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CONDEMN AND DEFEND
THE UNWRITTEN LAW
TWO SIDES OF THE QUESTION
Man aid Woman Proni er t in Public Life State Thci
Views on Subject at Prcomt of Much Promii e ice
The Right to Defend the Integrity cf Family Life Is
One of the Pltai Made -Only Pinshment to Fit
the Cnmsm
BY JOAQUIN MILLER
A woman good or bad shot a man
good or bad in his hotel in our na
tional capital the other day She
stands she says intrenched behind
k the unwritten law She claims to
have chased this man from Utah to
Washington and shot him to death
in his 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
his name
We have up to date been pretty
tolerant of the woman who takes a
babe on one arm and a pistol in the
other hand and pursues a man to his
death But when there are two chil
dren as in this case one may well
ponder a bit before he gives her the
tears and tenderness so generously
Civen to the guileless misguided girl
Like Highwaymans Act
A woman cannot well come into
court 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
womans statement is that she asked
the man either to marry her or give
her money to support her children He
said No I 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 for refusing to give her
money The difference between this
act and that of the ordinary burglar
or highwayman is not very distinct
Her declaration that the world will
see the justification of her act is as
the declaration of an insane woman
And this must be as you will see is
her only excuse and it will be pleaded
so soon as a lawyer can be found to
take care of her her only defense
Yet there will be many ready to say
served him just right will say it
without waiting to hear one single
word of the other side Sitting at a
table to day some one read the wom
ans statement wherein she supple
mented the story of the attempted
murder with the assertion that she
had not one cent Whereupon a
beautiful lady of more than ordinary
culture and knowledge of the world
was moved to tears and sighed Not
one cent think of it But a hardened
man a husband and father with a
family of daughters sighed from the
other end of the table Ah my dear
there are others who have not a cent
If we are to allow all those who have
not a cent to set out and chase those
down who happen to have a cent or
two where will that sort of plea lead
us
Victims Morals Irrelevant
As said before as to whether this
man is a good or bad man high or
low rich or poor or whether the
woman is either neither or all of
these does not figure at all in this
dismal and pitiful case Can a woman
leave her children behind her and
chase a man thousands of miles and
then when she murders him put as her
last excuse the fact that she has not
a cent Surely any one not entirely
insane should have saved the price of
the fare for her children Unwritten
law indeed There is a weak and
foolish fop in New York who has
kept the press busy for half a year
guessing whether he will plead in de
fense of cowardly murder when he
slipped up and shot a brilliant man of
brains and achievement in the back
this same unwritten law or simply
emotional insanity
Now have we not had about enough
of this unwritten law nonsense
Who will be the next man or woman
to shoot someone in the back or belly
and plead the unwritten law I
say and you know that had it not
been for the noisy and foolish fop
in the Tombs with his plea about the
unwritten law this poor woman out
of the far west would be at home to
day with her children and her victim
on his feet about his business
- T
Count up on your fingers if you can
do it on both hands how many cases
of this unwritten law idea have
been conspicuous since the silly and
insolent young idler in the Tombs be
gan to exploit his defense for shoot
ing a useful and industrious man in
the back Why right in the column
next 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
her 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
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 Soward the night Lincoln
was murdered But it took place quite
a dozen years before the fateful night
at Fords theater A young politician
of great promise and too of subse
quent great achievement was living
with his notably young wife on 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 dron fence in front
of his door and telling him of his
shame and that he must die followed
him up and shot him to death I was
reading law at the time of the trial
and followed the case closely I re
member reading with surprise the
plea not of the advocate but the plea
of the judge for the prisoner I re
call how one of the jurors the oldest
of them all going down on his Jcnees
in a corner of the jury room prayed
long and loud for the divine guidance
in holding the hearthstone sacred
The man was acquitted partly be
cause it was made to appear that he
really loved his wife but mainly be
cause the victim had by his acts and
some foolish admission to a friend
made it appear that he had no real
heart in the affair but rather gloried
in his crime It is to be admitted
that the hearts of all both women
and men were with the wronged man
especially when he again took the
frail woman to his heart and lived the
life of a good husband till death took
her from him
Lines By C H 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 C H Webb of New York
Recent Cases Involving the So Called Unwritten Law
Mrs Anna Bradley
Amasa C Campbell
Lucille McLeod
Harry K ThaW
Nan Patterson
Shot and killed former Senator Arthur
Brown of Utah in Washington hotel for
refusing to marry her Held on murdtr
charge
Killed Dr Thomas Butter at Monticcllo
MrS Angle BirdSOng Miss for boasting of alleged relations
