CHAPTER XXIX.

AS TO THE MARTIAL LAW TROUBLE IN PROTECTING MASONIC CHINAME
MASONIC CRIMINALS ON PuGet SounD WHEN AMERICAN Fates a
PILLAGED, MURDERED, AND DRIVEN OUT WITH NO eRoops ita : ii
LAW TO PROTECT THEM.—Condensed from the press wit Sah
tions, ete. —(How to read newspapers ‘* between the ii ’ ‘hae heh
belongs between the lines.) rae

** CONSISTENCY.”
‘“ H :

ERE is a bit of modern local history ; the narrative is give
preamble to the mention of a point appearing in a Seattle ae ule
which relates to the maintenance of law and order against the vi seieer
Manes gainst the violence of

A man residing in Seattle, while returning from his residence to hi
store, in the dusk of the evening, was confronted by ieocahbe can
it is supposed, ordered him to throw up his hands It is fi ee
posed that instead of obeying their order he drew a slate aa 1, ther ated
to defend himself, when they shot him down. Naver were sree teh
ane ae in the night two unknown men were found apeeeenity
sleeping under a lot of hay in a barn [a com: i ay
jail. That night a vigilance committee rs panei eo Likoons et
the leading citizens, and so powerful in all yoapedts that tl : pi
of the law was paralyzed, and here was but one man in thes sath ae
who had the courage to even suggest opposition to this ie ee
mob rule, and that was the Chief Justice, Roger S Gea be eye a
that two strange men had been arrested ; he Was told of tl ) ria
ganization of that which to him was the most fearful of phe ei ws
vigilance committee. He went to the leading men of tl Ae wd
talked his remonstrance to them, but he might as well 1 a ge a
the hidden powers of the air or implored the duéebvention oh anes
He sought and obtained invitation to be present and sit with th ae
mitting magistrate at the preliminary hearing which was to be find end
which took place on the day following the murder. The vi ail & gee
mittee, learning of this, prepared to anticipate any SHORE ‘the ile
chiet justice might make to interfere with the execution of their te -
The hearing was heard in a large hall which was crowded to Polit ete
‘apacity by members of the vigilance committee delegated t : ie hs
stern work in hand [against the outside-of-the-gang ant ae ihe
prisoners were brought into court, and the chief justice sn sit ay
of the examining magistrate. A tall, powerful [mason] mth ni a
mien, stood like a sentinel behind the chair on which Judg hen ee
sitting. The hearing was concluded, the decision being ergy ; ae a
ers be held for trial. The latter, in charge of policemen, Sategy et

(615)

516 A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.

their seats and were immediately taken possession of by the vigilance
committee. Judge Green made a motion as though to start to his feet
and interpose. The sentry at his back drew forth from his coat a
white bed-sheet, and, unfolding it, enveloped the head and body of the
Judge to his knees, and then grasped him about the waist with his arms.
Here was justice blinded with a vengeance, struggling in vain to be free
against the unyielding firmness of those powerful arms. Some one cried
out, ‘Don’t hurt his Honor,’ and the reply of the strong man was, ‘I don’t
want to hurt him, but Iam bound to hold him.’ The great crowd moved
ont of the hall and repaired to the most public place in the city. There a
scantling had been placed high above the pavement with ends resting in
the forks of the shade trees, and on this scantling Judge Lynch held his
high carnival. A detachment of the committee went to the jail and took
out a third victim who was under trial for shooting a policeman [and who,
it transpired, was absent from the city at the time] and these three were
b suspended side by side from the scantling.

When the danger of Judge Green’s interference seemed to have passed
away his captor re:eased him, and the captive elbowed his way with almost
incredible speed through the dense mass of people who filled the street
and surrounded the gallows, and with his penknife undertook to cut the
ropes and rescue the victims of the mob. He was struck over the head
with a cane by a prominent [masonic] citizen, and another prominent citi-
zen deterred him from proceeding further by the mild persuasive of a re-
volver at his head. So his Honor [the only anti-Mason Judge in the terri-
tory], open like every poor human being to conviction by argument snc
as that, hied himself in sorrow away, while the black crime of treason and
murder triumphed over justice and law, and an ineffaceable stain of infamy
was put upon that community.

We will now be able to understand the recent remarks of a Seattle
man, who makes a long argument in favor of peace and obedience to lw,
earnestly deprecates violence and mob rule [against masons] and suggests
that the scantling ought to be a perpetual reminder that Seattle is an un-
safe place for law breakers. [If they be outside of the gang. ]

Oh, consistency, thou art a jewel!”

