Year: 1876

One Answer?

 we would like to know, and we iiow take occaslon to ask, why it is that criminals---especially those guilty of high crimes---secm to evade punishment in Pope county with 70 much ease? Why it is that there seems to be so little effort to bring them to. an account for their crimes against theiaws of God and man !? Why they can run so long after they have perpetrated some most hein- ous crime, without the strong hand of the law being laid upon them? And why, when they are brought up to the bar of jnstice, their cases are not more speedily disposed ofs

 We ask this in all sobcrness, and wits . full sense of the unpleasant infcrences that may be drawn from the necessity of such questions. We ask it, because we believe in an energetic enforcement of the law and summary punishment of crime, and we don't believe in trying to smother crime, or allowing crimi- lilals to escape without making a most strenuous effort to bring them to justice. Therefore when we see such things done we consider it our duty to speak of it although some men may say we ought not to say anything about it for fear it may give us the name of having bad men. To cover up crimes, to allow them to go unpunished, and to manifest no concern at the commission of crime, is the very way to make our country rendezvous for the very worst class of men. We want to drive this class of men from us--- not to attract them. The way to accomplish this is to give them no peacein our borders, to watch with a jealous eye every infraction of the Jaw and demand of our officers an energetic enforcement of the stat utes against crime.

 To show that we are not exercised about this matter without any grounds for being so, we will point out a few cases that now come to mind. First, near two years ago old Mir. McAllister was murdered in cold blood--a most brutal and shocking murder. His murderers were Mccoy, Osborne and Bookout. Mccoy has been caught and been under arrest twice or three times, but always succeeds in making his escape and is now at large. Os- borne was arrested in White county and reward of three hundred dol lars paid for his apprehension and delivery to the sheriff of our county. He also escaped and is now at large. Bookout was never arrested. Two years have passed since this brutal murder, and yet no one has been brought to punishment.

 Since then there has been several other murders---the hanging of the aegro near Dover, the drowning of the boy Little, in the lake the other side of Dover, and the murder os Vim. Allison by Tom Blevins in Galla Rock township. In the first of these two cases there has never, so far as we have learned, been any arrest made, nor investigation had. For the murder of Allison, Blevins has never been apprehended. It was a shocking murder, and he is now at large, but we believe could be easily caught if the proper effort was made. Why is all this? Why is it that no reward has ever been offered for Blevins? Have our officers nev- CT felt interest enough to convey official information of these murders to the executive? Why is it that the taking of life here is attended with but 50 little effort to visit the retri- button of violated law upon the guilty party!

 We want this thing to be looked squarely in the face, and we do not intend to keep silent and see things go on this way any longer without at least uttering our protest, and calling upon the people to demand a change.