Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/806

 It is to be hoped that a similar condition of things may never transpire in Kansas, though it may well be anticipated, if murder is permitted by the courts to be perpetrated with impunity. The murmurings on this subject are even now loud and almost universal. Some of our best citizens have been stricken down by the hand of the assassin, whose blood has cried in vain upon the legal tribunals for justice. And although many have fallen victims to this atrocious crime, not one of its numerous perpetrators has yet suffered the just penalty of the law. The murderer, his hands still reeking with human gore, walks unmolested in our midst, laughing to scorn the laws which condemn him to an ignominious death.

Let the law contemplated in this bill be adopted, and this evil, already sufficiently deplorable, will be rendered far worse. The slight restraints now held upon the vicious, will be almost entirely removed. No good citizens can venture in the streets or upon the highways, with a proper feeling of security. The personal safety of all who are well disposed, will be constantly endangered. The odious practice of bearing concealed weapons for self-defense will become general, and the most disastrous results [sic]willl follow. Every man, conscious of the uncertainty of punishment by the courts, will take the law in his own hands, and the slayer of one individual will fall a victim to the retaliatory vengeance of another. Or should he be brought before a judge or court, and liberated upon bail, an offended people will arise in their majesty, and prevent his escape by the infliction of summary punishment.

The fact that bail has been given, will have no tendency to prevent these results; for no one can have confidence in the security furnished by such bail as a deliberate murderer can obtain. The person who will step in between him and the execution of justice, must himself be destitute of those feelings and sentiments which will render him worthy the confidence of peace-loving citizens. Or even were it otherwise, and the murderer is substantially bailed by a wealthy relative or friend, the only object in the whole transaction is the criminal's escape; for any amount of property, under such circumstances, will be forfeited to preserve his life. But in the majority of the cases the bail is entirely worthless, and its being admitted by a court or judge is equivalent to the murderer's discharge; for no one who is conscious of a conviction that will condemn him to death, will ever present himself for trial. If he has wealth, he can purchase sureties; and if he has not, he may obtain the aid of those who are worthless, or if possessed of the property to which they swear, may dispose of it at pleasure, and thus defraud the territory as well as justice. Bail-bonds, as now given, are of little value even in trivial cases; for when forfeited the amount is seldom collected. To make them of any avail, a lien should immediately be created on the lands of the persons acknowledging them, "and the execution issued by virtue of a judgment thereon, may rightly command the taking and sale of the lands, of which defendant was seized at the time the recognizance was acknowledged." Were this rule of law adopted, there would be some value in a bail-bond, and fewer persons would be found willing to execute it. But as the law now rests in this territory, a criminal may be bailed