* *

*

‘‘For some weeks past an objectionable class of persons has been
flocking into Seattle.” [They lived by their wits—gambling, stealing, etc.,
and those of them who were outside of the gang were ¢herefore not toler-
ated. There were many, however, whose only crime was their poverty,
having already been shorn, so the gang had no further use for them : in-
deed, they wer, now in their way. So they were falsely accused, and then
driven out to make room for more game. }

‘The Chief of Police and his iittle corps of aids have done all they
could to keep this class within bounds, and get rid of them as rapidly as
possible. When arrested, they always had money to fee some shyster

_

- the vigilance
art to his feet
ym his coat a
1 body of the
with his arms.
vain to be free
Some one cried
wn was, ‘I don’t
vt crowd moved
city. There a
ends resting in
Lynch held his
he jail and took
eman [and who,
hese three were

.d to have passed
sway with almost
filled the street
srtook to cut the
‘k over the head
ey prominent citi-
erstiasive of a re-
udge in the terri-
yy argument snc)
me of treason aud
ble stain of infamy

arks of a Seattle
obedience to lw,
ons] and suggests

Seattle is an wn-

bang. |

persons has been
ing, stealing, ete.,
herefore not toler-
was their poverli
ase for them ‘ it-
accused, and then

ave done all they
em as rapidly a
fee some shyster

A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 517

[masonic] lawyer, who would help them out and post them how to evade
the law in future [like members of the gang, but with them it is all right.
And here is a sample of the ‘‘legal fraternity” that the Governor would
foster with the people’s money. |

Last night, when one of the persons, who had been notified to leave,
openly published a card in an evening paper, saying, ‘‘I take this means
of stating that I will not leave Seattle merely to suit the pleasure of a cer-
tain individual,” [who had perhaps robbed him] forbearance ceased to be
a virtue. [Indeed!] The Chief of Police appointed twenty specials for a
week, and the Committee of Safety also came together [in the dark] and
resolved to sustain the Chief of Police in whatever he undertook. The
committee consists of over two hundred and fifty [masonic lawless] men,
and who will carry out to the letter anything they [as secret conspirators
against the Government] undertake. It was resolved, before harsher means
were adopted, to serve a notice upon all suspicious or objectionable charac-
ters [except masons, etc.] to leave fown on or before this evening, with a
caution not to return, In case all persons receiving this notice comply, no
harsher measure will be used ; but anyone failing to comply does so at his
peril.”

‘It has been rumored that a brother of Payne, who was hung by the
committee [and who, it is believed, was innocent] is here, and has been
making threats against the city and its [masonic] people, To him we say,
‘Leave this place as soon as possible, for if you attempt to avenge the
hanging [murder] of your brother, the same rope that launched him into
eternity is ready to do the same for you, and never let that fact escape
your memory for one moment.”’

‘The Chief of Police, with ten deputy city marshals, took a walk
throngh the streets last night, and notified as many of the above men-
tioned characters as they could find to quit the town without delay. The
Chief has a list of those whose presence is not desired longer by this com-
munity, and before noon to-day they will all receive notice to leave, and
well will it be for those who stand not upon the order of their going, but
goat once.” [Many of these had been induced to immigrate here hy
flaming immigration pamphlets of the gang, and were now fleeced and

thus driven out, with no Governor or troops or martial law to protect
them !]

* *
*

‘A letter from Portland informs us that it was thought over there
that our people were ashamed of their conduct last Thursday night, and
that the news was accordingly suppressed, Suppressit! We were proud
of the town and its brave and prompt citizens [a vigilance committee],
Business was suspended in a moment, and every man stepped out pre-
pared to do or die to save his property and his neighbor's, [But for out-
siders to do this against the gang, is held by the courts and Governors to
be a heinous crime. |

518 A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.

The villains quailed in a moment, and slunk out of sight [they not
having a secret organization and prostituted courts to protect them] while
the committee of safety took possession of the town.

The acts of the 18th of January were by no means taken with so in-
telligent and determined a purpose, They worked all night and they
hustled off dozens of the worst characters in town [that were outside of
the gang] before breakfast. Suppress the reports! It was the general
wish that they be spread all over the country, that blacklegs [outside of
the gang] might be confirmed in the knowledge that Seattle is no place
for them.”

* rr *

‘The scantling used in the hanging of three bad men [outside of the
gang] last January is still in place, ready for use, and if cause is given
other men will dangle under it on short notice. Let blacklegs [outside of
the gang] take warning.”

[It was and is the gener. 1 custom of the towns of the country to thus
drive out ‘‘objectionable” citizens, against whom there is no proof of
crime, (and who are frequently only fleeced victims of the gang) and who
are not joined to secret brotherhoods, thus having no influence at court.

And Chief Justice Green in an address to a grand jury said this:]

‘There are among us, and elsewhere throughout the United States, a
variety of societies and combinations of persons. But as persons may
combine for a lawful, so they may—and unhappily do—for unlawful pur-
poses, A combination to accomplish an unlawful purpose, or a lawful
purpose by unlawful means, is called a conspiracy, and if it proceeds a
single step in furtherance of its end, it deserves to be at once opposed ener-
getically by all who love the law and desire peace.

