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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1933)
PAGE POUR MEDFOTID MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOK1), OREGON, MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1933. Medford Mail Tribune "Ertryom ta Souttitra Ortfoa rat Uw Hill Mbam" Dtiiy faeapl Sutorttoy j IUDF0UD PBLSTLWC oa tB-iT-ll N. fit t Ptwm 6 KOBKH1 A HUHL, Wit ft, U KNAPP Mannar 40 iDdttHMXteot Ntwtptpar Entarad u Mcood jIm tutur it ktattfon) Orecoo, under Act of Man . 18T9. .. 8UBSCH11T101 KATBB B UilLIn AnnnM DtJlj. rur . 96.00 nail month. Bi Curler, In idaMa Medford, AJbtiod, liefcuoTUik, Centra) Point PboenU. Talaot UoU) Bill tOO M HlCDVafl. Kail, ntnnih . .1 .16 Dim' om rear ? ' All una, cub b adraoee. Offleiu ptptt of uu City of Mttforo. Officii otpei of Juunr Oouoty. uemhih or rur assocum run ttMelrtraj ruU LMMd Wirt Btnlct fbt tjtoelticd PrtM It txelutlftly toUUttf tt Uw oh for Duniieatioa til am dUptUbt erediw) U U or otixnriM ertdlitd to tbli otptr tod tUo tc tbt local am oubiUhtd twrcia. All rtfbtt for putiltettloo oT ipaelai dlfottcM tjcrtlu trt tUo rtMfwd . UEMUEH OP OMTBD PUE88 UXMBEB OP AUU11 BUBEAV OP C1KTIILATI0N8 AdwlUlm HeprtMDltUm H C. MOUICNBBN ft COM PAN! 0ffl to Nit Yor., Chlet0, Detroit, Bu Prtnriieo, U Angtlti, gtttUt Portland. Ke Smudge Pot By Arthur Perry. The harvest of Hat haa been reaped. There are still om who would ape the tormentor or tho woe, and sow again the seeds of Misery. Scant tolerance should be accorded auoh, If they persist In their heUraia lng, and no sympathy wasted, when low-moving Justice catches up with them. There are Jails for those who use the flag and the Bible -to shield their foul purposes, and "blow hot words upon the embers of agitation. If their hysteria placed them under the cold eye of a hardbolled warden It Is their own fault. The communi ty has been proven guilty of trying to kill its destroyers with kindly pa tience. Once upon time there was a little boy, or a little girl, who went past the Univ. Clubskl with his mama and did not walk upon the stone curblnb of the lawn, no matter how the fond parent felt about It One of these days that stone eurblng will produce a world famous tight rope walker, or a famed queen of the trapeze. " V' 'v After the party everyone left, Mrs. Hoover feeling younger than ever (Bardman, Ore., Item.) The fountain of Youth that Ponce De Leon tried to find In Florida. The hog-callers are spraying their throat for the contest next Satur day, and It Is hoped it will not be necessary to call out the militia to prevent Impromptu speeches.' It was rumored yesterday that a male voice was getting ready to disguise himself as a hired man and perpetrate a bass solo. Be should be sat down upon, at the first false move. It la also pro posed to have a roller-pin throwing contest, with live targets. This la not so good. A woman la a poor shot If die knows what she Is trying to hit. Beer will be on top April 4, which Is also the ninth anniversary of ditto Snlmoda's appearance upon the globe. The home brewers will not be deterred by legalised suds. Some maintain they can make better beer In the bath tub than a St. Louis or St. Paul brewery, full of German brewmelaters. .' AND WHO HASN'T - (Hepnner, Ore., News) Harold Dean, while tuning in on a Long Beach, Oallf., radio program, Saturday morning was astonished to hear the announces, state that another temblor was on. The rumble of the quake could be distinctly heard over the radio. r A number of devotees of the O. Chaplin mustache report they are tired of your corr's slurs upon their misplaced eyebrows. Then they should put the eyebrows back where they belong, Sunday morn a cltleen wearing a brand new hat, was noted going to church. He went to church when his other hat was old. Look out for a want ad reading: Will brother who took new hat by mistake from vesti bule of church, phone 1111, and get his. "The young lady Is employed as an understudy to Mrs. Whipple In oook house of the logging company" (Paisley Item) The dishwasher get a puff In the paper. "COMMISSION HOUSES NEED EGOS BAD" (Portland Journal.) Nothing to get fresh about. (National Hardware Journal) PIIOXY EDITOR) "Wo begin the publication or the Roocay Mountain Cyclone with some phew dlphphlcultlea In the way. The type phounder phrom whom we bought our outphlt for this printing ophphlee phalled to aupply us with an ephs. or cays, and It will be phour or phlve week bephore we can get any. The mlstaque was not phound out till a day or two ago. "We have ordered the missing let ten, and will have to get along