OCR Text |
Show II UNWRITTEN LAWS 7rumon lmust the i There Is a class of unwritten law which doea not and ennnot become written law, Bays Case and Comment, because It appro:icb a bo near the danger line that man dare not recognize It to the I extent of publishing It and declaring It as a part of the positive law. It Is the unwritten law nf the sen thnt a captain cap-tain munt go down with Ills ship. Men dure sot write It Into the contract, and nations dure not Incorporate It In their navy or mnrlnn regulations, j yet the tyrants of the reu know the law, and be-I be-I lleva that to obey It betters their service, and I there are few Instances of Its being disregarded. It la the unwritten low of the army and nnvy that an officer shall not Berk covor, or at leust ' i hull not xhow apprehentlon of iHiiger to his per-Htn, per-Htn, In time of bntllo and In the prcsenco of on-Hind on-Hind men or common nillora. In Iho Frnncie I'ruailin war nearly four thousund olficura of the German army were killed and the great majority of teem gave up their lives becauso they believed 1.1 this law of conduct. In obedience to this law Fnrrngut bound himself him-self to tha mailt, l.oo rode to the head of hla charging column at the bloody angle, sud lwton walked coolly In front of the line and was shot In the presence of hit Mien. The law of the rlltht of revolution hna been much tulked about and much wrltton about. Every Intelligent citlten believes that he haa the right under certain conditions to oppose the established government of his own lnd and Join In an effort to establish nnt.ther In Its place. Just prior to and dutltiB the Civil r there was much dlrcus-slon dlrcus-slon In this country by learned men on either side of the rluht of revolution and the "hlKher power" nnd the "greater law," Tho law Jm-tlfjlr K ne Person In the killing of another has ra-i lid ,ne "'loua consideration nf every country. Kvery criminal codn provides certain cer-tain punblimitits fur homicide, and many of them Kraduuln the putihn ' lit wlih minute particularity, particular-ity, according to th" circumstances of tho killing, ao that nny one of tlx crimes may be Involved In a single Img-'ily. Much rndeg also attempt to define de-fine what ktllltiK I" JfU'e'ilo and what la tx-cuaablo tx-cuaablo and with their Interpretation by the courts attempt to den rll 'ho only conditions under un-der which one human hilng can kill another Tha Hebrew codo almost standa alone In Its recognition of man's desire to kill and hla right to have '.hat desire and thnt climax of all satisfactions satis-factions which cornea to him who under great provocation slaya another. It la not at all atrangs that In hla branch there ahould be an extended rode of unwritten aa written law, unwritten now and always to be unwritten for the reaaon that the recognition given by Its embodiment In the stnlutea would bo tnken aa a Hchiiko by dishonest men and would result In harm rather than good. It Is an unwritten law among the officers of the nrmy that If a subordinate ottlcer kills a superior officer because that officer haa publicly degraded him by striking him or by other action equally hiimllliiilng then tho court -martini will not convict. con-vict. Hilling the Civil war at Ixiulhvllle, Ky lietieral Nelson said to General Davis: How many men have you?" (lonerul liavla replied, "About" giving an ap-protin ap-protin ate number. Nelmn sld. "You an nrmy officer and ssy 'about!' Why don't you 'know' how many men you have?" And with that he etruck Davis In the face with hla glove. Davis shot and killed him, and the court-martial acquitted Davis. anaswai'ninw aasweeaP1""" " ' |