The combination may take the form of a firmly compacted and care-
fully ordered organization, or it may have the looser coherence of a com-
mittee, or a mere assemblage. It matters not what form it may take; if
the persons who compose it are combined for a common and unlawful
purpose, and are acting in pursuance of that purpose, thereis aconspiracy,
indictable and punishable.

Government is for all men indiscriminately. A free government is no
respector of persons. It cannot give to one class more rights than to
others without abridging the rights of those others,

It cannot allow one class to take toitself more rights than other classes
without allowing that class to oppress those others. It cannot allow one class
to define what rights another class shall bave, without deserting its govern-
mental trust and delivering over to the lat-r class [or brotherhood] to irre-
dressible tyranny.

A citizen cannot divide his allegiance and give it partly to his government
and partly to some society, or league, or committee, whose aims. are in any)
particular hostile to or at variance with the authority of the government.

Nor can he be acting the part of a good citizen, if he is endeavoring

-

cht [they not
t them] while

en with so in-
ght and they
ere outside of
as the general
gs [outside of
‘le is no place

[outside of the
F cause is given
legs [outside of

country to thus
is no proof of
gang) and who
ence at court.
said this:]
United States, a
as persons may
r unlawful pur-
lose, or a lawful
f it proceeds a
ce opposed ene

yacted and care-
erence of & com:

it may take; if
n and unlawful
bis aconspiracy,

overnment 18 no

rights than to :

1an other classes
t allow one class
brting its govern-
erhood]| to ire

0 his governmen!
rims. are tn (ni)
vernment.

e is endeavoring

A VIGILANCE CoMMITTEE. 519

by combination and force to accomplish what the commonwealth will not
lend the power of its arm to him to do.

Still less can he be a good citizen, if by like means he is trying to do
what the government is pledged to oppose.

Such conduct on his part carried into overt act of armed violence of
any kind, is more than conspiracy, it is insurrection and treason.

To attempt to deprive a man of his ‘life’ by force or fright, [or fraud]
is manifestly an unlawful act.

Quite as manifestly unlawful is it, to try by such means to take away
his ‘liberty.’

And what shall I say of an attempt against his ‘ pursuit of happiness?’

Is 1t not equally unlawful to restrain him, by such means, in that pur-
suit ? Clearly itis. Very essential to the happiness of a human being is
the liberty to see and speak to and deal with his fellow-men, to employ
and be employed, to give and receive mutual attention und kindnesses,
and to form and cultivate the ties of friendship and affection.

Any combination to deny to any human being these sources of happi-
ness, or any of them, is unlawful.

Who the person or persons may be, whose life, liberty or pursuit of
happiness is thus interfered with, matters not.

He may be a laboring man or he may be an idler; he may be rich or
he may be poor. It makes no difference.

There [is supposed to be] one law for all, and that which is unlawful
as against one, is unlawful as against any.

Ladies and gentlemen, lawlessness let alone, is an encroaching horror.”

[Such was the custom of ‘ lawlessness,” ‘insurrection ”’ and ‘treason ”
against white citizens outside of the gang, because they were ‘ objection-
able” to another class, many of whom were gilded wholesale robbers and
thieves and a far greater curse to good people and homes, than those they
would lynch or drive away.

Yet their victims had no Governor, troops or courts to protect them,
or press to howl the ‘‘lawless traitors” down.

The Chinese were also objectionable to the people. They were really
a blistering curse against the prosperity and dignity of the common people.

John Brown started the fight and advanced against slavery. He was
howled down, stigmatized and hung for it. Others took up his fight, and
with others to do the fighting, happened to suceeed and were glorified.

Dennis Kerney started the agitation against the Chinese and advanced
tis cause. He was howled down, stigmatized and imprisoned for it by the
Masons, who were against him and his cause. But the people were with
him at heart and applied their ballots to the cause.

Seeing this, Masons put on Kerney’s old shoes, sung Kerney’s war
songs to the biggest crowd, and rode into office.

Where they betrayed and tricked the people with flawed laws and

520 A VIGILANCE CoMMITTEEF.

prostituted courts to protect their brethren, instead of to remove the
‘hinese curse, as they were pledged and sworn to do. ]

* *
*

‘Dong Ting Chung, the headmaster of the Chinese Free Masons and
chief of the highbinders of British Columbia,” says the Victoria Colonist, ‘was
buried on the 11th, inst., with all the ceremonies due his rank, from the
Masonic hall.”