with out tnem till they come. We dont llque the loox or tnla variety of spelling better than our reader, but. mtatax will happen In the best regulated phamllles, and Iph the ph's and e'a and la and q's hold out we hall oeep (sound the o hard) the Cyclone whirling aphter a phaslon till the aorta arrive. It Is njo Joque to us It's a serious apphalr, New getabouta continue to (roll around' the countryside. Very few are parked in town, where they austaln a dented fender, or be sat upon by weary street corner economist Fehl Better Keep Still! UE advice to Judge Fehl is to keep still. The place to try his case is in the courts not in the news papers. . Just as long as he persists in making statements to the press, calculated to gain publio sympathy and prejudice prospective jurors in his favor, just so long will he be answered and the answers, we fear, will do him no good. JIS first public statement following his arrest, charged with A A complicity in the theft and destruction of ballots, reads in part as follows : "I deplore the wanton killing of one of the best and most honorable peace offlcera that .Jackson county ever had Qeorge Prescott. ... I have always stood for Justice and law enforce ment through the orderly process of a democratic form of government." Could a more brazen contradiction of sentiments and actions be imagined I Judge Fehl "deplores" the wanton killing of one of the "best and most honorable peace officers that Jackson county ever had," he characterizes the cold blooded murder, as "wanton" that is needless, malioioug and criminal. Yet what did he do when he saw more clearly than any other person in Jackson county, that the murder he so deplores was "in the cards"! What did he do when his closest political crony, his intimate friend, the man he consulted with day and night, called George Prescott a "bandit"! What did he do when that same man threatened to kill George Prescott or any other peace officer who tried to arrest himl What did he do where WAS he when the "best and most honorable peace officer Jackson county ever had" fell with a bullet through his heart, while in the performance of his legal dutyf JUDGE FEHL deplores that "wanton murder" NOW. But he never deplored the criminal activities of the man who committed that murder; he never deplored the campaign of falsehood, blackmail and slander that resulted in that mur der. He never deplored the statements in that same man's newspaper, that the "show down" had come, that "blood would flow." NOT ONCE, in the sequence of those tragio events did he ever interpose an objection, ever raise a hand of warning, nor when that same man cried out for "revolution," did he sitting on the same platform, a member of the same organiation which by its silence sanctioned that seditious statement, ever UTTER A WORD IN PROTEST. Judge Fehl not only did nothing to prevent that wanton sacrifice of an innocent, and at the time a DEFENSELESS man's life, but for months before the tragedy he contributed night and day to the campaign of discord and dissension, of villification and hate, which caused it. He not only did nothing to oppose the spreading of poison by. the slayer's newspaper, but he contributed to it, in his own newspaper, and when L. A. Banks' paper ceased publication, he ALONE was responsible for its continuance. But now he deplores the killing of George Prescott, he deserts the man who .made him county judge, and brands his former co-worker a wanton murderer I "They have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirl windl" , But not Judge Fehl. His hands, he claims, are olean. His conscience clear. Others may have outraged justice and defied the law. But he ... ' : "has always stood for Justice and law enforcement through the orderly proceas of a democratic form of government." Always is quite a long time. When only a month ago Judge Fehl stood on the platform of the Armory and before an .enthu siastic meeting of the Good Government oongress, declared : "I am a member of this organisation I Joined it the day after I waa here before and talked to you. "And why? Because I thought It waa an organization In the Interest and the upbuilding of better government here . . . and I hope this organisation wlU go on and on until It sweeps every eounty in this state and every state In the union." Was that standing for justice and law enforcement through the orderly prooess of democratio government! . That organization 'had already advocated "ropes and nooses" at that meeting at which Fehl made this statement it defied the law regarding the recall j only a week later, the oourt