The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-04-20
INK Twain.
The New Crime.
LEGISLATION NEEDED

LEGISLATION NEEDED.
This country, during the last thirty years,
has produced some of the most remarkable
cases of insanity of which there is any mention
in history. For instance, there was the Bald
win case, in Ohio, twenty-five years ago.
Baldwin from his boyhood up. had been of
vindictive, malignant, quarrelsome nature.
He put boys eye ont once, and never was
heard upon any occasion, to utter regret for
it. He did many such things. But at last he
did something that was serious. He called at
a house just after dark one evening, knocked,
and when the occupant came to the door, shot
him dead and then tried to escape but was
captured. Two days before, he had wantonly
insulted helpless cripple, and the man he
afterward took swift vengeance upon him with
an assassin bullet, knocked him down. Such
was the Baldwin case. The trial was long and
exciting;the community was fearfully wrought
up Men said this spiteful, bad hearted vii
lain had caused grief enough in his time, and
now he should satisfy the law. But they
were mistaken Baldwin was insane when he
did the deed-they had not thought of that.
By the arguments of counsel it was shown
that at halt past ten in the morning on the day
of the murder, Baldwin became insane, and re-
manned SO for eleven hours and half exactly.
This just covered the case comfortably, and ne
was acquitted. Thus, if an unthinking and
excited community had beeIl !stened to instead
OF the arg uments Of counsel, poor crazy crea-
ture would have been held to a fearful re-
sponsibility for a mere freak of madness.
Baldwin went clear, and although his relatives
and friends were naturally incensed against
the community for their injurious sus-
pcions and unkind remarks, they said
let it 60 for this time, and did not prosecute
The Baldwins were very wealthy. This same
Baldwin had mOmentary fits of insanity twice
afterward, and on both occasions killed peo-
pie he had grudges against. And on both
these occasions the circumstances of the kill
ing was SO aggravated, and the murders so
seemingly heartless and treacherous, that if
Baldwin had not been insane he would have
been hanged without the shadow of doubt.
As it was, it required all his political and fam
lily influence to get him clear in one OF the
cases, and cost him not less than $40, 900 to get
clear in the other. One of these men he had
VIGOROUSLY been threatening to kill for twelve
years. The poor creature happened, by the
merest piece of i-fortune, to eemf saa lARfEh 3
insanity came upon him, and SO he was shot
in the back with a gun loaded with slugs.
1t was exceedingly fortunate for Baldwin that
his insanity came on him just when it did
Take the case of Lynch Hackett of Penn
sylvania. Twice, in public he attacked a
German butcher by the name OF Bems Field
ner, with cane, and both times Feldner
whipped him with his fists. Hackett was
vain, wealthy, violent gentleman, who held
his blood and family in high esteem AMI be-
lieved that reverent respect was due his
great riches. He brooded over the shame of
his cbastsement for two weeks, and then, in
u mOuieutdTy III vi insanity armed nlInSelI 10
the teeth, rode into town, waited couple of
hours until he saw Feldner coming down the
stree. with his wife on his arm, and then,
as the couple passed the doorway in which
he had partially concealed himself, he
drove knife into Feldner's neck, killing
him instantly. The widow caught the limp
form aud eased it to the earth. Both were
drenched with blood. Hackett loosely re-
marked to her that as a professional butchers
recent wife she could appreciate the artistic
neatness of the job that left her in condition
to marry again in case she wanted to. This
remark, and another which he made to a
friend, that his position in society made the
killing OF an obscure citizen simply an Sec
centricity" instead of a crime, were shown to
be evidences of insanity, and so Hackett es-
capped punishment The jury were hardly in
Glued to accept these as proofs, at first, mas
much as the prisoner had never been insane
before the murder, and under the tranquil
izng effect of the butchering had Immediately
regained his right mind-but when the defence
came to show that third cousin OF Hackett's
wife's steptather was insane, and not only in
sane, but had nose the very counterpart OF
Hacketts, it was plain that insanity was her.
edtary in the family, and Hackett had come to
IL by legitimate inheritance. OF course the
jury then acquitted him. But it was merci-
iul providence that Mrs. III. s people had be II
affi cted as shown, else Hackett would GER
tiDly have been hanged
There was that youth in PENNSYLVANIA,
whose curious confession was published a year
ago. 1t was simply coDglomeration of inco-
herent drivel from beginning to eDd-and SO
was his lengthy speech on the scaffold after
ward. For a whole year he was haunted with
d desire to disfgure certain young woman so
that no one would want to marry her. He did
not love her himself, and did not want to mar
ry her, but he did not want anybody else to do
it. He would not go anywhere with her, and
yet was opposed to anybody elses escorting
her. Upon one occasion he declined to 60 to a
wedding with her. and when she got other
company, lay in woit for the couple by the
road, intending to make them go back or kill
the escort. After spending sleepless nights
over his ruling desire for full year, he at last
attempted its execution-that Is, attempted to
distgure the young woman. 1t was success.
1t was permanent In trying to shoot her
cheek (as she sat at the supper table with her
parents and brothers and sisters) in such a
manner as to mar its come'iness, one of his
bullets wandered little out of the course ard
she dropped dead. To the very last moment
of his life he bewailed the ill luck that made
her move her face just at the critical moment.
And so he died apparently about half persuad-
ed that somehow it was chiefly her own fault
that she got killed. This idiot was hanged
The plea of insanity was not offered.
The recent case of Lady Mordaunt, in Eng
land, had proved beyond cavil that the thing
we call common prostitution in America is on
ly insanity in Great Britain. Her husband
wanted divorce, but as her cheerful peculiar
tiles were the offspring OF lunacy and conse-
quently she could not be held responsible for
them, he had to take her TO his bosom again.
1t is sad to think of a dozen or two of great
English lords taking the advantage of poor
crazy woman. In this country, if history be
worth anything to judge by, the husband would
have rented graveyard and stocked il, and
then brought the divorce suit afterward. In
which case the jury would have brought him
in insane, lot his wife.
Really, what we want now, is not laws
against crime, but law against insanity. There
is where the true evil lies.
And the penalty attached should be impris-
onment, not hanging. Then, it might be
worth the trouble and expense of trying the
Gen. Coleses, and the Gen. Sick'eses and the
McFarlands, because juries might lock them
up for brief terms, in Difference to the majesty
of the law; but it is not likely that any OF us
will ever live to see the murderer of any seduc-
err hanged. Perhaps, if the truth were confess
ed few of us apiSh 10 live that LONE