The weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1869-18??, 1870-10-26
A Deaf Mute nnrderer-What shall be
-, done with Him

y At Kingston, Ulster county, New York,
an uneducated deaf mute has been arraigned
on charge of murder. His victim was an
employer. What shall be done with him
By the English common law such persons
are adjudged incapable of being tried as
criminals-it is unsafe for the public to re-
lease them-to shut them up as, irrational
beings seems hardly just. What shall be
done with him9 fsC b. had 1aaU
s 1t having been proposed to send him to
the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, DR..
Peet, Superintendent, addresses letter to
the New York Hsrald, and suggests, that In
asmuch, as the boy is only eighteen years
old and shows sufficient natural capacity,
and may have strong provocation for COM
hitting the deed with which he stands
charged, he be sent to some juvenile refor-
matory school; if this is done DR.. P. pro-
misses to provide for his intellectual and
moral instruction, expressing strong hope
that this wild man, who has so fatally ex-
empli6ed the danger of leaving deaf mute
of strong natural passions to grow up in ig-
norance, may yet become a useful citizen
and sincere Christian So. g. ...s....
The letter of DIR. Peet is so admonitory
and suggestive that we quote the larger
part oft an1 commend it to the careful con-
sideration of the people of North Carolina.
It ought to be generally known that deaf
mutes who have been deprived of the ad-
vantages of education now so freely offered
at the expense of the State are liable to grow
up nuisance and q terror to the community
in which they are found. The deaf mute
in question, Levy Bodine, was taken from
the county poorhouse, and instead of being
sent to the institution to be educated, as he
ought to have been, was bound during his
minority to the gentleman who has lost his
life in attempting to control by mere per.
sonal authority . naturally stubborn and
reyengful disposition, which might have
been moulded to good will and cheerful
service by appeals to his better nature had
he -beensprevionsly placed in an institution
where his mental and moral faculties could
be developed BY the means used with sue.
cess in multitudes of similar cases. In the
absence of such mental and moral training
the individual necessarily grows up savage.
The cases inlwhich auwholly uneducated
deaf mute has been accused of serious crime
have always occasioned much perplexity to
Z the court called to pass upon the degree of
his accountability. That an individual
who has shown himself to be dangerous to
the community should be restrained from
new acts of violence is evident butt is
equally evident that a deaf mute who knows
nothing of either human or divine laws is
not responsible for his actions to the same
extent as those who have been well instruct
ed s,-.,f, -, =. - '.'' Ia
/, Many cases are on record in which uned-
ucated ,mutes have been arraigned for grave
crimes, including murder, sometimes under
aggravated circumstances. !; In I, countries
where the English common law. prevails
the usual course has been to pronounce the
prisoner not capable of being tried. and to
confne him or her, as in the case Of danger.
Gus lunatics, usually equivalent to conkne.
ment for life. In France q somewhat diff.
erent philosophy prevails. The deaf mute
is tried and the verdict generally is aGuil.
ty, with extenuating circumstances! y This
verdict saves his life, but usually dooms him
: to perpetual imprisonment If the case be am
aggravated one. asos.fs, sn.. s,g 81
1t is to be hoped that the liberal proyis.
ion made by our State land most Of the other
States of the Union} for the free education
of all deafmute children between six and
twenty-five years, whose parents are unable