house was broken into and ballot boxes burned, and before another month had passed, that organization's president had taken the law into her own hands with a horse whip and its provisional president and official spokesman had wantonly shot down in cold blood "one of the best and most honorable peace officers Jackson county had ever had." But Judge Fehl by his own declaration a member of that organization has always stood for justioe and law enforce ment, through the orderly processes of democratio government 1 Such a statement would be ludioroug were it not so brazen and tragio. A ND now indicted for complicity in one of the most lawless " acts ever committed in the history of Southern Oregon an act outraging every principle of "democratio government and its orderly prooesses," Judge Fehl in this official state ment broadcasted to a waiting world says i "As to the charge against me, theft and destruction of the ballots, I state that this charge Is a glgantlo political frameup to rob me of my position as judge of Jackson county," "A gigantic political frame-up!" How ramiliar that sounds. Another conspiracy, another miscarriage of justice, another robbery on the part of the gang I In one sentence he deplores the killing of George Prescott, and condemns the slayer. In the next ha resorta to PRE CISELY THE SAME PHRASES, appeals to the same prejudices and passions, employs the same psychology, that more than any other one thing, CAUSED that tragedy I I A BANKS shot and killed George Prescott because HE claimed he was the victim of a gigantie political frame-up to rob him of his rightful property. Now Judge Fehl would make the people of this community believe there is no justifica tion for this indictment against him, no truth in tie charges filed, that he is merely the victim of a giganto politioal frame up to deprive him of his judgeship. There is just a much truth to one olaim as to the other. Both are absolutely false, and everyone who knows anything about this deplorable aitua tion in Jackson eounty knows both are false. e for the courts, and only for the courts to decide. But this much is CERTAIN.' There is no political frame-up involved one way or the other gigantie or not gigantic. Politics has nothing to do with it. Judge Fehl's position as county judge nas nothing to do with it. JIRECTLY after a meeting of the Good Government congress T in the court house, which Member Fehl attended, the court nouse room vault was broken into, ballot boxes were stolen, and destroyed, as a result Sheriff Schermerhorn who opposed the recount was allowed to retain his office, ex-Sheriff Jennings who demanded the recount, was forced to relinquish the office. WHO STOLE THOSE BALLOTS, WHO ARE THE MEN RESPONSIBLE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FOR OVER TURNING THE ORDERLY PROCESSES OF A DEMO CRATIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT BY FORCE! That is the question and that is the only question! It is a matter of evidence, a matter of proof, a matter of what is true and what isn't. It has nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with who is or who isn't county judge, it has solely to do with who framed this plot to overthrow popular rule in Jackson county and who carried it out. If Judge Fehl is innocent of any connection with that crime, he can prove it at the proper time, before a judge and jury, in the regular way. j Until then like any other accused man, he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. , , But when he tries to evade his moral responsibility for the seditious and inflammatory campaign which resulted in a crime that shook Jackson county to its foundations" When he tries to make the people of this community believe that his arrest as a suspect in the theft and destruction of the ballots, is merely a political frame-up to rob him of his position as county judge, HE TRIES TO DO SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE DONE! He prejudices his case from the outset, as far as the in formed, right thinking and law abiding people of this com munity are concerned. We repeat, our advice to Judge Fehl is to keep still, until the cases in which he is a defendant are cleared up, in the proper way. The fower publio statements he makes like this one, the less he attempts to try his case in his, or any other newspaper, the better for himself and the better for all concerned. fault of which he himself was guilty, must bear a certain responsibility for the killing of George Prescott. Those who gave Banks their unllmlt ed support are the men and women who gave him the sense of power which