with her Found guilty of manslaughter
Killed Dr Eenjamin Harris of Chicago in
lawyers office because he says victim
wrecked his - in Antigo Wis Case
pending
Tried on charge of murdering William T
Nieman of Chicago in Empire hotel Nie
man had promised to marry her Was
acquitted
Kitted Stanford White in New York Rcof
Garden Theatre alleging White had
ruined his wife Ebelyn Nesbit Thaw
Murder trial pending
Tried and acquitted of kiling Caesar
Young a bookmaker in a cab in New
York Had lived with Young who was
married
son of a prominent politician of the
time and our minister to Mexico
This for the wronged member of
congress
Blood on his hands
A stain on his bed
Pity them all
Living and dead
And this is for the handsome and
dashing betrayer
Billows of sod
Swell oer his breast
Pleading with God
There let him rest
Sentiment is noble and inspiring
I have no use for either man or wom
an without deep and sincere sentiment
and sympathy in all things But you
search the Bible in vain for 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 you can find
many strange things You can find
jr
almost anything But I 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 con
fine you let us live by the sacred
decalogue There is all the law Ac
cept the sermon on the mount the
holy lesson 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
tirely 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 Justinians code Coke
upon Littleton no commentator an
cient 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
terfuge for law used by demagogues
And the sin of it all is the misleading
of silly people who mock at the laws
that have cost so much toil and are
costing so much to maintain them
threatened her life if she had re
treated to the wall to elude him it
would have been a case of justifiable
homicide But his crime against her
was a more atrocious one than mur
der It took away her good name the
love and affections of her friends and
relations her future her faith in and
respect for herself and her trust in
God and man
Written in the Mothers Heart
And again the man takes under
the unrighteous laws of certain states
his child away from its mother Which
law comes first that written in the
statute books or that written in the
heart of every mother by the pangs of
childbirth So sure as she lives that
mother will obey the unwritten law
and the child she will have It is only
ten years since there was taken from
our statute book the law that a man
could by will give his unborn child to
whom he pleased without reference
to the paramount claim by affection
and suffering of its mother
A member of the bar in the one
state in the union where there are no
divorce laws once told me that in his
state they had no serious trouble as
to domestic infelicities If a man
abuses my sister he knows whom he
has to deal with In this case the
unwritten law seemed to be preferred
to the statute law which severs the
marriage bond on adequate grounds
well proven I suggested to the gen
tleman that all women were not so
81 iaSS o clfcJ
cranks seeking notoriety through the
newspapers
And oh the pity of it Pity for liv
ing and dead But pity most for 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
voking the hideous and defiant plea
of the higher law
FOR UNWRITTEN LAW
Dean of the Washington College of
Law Defines It as the Right to De
fend the Integrity of Family Life
BY ELLEN SPENCER MUSSEY
Dean of the Washington College of Law
The unwritten law might be de
fined to be right to defend the integ
rity of family life against all invasion
and invaders While the family has
no distinct legal entity apart from the
persons who compose it yet in the
interest of society the law holds the
more intimate family relations as
sacred and not to be inquired into by
a court of justice It is on this ground
that communications between husband
and wife are privileged and they can
not testify as to confidential communi
cations made by one to the other
during the marriage
Marriage is a civil institution as
well as a contract and it should be a
religious sacrament Law cannot
make or unmake the true marriage
relation but so far as the relation
concerns society and the state it must
control it
The Family as a Unit
The law regards carefully all prop
erty rights It deals promptly with
the trespasser and the thief and en
forces contracts The murderer the
embezzler the perjurer have justice
meted out to them as enemies of the
commonwealth
But t3 law does not deal with the
family as a unit Every student of
sociology knows that the homes erf the
commonwealth are its real corner
stones but the law does not so recog
nize it It is the one institution still
left to the defense of the head of the
family In the very nature of things
there is always a woman in the case
If the crime is against her personally
if she be over the age of 1G what
remedy does the law give her
A young woman went into a city to
support herself unwarned inexperi
enced her faith and her affections
found an unworthy object Too late
she found the man was already mar
ried and in a wild moment she shot
him fatally If the man had boldly
fortunate as to have brothers but
the reply was that seldom was there
a case in which there was no male
relative and that he believed that
were such a case to arise of gross
abuse there was always to be found
in the community a man who would
protect the woman and her rights
Two Noted Tragedies
Who that reads the recent trial of
Gillette for the murder of his victim
can forget the coolness with which he
claimed he said Tell your father
if you dont I will There comes a
mental picture of that father and
what swift vengeance he would have
meted out to the destroyer of his
