailable, but the habit
OF obedience to law was so highly developed
even there that when the mob got going on
defenseleSs citizens peace officers hurried
ly evacuated women and children from threat
ened homes in mob-ridoen butte" 50 the A.
| P. tells U.S.
| Imagine that in Butte, Mont. instead of
tearing into them with guns and shooting them
dead they removed the people from the zones
of attack.
The mass picket line has been the greatest
influence in bringing us to this submissive
frame OF mind. It relies on lawless violence
and in hundreds of cities, and notoriously a
few weeks ago in Stamford. Conn, the citizen
has seen the hunilating and frightening spec
tacle of uniformed policemen flinching in
the face of defiant mob by orders of the
mayor In Stamford This just meant that a
mob organized by union was placed beyond
and above the law. 1t meant further. however
that because the police had deserted him. the
individual citizen had right to start THROUGH
that mob and shoot the first man to raise a
| hand or club to him Any group of citizens in
any similar situation in any town has a RIGHT
to form vigllante organization and fight the
mob with its own methods because when the
law quits on the citizen he is on his own with
right to protect himself by group action
i mass or mol picket line has no rights
under our laws because il loses the protection
OF the law When it goes beyond the law itself
to threaten or commit violence. Roosevelt laid
that down for us himself, when the shoe hap
pened to pinch one time, in ordering regi-
nent OF regular infantry to break up a mob
at Norm American Aviation IN Inglewood, Cal
mat mob was no different from any other
mass plcketlng mob. One day some citizen or
organized group of citizens will make historic
IteSt OF this pronositiop ,pd +,ouoI, tho +,;,1