enabled him to deliberately take a human life. Unfortunately Banks controlled the policies of a newspaper and so could presd throughout the county the disturbing policies which brought In' ternsl atrlfe. He had an Idea he waa being persecuted. Day after day his paper was filled with distorted state ments. News waa forgotten and only the building up of a Banks' following waa seemingly considered. News items were editorialized until it was dtia cult to get an unbiased report. Head- Unes on outside press items were written seemingly with a view toward directing publio opinion rather than recording facts. The damage haa been done. George Prescott la dead. L. A. Banks Is a killer. His 12-yearold daughter sobs as her father and mother are placed In JaU. There Is no halo of glory around the klUer. He becomes a tear ful creature who valued human light ly. And yet men and women support ed him and gave him the sense of backing and security which at least helped make him a killer and brought grim tragedy. Ashland Tidings. Personal Health Service By William Brady. 01, D. Signed lettert pertaining, to panonaJ beaitb end nyrlene. not to dtteaae dlagnuatt or treatment, will be answered by Ur. Brady If a tamped, eeU addreued enfelnpe ie encloaed. Letter ahould be brief and written In Ink, Owing to the lame Dumber of letter received only a ren cap be answered here. No reply can be made to quart ea not conforming to Instructions Address Dr. William Brady in care o t The Hall Tribune. MORE ABOUT ANHEDONIA AMERICANA Anhedonta is a name a French psy chologist gives for Incapacity to en Joy life or to be happy. . I add the near-adjective because I . believe anhedonla Is typically Amer ican and we shall see why presently, Although It was a psychologist who Invented the name, I beg to point out that anhedonla la question princi pally of physiol ogy, health, hy giene and not merely tho trend ol mind. The noisiest and benoe nest known If not leading psychologist, of the day are blatant quacks who know the art of marketing manuscripts to women's magazines and delivering lectures to women's clubs. Their stock In trade Is language. They are always busy telling everybody how to do everything, but they never do anything themselves X mippose no one doubts that the depression and discouragement of the vlot!m of some Incurable organic dis ease la physical, physiological, not, Just mental. Only a make-believe happiness or good cheer can go with grave Illness. No sane sick person can or should pretend to be happy, Victims of organic disease constitute a large share of the anhedontacs. and your cheap canned psychology isn't worth a tinker's dam for these Joy less ones. A physician Is what they need, a plain everyday doctor who knows that psychology Is Just a minor part of physiology, that the function i of the mind la but one of the many functions of tho body on which the well being of the body depends. While aJ most everyone concedes that orgAfnc disease accounts for the Invalid's low spirits, a great many laymen, what I call wiseacres, that Is, persons of good enough education but deplorably Ignorant of human physiology and hygiene and generally misinformed about disease, do not comprehend that less plainly manifest disturbances of health, functional dlseves (as we call them until we can decide which particular organ Is damaged), explain most of the anhedonla that prevails in America. As a familiar example we may mention that everyday observation of languor, llstlessness and melancholy in youngtere In their teens, particu larly girls, who suffer from Insuf ficient thyroid gland function, and the way a suitable lodln ration re atorea the natural cheerfulness and vivacity of youth. Or take the In stance of the adult who begins to go stale In the Tory prime of life, to age prematurely and feel constantly tired without cause and to be conscious of an unusual mental torpor and loss of former good nature It is remarkable how a wee drop of lodln brightens these older boys and girls up and helps them to thrust back the premature age which had almost fastened on them. .; When or If this country grows up we shall require that anyone who holds himself out tie a psychologist shall first be a qualified physician That will dispose ol the horde of quack psychologists now teaching people how to train children, how to prevent crime, how to buy and sell, how to be successful In business, love, how to have a dominating personality. . In the succeeding talk we shall analyse anhedonla and see Just what It la composed of. