New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-05-02
udNJ1C uDRDERERS.

| v.
look upon that plea with impotence II not
dcrsion. If man murders his VIE or ms
friend through that mixture OF wounded
vanity and wounded love which is called
jealousy, it is the usual resort of his at
torney to say he was crazy. mordlnate
avarce sometimes leads to murder and III
sanity is in these cases also the ever ready eX-
| cuse. Whisky Of course produces temporary
| madness, and therefore many tender-heartcd
pcople think man should not be punished
for killing a fellow creature under its influence.
These mockeries of justice have so dlSguStcd
rational men with the plea OF insanity That we
are in danger of falling into the other extreme,
| and hanging maniacs without regard TO thelr
condition We have never thought that hang
ING WAS of much use either to the criminal or
70 society. We have steadily insisted, how
! ever. that as long as hanging remained the
| Local nunishment of murder it should be car
ricd into effect. and convicted murderers should
be hanged. We do not positively assert that
an insane murderer should never be punished.
There is much to be said on both sides of This
question. and we have already given in these
columns the strong and logical argument of
DIR. William A. Hammond, which exhibits as
delicate subject involved. But the point in
which every one will agree, Is that it is adj
visable that matters so important to the we'll
being of society and the good name OF the
law should always be decided with lntelil-
gence and not upon considerations OF sentl-
ment or prejudice If maniac is hanged, 1t
is highly desirable that he should be hanged
rs n maniac, so that the community anu the
asylums may know how they stand IN relation
! to each other
All the evidence shows that Joseph Waltz,
VINO was hanged yesterday at Catskill, was
| insane. A year ago he killed a wandering
scissors grinder named Harmon HOlcher under
the following circumstances: The victim came
! to the house of Watz's father to pass the
| night The evening was passed III pleasant
conversation, and after all had gone to bed,
Young Waltz as his confession states, was
! seized with an uncomfortable impulse, which
he took for the prompting of an evil spirit,
| to kill the German. He opened his Testament
| TO read, but soon laid it down and "rcsisted
'thc spirit until it oyercame him. He went
out of doors and got Ratchet and crept softly
into the guests room. Another struggle oil
conscience against the murderous impulse
took place, but it was too feeble, and he
! killed the old man in his sleep. He says
in subsequent confession, 81 struck very
"hard. but | seemed to have no strength"
phenomenon which every boy with the night
marc has experienced. lie then buried the
corpse, and broke the scissors grinders poor
apparatus to pieces and buried and hid the
| fragments. He committed so many fOllles as
to attract suspicion to himself, and after he
was arrested he took the officers to the place
where the body was buried, and made vol
untary confession of the crime. lie felt no
remorse for what he had done and no fear rs
to his own fate. His family were too poor to
employ able counsel to defend him, and he
was convicted. His execution was delayed
for some time, and Gen. Dix made
some effort to gain information as
to his mental condition. He was satisfied that
Waltz was not so insane as to be morally ire
sponsible, and therefore refused to interfere
with the execution of his sentence. On Thurs
day, Waltz gave another terrible proof of his
homicidal madness. He had been violent all
day, and some time before had threatened the
life of his keeper, Charles Ernst. But the latter
did not believe in his insanity and did not
fear his violence. His confidence proved his
ruin, for about o'clock, as lie was lying on a
lounge in the cell, Waltz attacked him with an
iron bar he had torn from the floor and crushed
his skull in several places. He possessed him
self of the victims revolver and keys, but
made no effort to escape. Having gratified his
murderous impulse, he sat down on the floor
in corner, growing and muttering like q wild
beast. lie made no resistance to the jailers
who came in and chained him, with tardy
decision and sagacty. Ernst was general
favorte in the village, and there was a
momentary attempt to lynch his slayer, but
the Sheriff succeeded in preventing it. Waltz
maintained his stod demeanor to the last.
The symptoms of this homicidal mania are
"a clearly marked and as well known to in
telligept observers as those of smallpox or
neuralgia 1t is the subject of elaborate
essays 10y Esquir6i and Pinel, and is treated
at length by DR.. Maudsley IN his work on
Responsibility in Mental Disease" lie gives
numerous instances of it among people y. sur
ficcnt mental and moral culture to appreciate
the terrible nature of the maady under which
they are laboring, and who can therefore seek
for proper treatment and put themselves under
necessary restraint until the paroxysm is
past. Waltz was of course too ignorant
to understand the dem0nlac temptation which
assailed him, and of too weak a moral struc-
ture TO make any successful struggle against
it. He was undoubtedly noxous animal to
have at large, and the only question as to the
disposition to be made of him was whether it
were best to put him to death, or to keep
him in constant restraint. The former alter
native is usually adopted in England. a youth
named Burton was hanged in 1863 for having
murdered child with the intention of being
hanged for it, his mania having taken that