Show CONDEMN AND DEFEND THE UNWRITTEN LA W TWO SIDES OF THE QUESTION man and woman prom nert in public life state their views on subject at present of much the right to defend the integrity of family life Is one of the aka made only punishment to ali the crime BY JOAQUIN MILLER A woman good or bad shot a man good or bad in his hotel in our na dional capital the other day she blands she says in trenched behind the unwritten law she claims to have chased this man from utah to wellington and shot him to death in bis hotel because he refused to provide for her and her two children that she has twice been made a mother that one of the children bears hie bame war have up to date been pretty of the woman who takes a babi on one arm and a pistol in the othata hand and pursues a man to his deah but when there are two ahll dra as in this case one well ponder a bit before he gives her the and tenderness so generously given to the guileless misguided girl like highwayman s act A woman cannot well come into spurt with a family of children and plead seduction and betrayal as a girl too often does and have the sym pathy of both men and women this comans statement is that she asked the man either to marry her or give her money to support her children he said no I 1 will not and with that she shot him to death or at least did her best to kill him on the spot briefly and bluntly she shot him down in his hotel tor refusing to give her money the difference between this act end that of the ordinary burglar or highwayman Is not deiy distinct fouw have we not had about enough of this unwritten law nonsense 7 V ho will be the next man or woman to shoot someone in the back or belly and plead the unwritten law 7 I 1 say and you know that had it not been tor the noisy and foolish top lu the tombs with his plea about the unwritten law this poor woman out ot the far west would be at home today with her children and her victim on his feet abo it his business count up on your fingers it you can 1 it on both hands how many cases ot this unwritten law idea have been conspicuous since the silly and insolent Ini young idler in the tombs began to exploit his defense for shoot las a useful and industrious man in tho back why right in the column eit to the ugly account of the woman without a cent who left her babes behind to travel for days and nights to kill a man you read of a woman killing a doctor and pleading in justification unwritten law pity heia yes but put her quietly in some good asylum and above all dont exploit her as you have the young lunatic in the tombs who so recent cases involving the so called unwritten law shot and k lied former senator arthur ars anna bradley brown of utah in washington hotel for refusing to marry her held on murder charge killed dr thomas butler at mont cello mrs angle birdsong SOng miss for blousing of alleged relations with her found guilty of manslaughter killed dr benjamin hams of chicago in amasa C campbell lawyer s office because he says victim wrecked his home antigo wis case pending i tried on charge of murdering william lucille mcleod j nieman of chicago in empire hotel ne J man had promised to marry her was I 1 acquitted killed stanford white new york roof harry K thaw garden theatre alleg ng white had ruined his wife evelyn nesbit thaw murder trial pending tried and acquitted of kilting caesar nan patterson young a bookmaker in a cab new york had lived with young who was married enjoys being exploited for see what comes of it all the most piteous case of this character took place a stones throw from the white house in front of the old house where the assassins tried to kill seward the night lincoln was murdered but it took place quite a dozen years before the fateful night at ford s theater A young politician of great promise and too of quent great achievement was living with his notably young wife en that same side of the square A great iron fence enclosed the square at that time had it not been for that fence his retreating victim might have fled and escaped two cultured victims both the young men in this very first unwritten law tragedy were men of fortune culture and position one the son of a poet who wrote the star spangled banner the other a member of congress from new york and equally conspicuous and respect ed the member of congress seeing the other leave his home and wave a handkerchief back to his young wife leaning out of the window confronted him there by the iron fence in front of his door and telling him of bis shame and that he must die followed him up and shot him to death I 1 was reading law at the time of the trial and followed the case closely I 1 re member reading with surprise the plea not of the advocate but the plea of the judge for the prisoner I 1 re call how one of the jurors the oldest of them all going down on his knees in a corner of the jury room prayed long and loud for the divine guidance in holding the hearthstone sacred lines by webb As an example of the unexampled pity for both parties to the tragedy let me quote a few lines written at the time by H webb of new york son of a prominent politician of the time and our minister to mexico this for the wronged member of congress blood on h s hands A stain on his bed pity tl em all liv ng and dead and this is for the handsome and dashing betrayer billows of sod swell er his breast pleading with god there let him rest sentiment is noble and inspiring I 1 have no use for either man or worn an without deep and sincere sentiment and sympathy in all things but you the bible in vain tor anything like this unwritten law disease there are those who tell you that you can find anything you want to find in the bible and true ou can find many strange things you can find almost anything but I 1 defy you to find anything like this unwritten law in all the lessons laws precepts and examples to be found between the lids of the book of books I 1 con fine you let us live by the sacred decalogue there is all the law ac capt the sermon on the mount the holy lepson of our savior who prayed forgive us as we forgive others unwritten law Is new it may be well enough for those who care to entertain any sort of pa tience with the unwritten law plea to understand distinctly that it Is en of mushroom growth and char acter think of draco or lycurgus entertaining such absurdities you will see nothing of the sort even hinted at in justinian s code coke upon littleton no commentator an chent or modern ever mentioned any thing of the sort the law was the law that was all blackstone was a brave bright poet a sentimentalist as well as mighty expounder of the law but surely he would have laughed in the face of any advocate who might have dared to talk to him of the unwritten law there Is literally nothing of the sort outside of america and there Is really nothing of the sort here except a sort of sub tertule for law used by demagogues and the sin of it all Is the of silly people who mock at the laws that have cost so much toll and are costing so much to maintain them cranks seeking notoriety through the newspapers and oh the pity of it pity for alv ing and dead but pity most tor this deadly disease spreading over the land like a plague which laughs at the decalogue the holy lessons and the life and death of jesus christ in yoking the hideous and defiant plea of the higher law |