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Quite a Handicap. I am getting so short of breath when going up stairs or walking. m 34 years old, ft feet ft Inches tall and weigh 174 pounds . . .Mrs. L. R. Anrwer It would make almost any body puff some to tote a 30 per cent handicap around all the time. Send a stamped envelope bearing your ad dress, give your age, height, weight, and ask for Instructions for reduc ing. No reduction advice unless I be lieve the correspondent should duce. Rope of Any Other Color Would Serve As Well. I have heard through doctors and others that a black stocking around the neck is good for sore throat and colds and that a black thread around the neck will prevent sore throat. W. H. R. Answer -Go along with you, real physician ever told you any such thing. At that a hempen rope around the neck, drawn quite tight and kept so, will cure almost anything. . Complicated Arithmetic Please note carefully the error made In the inclosed editorial which quotes you in reference to the effect of alcoholic beverages on persons who drtvt etaoahrdlue ahrdluetaolnshrdl drive automobiles. Somebody's arith metic was wabbly . . W. h Answer I hope you re telling me. An automobile traveling at the rate of SO miles an hour goes 44 feet In second. A glass or two of wine, beer or what have you slows the re action time from the normal one- flfth second to nearly four-fifths second. That would let the machine go another 30 to SO feet before the intoxicated driver (intoxicated In the scientific sense, if not In the vulgar sense) could apply the brake or swarve out of the pcth of danger. I cant guarantee the arithmetic .but I do guarantee the physiology. f Copyright, John T. Dille Co.) DEED OF BANKS SHOCKS NEIGHBOR NEWSPAPERS A newspsper, wltn policies dedicat ed by a man of unscrupulous or un principled character, or perhaps with a mental quirk which gives him a distorted view point, can be an ex ceedingly dangerous man. L. A. Banks without a "mouthpiece" to reach Into the homes of Jackson county, could not have wrought the damage which has been done In Jack son county. Without a medium of .rinlom ar2 IUDGE FEHL ma' may not be gUllly Of complicity in this hing into the homes to carry his er aipioma wfJ , f Heam5n a K k.n- rru ... doctrine of hatred and distrust, L. . - .. . .. . inelt jtna aestrucUoa of tbt ballots. That u something a. sanu wouw ban been unable to gather around him misguided men and women who have become "Banks devotees. - Without the strength and confidence which he likely believed existed among his followers, L. A Banks would probably have thought a bit longer before he took aim and shot an officer through the breast and became a killer. Every man and woman who was In misdirected sympathy with Banks, who was constantly appealing for Banks would bay been unable to sympathy, charging others with every Banks Makes Good His Threat L. A. Banks of Medford killed his man. Banks made good his threat of bloodshed, his declaration that he would not submit to arrest. The feud In Jackson county came to a bloody climax yesterday when Banks killed an arresting officer, Constable George Prescott. His antipathy to Prescott dated from the time several weeks ago when Prescott served attachments on the paper stock in the plant of the Medford News, then operated by Banks. The latter poured editorial vitriol on Prescott for his seizure of the paper stock, attributing his action to the attempt of the "gang" to put him out of business. The Jackson county discord had simmered recently since Banks lost the News to former owners, and since some 15 of his followers were arrest ed on charges of ballot thefts. It was when the grand Jury returned the Indictments and service was attempt ed that Banks defended himself in his home by shooting the process- server. While state police swung Into the city to preserve order, the situ ation there is still volcanic, with pos. slblllty of further violence. To a considerable degree the civil strife there Is a product of hard times. Bank was a man of means, a fruit operator on a big scale. He was heav ily Involved and could not realize enough on his assets to meet his ob ligations. From the time he entered the publishing business he manifest ed symptoms of delusion. He ran, for the United States senate against Charles L. McNary, denouncing the federal government particularly for what It did to pear-growers In Its hortlcural control. He built up the Journalistic bogey of the "Medford gang," including In it alt who cross ed his purpose. He rallied to his cause hundreds of people who cher ished similar bitterness against con ditions or against Individuals. His frequent