% so %

‘It seems strange that the law makers are unable to frame a law
which will effectually exclude the Chinese. Each bill that has been passed
by Congress with this end in view, has proved to be miserably defective,
No sooner has Congress adjourned than the Chinese and his [Masonic]
American friends ‘discover’ innumerable rents in the law, through which
the unwelcome immigrant can enter the country almost without molesta-
tion. The last anti-Chinese law was thought [by outsiders] to be almost
perfect, but time has shown that it is little, if any, better than the futile
enactment which preceded it.

If a more effective law is not framed before long, the people will be-
lieve that the Senators and Representatives are fooling them, and that the
laws are passed with the intention rather of helping the Chinese in, than
keeping them out.”

[The consequence of which was that:] ‘‘There are plenty of applica-
tions to labor at $15 per month for the next six months. No excuse now
for hiring Chinamen because they are cheap.”

[And cases like the following:]

‘THe Srxta Victim.
Death of Mr. Mineer, husband of the woman who burned herself and children,
Eetra-ordinary sad case of poverty.

Olympia, Dec. 19th, 1885, The recent sad event which occurred near
this place [right under the Governor’s nose], by which a mother and her
four children were hurried into eternity, was rendered still more sad when
it was learned that the husband, Mr. Mineer, who escaped through the
window with his little daughter, had been so badly burned from the waist
down that his death, which took place the morning after the fire, was but
a relief from intense suffering. The little girl may recover, but it is doubt-
ful, and thus a whole family will be completely annihilated through the
insanity of the poor mother, who had for some time been despondent over
financial difficulties, under the severe pressure of which her mind ultimately
gave way.

It seems the poor woman has for seme time been working herself al-
most to death to keep her family from sutiering and want. And her hus-
band, who has been engaged in farming in a small way, was unable, owing
to Chinese competition, to make his business pay. Seeing nothing before
them but starvation, want, or the almshouse, the unfortunate [victim of
Masonry], seeing life itself and all its pleasures slipping from her grasp,

o remove the

e Masons and
, Colonist, ‘was
ank, from the

o frame a law
as been passed
ably defective.
| his [Masonic]
through which
ithout molesta-
8] to be almost
‘than the futile

people will be-
m, and that the
‘hinese in, than

snty of applica-
No excuse now

self and children,

h occurred near
nother and her
i more sad when
bed through the
1 from the waist
he fire, was but
but it is doubt-
ed through the
lespondent over
mind ultimately

rking herself al-
And her hus-

s unable, owing

y nothing before
unate |victim of
from her gras),

A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 521

conceived the idea that by destroying the entire family with a blow, she
would save them from a more wretched fate. Having made every pre-
paration for the sad event, after saturating the house with coal oil, she
finally concluded the dreadful work by throwing the Kerosene over her
husband’s clothes, thus destroying every chance of saving him from a fiery
death. But little of the remains of the children could be found after the
fire, and the woman’s head was completely consumed.”

* *
*

‘‘The country is overrun with idle men in search of work, but few
succeed in obtaining jobs, and they do not know what todo. Some re-
ceive employment at a dollar a day; others wander over the country, pack-
ing their blankets and asking for something to eat when hungry, as they
move along. Be kind to such men, for they are not professional tramps,
but poor, deluded laborers, who came a great distance to seek honest toil,
but found it not.

How cheerless such men’s prospects !””

[The ‘‘kindness”’ accorded such as these was to be stigmatized as
‘‘ vagrants,” &e., &c., and imprisoned and driven out, because they had no
unshorn fleece and were, therefore, ‘‘suspicious” and ‘objectionable ”’
characters to other men who had been thrown up by accident or raised by
their own villainy, and who should tremble because of their undivulged
crimes, unwhipped of justice. Yet, such as the following article could be
seen in the press most any day. |

‘‘There were large numbers of arrests, and the ‘cooler’ was crowded
to its utmost capacity. With one or two exceptions vagrancy was the charge,
and the parties will be swnmarily sent out of the city and warned not to re-
tun,”

[And there was no Governor, no troops, no courts, no protection
whatever for these victims, many of whom ‘could a tale unfold whose
lightest word would harrow up thy soul.’’]

* %
%

“Tam,” says the writer, ‘‘a laboring man, and have hard work to
make a living for a family, and if the spirit of oppression that is continu-
ally growing does not stop, our condition will soon be worse than that of
the laboring men of England. Numerous cases have come up lately in
this community, where honest laboring men have been swindled out of
their wages and turned out upon the road to tramp, beg or steal.” [There
being no Governor, no troops, no courts, no protection whatever for them,
in person or property. |

‘«They [the Masons] had no ear for anything but money ! money !
money! It was madness to urge morality—it was ruin to speak of law.”

* *
*

‘The Seattle delinquent tax list is 13 feet long. Poor Seattle, what
hast thou done?” [Suffered members of the gang to hold office. |

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