By such infamous arts had many officials of law and justice
been placed in situations of trust and power. Could it reasonably be
expected that they would honestly and fairly apply the law to the
punishment of the friends who had given them their offices, when they
added to these crimes against society, the scarcely more flagrant ones
of robbery and murder? If it was possible, the people did not believe it
would be done. They saw enough to convince them that it was not done.
They saw an unarmed man shot down and instantly killed in one of the
most frequented streets of the city while endeavoring to escape from his
pursuer. They saw the forms of trial applied in this clear case, and
after every quibble and perversion of law which ingenuity could devise
had been tried, the lame and impotent conclusion arrived at of a verdict
of manslaughter, and a sentence for a short period to the State Prison.
They saw a gambler, while quietly conversing with the United States
Marshal in the doorway of a store on Clay Street, draw a revolver from
his pocket and slay him upon the spot.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25