phrase was a "breakdown of law and order"; another "rocking Jackson county to its foundations." Clever in his use of Words and with scant regard for news accuracy he fomented the discord through the columns of his paper, creating and fostering a division which has cul minated In civil strife and bloodshed. Banks wes long the butt of gener al ridicule over the state. His paro dies on reality .were so preposterous to be wholly unconvincing to those at a distance accustomed to appraise the printed word. But the Jest turn ed to earnest as the situation grew more tense; and for weeks there hss been fear that open strife might ensue. " The condition Illustrates however the social Instabilities which prevail in these unsettled times, even In a community so fine and intelligent and usually so prosperous as Jack- son county Salem Statesman. I ing feeling of climax than looking through one's windows and seeing body there In a widening pool the front porch floor. Grants Pass Courier, Violent Words Lead to Vlolnt Deeds. Medford'a troubles had to end that way, didn't they, in murder? If, Indeed, Medford'a troubles have come to the end, which is problemat ical in the extreme. It's a witches' brew they have been distilling these many months In the Bear creek city. And it's a stroke ot fate that the hatred of that broth spilled over in the gunfire of the man who had stirred It, Instead of some moron whom be hed Inflamed. But It Is the greatest pity that the warmly-loved Officer Prescott had to be the one to fall. And if ever a man had a moral right to return death for death. Officer O'Brien had It when the shock of the high-powered bullet sprayed him with the blood of his friend. Every story haa Its climax. The story of life has many. The climax Is the solution to the troubles and the strife and the triangles of fiction, and then follows quickly those words The End." But m life a climax Is not many an ending. It is Just tne preparation tot another climax a lit tle later on. Words of violence In Medford and broadcast over the countryside have led to their climax In violence Itself. What will the climax of violence be? We can only wait. But while we are waiting we can reflect that the Medford editor had all his aspira tions within his grasp a dozen times If he had stuck to legal means to wrest the power he wanted, but he could nt wait for laws and elections and orderly procedure, and he defied the courts, which now will have the Job of giving him a trial before a Jury of his peers. What must be the chagrin of the better of his followers who now can realize the sort of leadership they allowed to guide them? If only all were cured, the sacri fice would perhaps be the easier to bear. But all are not cured, for there are those In the lower strata of the "Oood Oovernment" group to whom the rashest act does not go far enough. 6o it may not be the climax for the Medford situation. Nobody knows. But It very likely is the climax for Mr. Banks. Oregon has capital punishment. and If it comes to that. Banks still has a climax In store for him. But we Too Bitter Medicine Another dose of bitter medicine has been applied to the disorder from which Jackson county has been suf fering. Again It appears that the med icine might do the patient a great deal of good, but this time the taste was too bitter. To apply tne mem cine Qeorge Prescott, for years one of Medford's favorite law enforce ment officers, had to give his life. The tragedy should have been shock enough to cure any community, matter how badly feud-ridden. ' The slayer was Llewellyn A. Banks, rabble-rousing leader of the so-caiiea Oood Oovernment congress, the man who set himself above all the soutn ern Oregon courts, the apostle of sus picion, hatred and discontent. According to reports received here yesterday by the state police, George Prescott was shot down, without warning,, on the front porch of the Banks home. In company with state officer, Prescott had called to serve a warrant for Banks arrest. Mrs. Banks answered the door and, as she stood, wittingly or unwittingly. as a shield, Banks fired from behind her. The bullet killed Prescott. Both Mr. and Mrs. Banks were taken to JaU, the former to face what almost turned out to be a lynching. Offi cers got him away to Grants Pass where he ought now to be thanking his God or his Good Fortune that there are other officers besides the one he killed. The pity of the story Is that Banks wss not put away some months ago. Prescott was too good a man to waste that way. Another pity is that Mrs. Banks has been caught In the whirl of circumstance set in motion by her