﻿CENTRALIA

A violence has happened. People are deprived of necessities, comforts, pleasures, home, love, liberty and life itself —by force.
No element of Justice is there. No shade of mercy.
Nothing but active, most vicious vindictiveness — ferociousness of most unprincipled character.
Ye gods !—This, too, against innocent men, few in number, who defended their castle, home, hall against the onslaughts of the half-erased armistice day celebrators, paraders, flag-wavers— never overly right — whose ambition takes the form of running amuck in peace times and strategic retreats in times of danger.
These few men called a halt to such nonsense and defended themselves against the horde of destructionists. And they defended themselves to the effect that a halt was established — something unexpected — some of the heroic mischiefmakers halted never to start again.
For thus interrupting the natural activities in ferociousness of the semi-imbecilic “marchers” — the defenders were thrown in jail, for, what seems, an interminable period.
For upholding law (when law refused to proclaim its might) the law punished them —a clear piece of violence, an essence of the same ferocious insanity that sends men to bite the hand that feeds them, — LABORS!
In all moral codes there is no justification for attacking a law abiding citizen in his castle — even common politeness forbids it.
All the Blackstones since time began have failed to find rules of order or law that would permit an intrusion upon man’s place of shelter or violation of his peace and dignity —his inalienable rights. And when law fails to guarantee these, and says so in so many words, it is a man’s right and duty, individually or collectively, to so provide that these blessings shall be preserved.
But these men are in jail.
Unfortunately, such is the case.
The strong defense they put up against the charge of the “tight parade” was something so unusual that the court forgot what little law it knew (its balloon went up) and sentenced the men before he could parachute back to grateful earth. The governor, by his silence, acquiesced in this tragedy of errors.
Will the present governor endorse them?
Will the present governor set aside the consideration of this case as inconsequential? — this case whose very sentences smack heavily of viciousness and untempered ferocity.
It’s time we all came back to earth. The jury that convicted these men has “repudiated” its action. Wil! the Governor of Washington compound the tragedy? T-b S.—