child Was Gillette such a degen
erate that to him the unwritten law
had no meaning or was he merely
talking for effect
The unwritten law which says Ven
geance is mine is no excuse for the
disgraceful broils of the degenerate
man and woman who find their only
pleasure in dissipation The man who
despoils innocence himself who gives
his name and his protection to a wom
an whoe life has been like unto his
own is not in any sense the defender
of what the home stands for His
sense of moral obligation for himself
is too blunted to fit him to judge
of the transgressions of another He
is himself an outlaw when judged by
the standards of common morality
His propensity to shoot is the re
sult of a heated brain or the lack of
brains
No woman no man is safe with
such a creature at large
Let us add to the unwritten law an
other section Let there be no inu
endos against the chastity of woman
but only straightforward statements
with page and verse and the viola
lor of this law shall be placarded
This person took away the good
name of another without cause and
walk the streets in shame
In the heart of every man there
dwells first absolute faith in his moth
er That is his birthright and in pro
portion to his faith in and affection
for his mother will be his faith in
and affection for his wife On that
loundation is built his attitude to his
offspring The true son the true
husband the real father in all these
relations owes to the home a clean
standard of living He should never
invite into that home a man who does
not himself respect virtue The man
who is a despoiler of virtue in one
instance is an unsafe guest and friend
How much more so when license is
his rule of conduct
Protect my innocence or I fall into
the trap that is laid for me
THIS IN NEBRASKA
EVENTS OF INTEREST OF MORE
OR LESS IMPORTANCE
President Reusing Speaks of Chari
ties and Corrections Mr
Bryan to Speak at Peru
OMAHA In his annual address be
fore the Corrections and Charities
conference in this city President Reu
sing paid many tributes to the condi
tion of charities and corrections and
spoke of the courtesy of Superintend
ent Morris o hossAetfteaicBl vOIET
ent Morris or the Associated Charities
in arranging for the conference He
declared that because the political laws
of the state were sucn that inexperi
enced men and women are too often
put in charge of the state institutions
only to bo removed in two years and
succeeded by other equally inexperi
enced men and women it has been
found necessary to form a board
whose duty it was to inquire into
causes of dependents and delinquents
and to relieve the needs of unfortu
nates He deplored that in the entire
organization there were no more than
two dozen active workers the rest be
ing merely sympathizers and
A few enthusiastic workers he
said have formed what is known as
the Nebraska State Conference of
Charities and Corrections Its work
and aims may be summed up as fol
lows First to disseminate and in
tensify interests in charity seeing to
it that only those receive charity who
deserve it and will do benefited by
it Third to rationalize penalty tak
ing the idea of retribution or vengence
entirely out of it Fourth the reform
laws institutions and administration
according to the above advanced ideas
Fifth so far as we can to give such a
healthful system and to mans whole
moral and civic life that fewer will
tend to poverty and crime than do
now
Mr Bryan at Commencement
PERU President John A Woodard
of the senior class of the state normal
in reply to a unanimous invitation from
the class has received the following
letter from Colonel W J Bryan
My Dear Mr Woodard I thank
you for the very kind invitation which
you extend on behalf of the class and
I am glad to note that your commence
ment comes at a time when I shall be
at home and I take great pleasure in
accepting Please present my compli
ments to the class and assure them
that I appreciate the honor which they
do me
Mr Bryans acceptance has occa
sioned mucn gratification not only
among the members of the senior
class but the other classes as well
and among the friends and patrons of
the school Colonel Bryans non-partisan
address made in chapel during
the campaign here was regardeu as
one of the best audresses ever given
at Peru His coming again will be
hsiled with pleasure by patrons and
students of the school
Petition for Pardon
A lengthy petition with many signa
tures was presented to Gov Mickey
by Attorney L W Billingsley asking
for the pardon of diaries D McMillen
or Red Cioud Avho has served three
years of a sentence of eight years for
the crime of manslaughter The gov
ernor parolled McMillen some time
ago to a harnessmaker at Benedict
but he returned voluntarily to the
penitentiary claiming that he feared
that his surrounaings there were such
that his temper might get the better
of him and also get him into trouble
again
Good Prices for Land
STERLING Land about Sterling is
bringing good prices Last week E
Ztilhke bought the 320 acre farm of
J R White seven miles north of
Sterling for 29000 It is one of the
best improved farms in this county
The following week George Frey of
Hebron Neb bought the H G Fit
hain ICO acro farm two miles east of
Sterling for 12000
Attempt to Burn Schoolhouse
BRADSHAW An attempt was
made a few nights since to set fire to
the public school building at this
place The scheme had been carefully
planned by the would be incendiary
A box about ten inches square had
been filled with excelsior which was
well soaked with coal oil while over
this had been drawn a sack well
soaked with oil
Engineer Teal Drops Dead
NORFOLK Andrew Teal one of
the oldest and best known North
western engineers who had been in
the service for many years here drop