husband. A third person so caught is the Banks' little daughter. All this could have been avoided. But It takes tragic climax to clear up such situation. Besides forcing authorities into be lated action toward removing the leading trouble-maker from the Jack son county disturbance, the tragedy ought to sober the larger share of Banks' followers. If enough of them come to their senses, the lesser lead ers will be powerless and the county will presently settle down to Its for mer peace. If so, George Prescott's death will have served some purpose. even though It seems a cruelly un necessary sacrifice. Eugene News. An officer of the law pays the supreme price for the neglect of the better element In Jackson county to assert Itself In support of consti tuted authority. For many months a mad man, a comparative new-com er to sthe state, has been permitted to employ the columns of a newspa per to turn a peaceful community Into a veritable factional hell. Every newspaper editor to whose desk came the Medford Dally News realized the mental condition of its editor, L. A. Banks. Such ravings as came from his pen could come only from a mind apparently laboring un der a dangerous hallucination. Every community has its malcon tents, ever ready to follow where trouble leads, and why this apparent ly maniacal editor was permitted to go on day after day and month after month in his deliberate effort to in cite trouble to sic faction upon fac tion, to rekindle old feuds and make new ones, until he utterly destroyed the peace and happiness of an en lightened community, finally termin ating in murder of an officer In the performance of his duty Is more than one at this distance can under stand. Banks and his followers seemed to have the same and substantial ele ment In Jackson county buffaloed Into Impotence. He screamed In every issue of his dally sheet that law and order had broken down In Jackson county. And It had with Banks him self the prime Instigator. He defied arrest, openly issued threats, advo cated revolution, branded the bar as sociation as an Illegal legal trust: the grand Jury as corrupt. No Judge could satisfy his ideas of Justioe. He sought to -set up his own kingdom through terriorlsm. Only that was Just which favored, the side of Mr. Banks. That the thing led to murder Is but the expected sequence. It was bound to happen. If some one waa to be killed as the result of the activities of Banks, It was fortunate the prime disturber was the one to commit the deed. His set Is the supreme and final evidence that he, himself, waa the arch-conspirator against law and order thru out the months of turmoil. Had one of his misguided followers been kill ed. Banks would have had new In flammatory fuel. Had he been the one shot his followers would have made a hero of him. Now he Is elim inated as a cold-blooded murderer of a peace officer In the performance of duty. The tragedy may tend to have a remedial effect upon the deplorable situation In Jackson county. But hu man life Is a heavy price to pay for the failure of law-abiding citizens to rise up in time against the menace. A nut, with a newspaper, Is a dan gerous combination, especially when discontent is rife and easily aroused. This man Banks has left to Medford and Jackson county a legacy of hat reds at home and a reputation abroad from which It will not recover In long years. Oregon City Enterprise. ful in his business ar in politics, they are all the more ready and anxious to behove anything that may be said about him. Envy loves a shining mark and the brighter tt shines the greater the envy. And so. Banks and his deluded followers hated everybody who was successful or who held pub lic office. Banks oifered to correct the Ills of the world by offering him self upon the altar of politics. He wanted to replace Senator McNary. He got quite het up because th's colm laughed at his Idiotic platform. Wei;, the voters dtun't take advan tage of their opportunity to save themselves, and Banks was defeated. That convinced him of the further fact that the "gang" ran things all over the state and In Jackson county in particular. So, he organized the dlscortented in Jackson county and eleosed his own county Judge. He wxd Indignant when the rest of the oounty officials would not resign. He wanted the district Judge to resign.. He insisted that the district attorney should resign. There was no "Jus tice" in Jackson county and would not be until Bank and his dupes had placed their own and themselves In the public offices. We have seen that sort of delusion before. Well, It looks as though the Justioe Mr. Banks has