The Baltimore county Union, speaking
of the negro Cooper's case, which was re-
cently argued in the Court of Appeals here,
says:  "Since the commission of the das-
tardly act of the brutal negro Cooper in
this county last April, there seems to have
been a wave of this species of crime passing
over the State, no less than four deeds of
the kind having been reported since then.
The last ne, only a few days ago, occurred
at Mount Airy, on the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad, and was almost as brutal as that
perpetrated by the Baltimore county fiend,
but in this latter instance the people sum-
marily disposed of the villain.  We would
be slow, at any time, to recommend a vio-
lation of  law, but in crimes of this kind we
think that the sooner the perpetrators are
disposed of the better.  The delays of the
law as instanced in the Cooper case, are
most exasperating to the people.  There
are so many loopholes open to criminals of
all classes that it seems almost impossible
to convict one, and after they are convict-
ed, shrewd lawyers frequently succeed in
getting them off.  It is the duty of a law-
yer to do all he can--to exhaust every pos-
sible means for the benefit of his client--
but in some instances we think this other-
wise commendable persistence is carried
just a trifle too far, and this leads people,
who are not familiar with the laws, to be-
lieve that they were framed for the protec-
tion of scoundrels instead of for their pun-
ishment.  With a firm determination to
uphold the laws of the State, as becomes
all good citizens, yet we do believe that in
this particular species of crime the more
speedy the punishment  the more salutary
the lesson.  To have those cases carried
from one court to another, each report of
the proceedings bringing fresh to memory
all their horrible details, is not only an out-
rage upon those who have personally suf-
fered, but the effect upon the community
generally is damaging, and should not be
tolerated."