ped dead from heart failure
A Woman Falls Dead
KEARNEY Apparently in the best
of health Mrs Albin Lund wife of a
prosperous and prominent farmer east
of the city fell dead at her home
from heart disease
Argument of Tax Case
The famous Nebraska railroad tax
cases which the railroads have been
trying persistently to stave off will
be argued before the United States
supreme court at Washington Tues
day January 22 This date was agreed
upon between Attorney General Norris
Brown representing the state and
Charles J Greene special attorney
for the Burlington who was armed
with written credentials authorizing
him to act for John N Baldwin for
the Union Pacific
NEBRASKA BRIEF8
The Kearney Realty company has
filed its articles of incorporation with
the secretary of state
The Enevoldson Land company of
St Paul lias been incorporated with
a paid up capital of 8000
E L McGregor a wealthy farmer
of Cedar county suicided last week
His dead body was found In his barn
Sam Thomas who was arrested at
Keokuk la for swindling is wanted
in Fremont for the same kind of a
job
A matrimonial agency In St Joseph
got 125 out of a Cass county man
but the promised wife was not forth
coming
The Salvation Army on Christmas
day distributed twenty five baskets of
food and over 150 garments to the
worthy poor of Beatrice
The Andrews Dental company of
Omaha with a paid up capital stock
of 2500 filed its articles of incorpo
ration with the secretary of state
The 2-year-old son of Mrs O F
Willems living near Diller pulled a
can of hot lard over and was badly
burned about the neck arms and
thigh
Switchman Mose S Jennings at the
McCook yards lost a leg in an acci
dent while switching cars It was am
putated below the Knee He will re
cover
Seigle Crossley a farmer living
seven miles north of Mason City had
his foot crushed in a corn sheller It
is thought the limb will have to bo
amputated
At North Platte after a sensational
trial at the preliminary hearing of
Miss Mirth Clanc for the murder of
John Leonard the county judge dis
charged the defendant
As showing the tendency of Pawneo
county lands to advance F M Col
well sold last the forty acre fruit
farm of G R Martin one fourth of a
mile west of Table Rock for 110 per
acre
At the annual meeting of the stock
holders of the Bruno State bank of
Bruno it was unanimously voted to
increase the capital stock to 10000
and erect a new modern brick bank
building
The annual report of the treasurer
of the State University Athletic board
has been made and it shows the total
receipts for the year were 1768950
and the expenditures 1529G27 leav
ing a oalance of 239327
Thomas and Robert Halpin the old
est 15 years old living with their
uncie and guardian in Valley county
are said to be the victims ot such cruel
neglect that the matter has been In
vestigated by the county court
Anurew Teal one of the best known
locomotive engineers in the state died
at Norfolk from valvular heart trouble
Mr Teal ha just completed his
twenty five years of service for the
Chicago Northwestern railway
The Tecumseh city council has
passed resolutione and placed the same
upon record pledging the council to
raise annually the 600 required by
Andrew Carnegie for the maintenance
of the proposed new library building
Andrew Arnold an old Gage county
resident who was thrown from his
horse a few days ago at his farm near
Inavale died from his injuries which
resulted in concussion of the brain He
vas 5G years of age and leaves a
widow and six children two daughters
and four sons
Vernon Bascom cashier of the Na
tional bank of rawnee City received
a message from Centralia Wash to
the effect that his brother Frank A
Bascom a conductor on the Northern
Pacific running between Portland and
Tacoma had been injurod In a wreck
and probably would not live
A claim for 350 for interest on a
claim of 3300 will be filed with the
state- auditor by O B PoIk of Cleve
land O The company after being
in litigation with the state of Neb
raska for fifteen months obtained
judgment for the 3300 and now
wants the interest on its money from
the time the contract was completed
until the case was decided
The requisition of the governor ot
Colorado for the return to Fort Col
lins of J B Flora has been honored
by Governor Mickey Conins who Is
now under arrest at Omaha is charged
with obtaining money under false
pretenses it being alleged that he bor
rowed a horse for an hour and se
cured from Howard Russel 90 under
a chattel mortgage on tne animal
Less grain was produced in Nebras
ka this year than last according to
the estimates made by the state la
bor bureau on the acreage and pro
duction of the various crops An in
crease of about b000000 bushels is
noted in winter wheat -but spring
wheat fell short about 200000 bushels
Corn fell short almost 2500000 bush
els of the production of last year
Twenty two stacks of hay belonging
to Al Tift on land southeast of North
Platte near the stock yards vms
burned The tonnage destroyed was
in the neighborhood of 150 and the
total loss will amount to over 1200
J D Brown for fifteen years the
leading business man of Burchard has
sold nis stock of general merchandise
and retires from business with a com
fortable fortune
Letters written three years ago were
last week found in the United States
mail boxin the Omaha National bank
building where a defective box had
prevented their being seen and re
moved by the mail gathered since the
time tney were dropped in the box
Of the remaining 4400 indebted
ness on the city electric lighting plant
at Tecumseh 2000 will be paid Jan
uary 1 It was hoped the council
would be able to free the debt at this
time but it was not During the part
year the city has reduced its total
bonded indebtedness 4000