been demanding was about to arrive in Jackson county. It may require a cnange of venue to gat it, but It womd seem an open and shut case against Mr. Banks, with the open end of the noose star ing him right In the face. Too bad peop'e have to be so loollsh. It took the life of an Innocent man. a worthy citizen performing his , duty to put Banks where he will no longer be a mentce to the community. It was too much to pay, but sometimes there Is no other price. Banks had prophe sied that there would be bloodshed In Medford. Perhaps he thought he had to make good on his prohpesy. Except for the fact that the affair was so tragic, It would have been a good Gilbert and Sullivan comedy, for all the fuss made by Banks and his credulous, fantastic fanatics, was a tempest In a small teacup for there Is notlvng the matter with Medford. Jacxson county, nor the public of ficials down there, outside of Banks' fervid imaginat!on. Corvallls Gazette-Times. Much un needed sympathy will be given L. A. Banks. Medford editor, who shot and killed George Prescott, Medford constable, Thursday. The lunatic fringe which always support anyone who howls loudly about "Jus tice, freedom and personal rights" are apt to make a martyr out of Banks after the fashion of Mooney's semi deification and the elevation of the late Ben Boloff to heroism. The truth Is Banks shot an officer dis charging hla duty am- thereby flaunt ed law. If such actions are to be countenanced all freedom and all government by law is endangered. Having known Mr. Banks person ally and having been entertained In his home, makes It, possible for us to explain why Banks acted as he did. It does not make It possible to con done his action or to wish that the law would be other than swift and unrelenting. Banks Is a rather bright man, beloved by the small coterie whl-h are from time to time his friends. He is unfair In his pudg ment, and governed by prejudice, hatreds and Inconsistencies. His ac tion has not only taken the life of Innocent man performing hii duty; it has done Irreparable harm to himself and to his wife and to the community in which he lived. (Shel don p. Sackett, In Coos Bay Times.) Flight 'o Time (Medford and Jackson Count; History from the Files or The Mall Tribune of 20 and 10 fears Ao.) TEN YEARS AGO TODAY March 20, 1023 (It Was Tuesday) Five families who have been stop ping at the free auto camp for three weeks told to move on. F. Roy Davis Is named fish com missioner by Gov. Pierce, causing great political consternation among the fishermen. Road to Jacksonville Is plowed up. preparatory to paving, and traffic 1 routed by the southern route. G. of O. civic dinner la huge suc cess. The End of Banks. The reformers In Medford finally wound up by committing murder. The rule la that the professional re former feathers hla own nest by fair meana or foul, but they do not often become so lost In the exuberance of their own delusion to commit mur der. Editor Banks of Medford waa the spark that kept the fires of animos ity burning In Jackson county. H. acciued sverybody In authority who wouldn't knuckle to his fantasies of every sort of crookedness and had so worked upon the Jackson eountv yokel ry that he had an amazing fol lowing. We take no slam at Jack son county. The same thing would. ""HK"" anj ouier county wun the asms kind of leadership. There is aiwaya a bunch of morons and dis gruntled. Intolerant and envious who are ready to believe any kind of a disparaging story that may be told New regulations for use of city wat er for Irrigation are announced, and described as "Injustice." Clare (Tulle) Williams named All State basketball guard, and la his Paw proud. C. of C. membership passes the 400 mark. TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY March 20, 1013 A. C. Allen, who owned the first auto ever brought Into valley. Is fined II for speeding on Main street. Court Hall writes a two-column ar. tide on the Bud Anderson- K. O. Brown fight and thinks Bud Is be ing re-matched with Brown too soon. Local suffragettes start campaign of education. Young hoodlum falls off high side walk during fight, and breaks leg. "Oil and water." a blograph a the Star: "Alone With the Prince" at the It. and "Slapped by Destiny," at the bis. Phone M2. refuse, city Well haul away your Sanitary Serrloa. Broken windows glazed rrowbrldge Catsaet Works. 9 about anybody, and If the cemn th. cannot Imagine a more deadly, sink-stories am told about la fairly success-! AT THE FIRST SNEEZE Mistol PMaMstTaC atf -. M 1 . SB1 m w w aw AND PUT Pi A Essence of Mlfft&l ON YOUR HANDKERCHIEF AND PILLOW n't NEW
