New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-08-13
TIE TECHNICAL REASONS.n


has had nothing but black specks floating
before its eyes since the Hartmann case
doomed up from the horizon of public discus
sion. For a week past it has been circlng
about like spltz i'll species of midsummer
rabies swapping viciously at such historic
figures as Lincoln and Seward, and barking
persistently at THE TRIBUNE. One day it
springs to the defence of Arguclles, an in
famous save-stealer and slave-seller and the
next 1T ventures upon the bewilderng
assertion that Gin the sight of George III.
George Washington was as atrocious a criminal
as Hartmann" There is as little force in its
historical parallel as there is decency in the
passionate vindictiveness wherewith it vifes
the official conduct and public services Of one
of the most accomplished and conservative
dpomatsts our country has ever known. Mr.
Seward was in his time rs well velsed in inter-
national law "a our erratic contemporary can
ever hope to be, and as for George III. we must
do him the justice of saying that he was neither
| so stupid nor mad as to confOund the Com
mander-in- Chief of the American colonists in
rebellion with the accused brood of assassns
and regicides which have been abhorrcd Mt every
stage of the worlds history. The possibilities
! of an era of dynamite he could not have fore
| cast.
MI llUtiltnHS organ, however, mas IUclu
| intervals. In one of these it seeks To explain
| why il has been inccnsed by the proposal
to extraditc him. 1t argues that there are
technical reasons " imbeddcd in the very frame
of our Government" why he cannot be legally
| arrested and extradited in the absence of "A
| special treaty. 1.-THE people of the United
| Statcs,n he says, are not one half so much
concerned about Hartmann as they are about
| the assertion and the supremacy of the law on
| these shores"
| Very well. For the sake of the argumcnt-and
that only-et us allow that The World may be
| right in assuming that foreign criminal is
| always safe until treaties-the supreme law
of the land, with which State Judges cannot
| interfere-open way for aTrcsting him legally,
and legally returning him to his own country
for trial" What has THE TRIBUNE said that
| has been at variance with this view Il has
contended that if Guiteau were in st. Peters
| burg on Il similar errand, the American people
would expect ut the hands of the Russian
Government one thing ouly-" the promptest
action consistent WiM idW for the arrest OF the
loud-mouthed and red-handed miscreant who
| blur ii out his own inhumanity and wicked
ness" 1.-The promptest action consistent with
| law" anyone outside of The WOrM
Office would readily admit, excludes any process
| WHICH, INC department. Oh JUSTICE OF lhc state
| or the United States Courts may condemn Us
illegal. We have set Hartmann in his true
light before the country, and have urged the
necessity in this era of dynamite and regicide
of discriminating between political offences
and crimes against all civilized society. We
have not recommended any course of action
that would be inconsistent with law, although
we have said we should be sorry to
learn that Hartmann could escape the
penalty for his murdcrous plot 10y COM
| ing to New-YOrb and advertising it.
| OF course, The World has wilfuly misrepre-
| scented what we have said, and will go on doing
| 50 until it is possessed of some new form OF
| midsummer madness. The technical reasons
| for its ignorance and righteousness are "rea-
| sons imbedded III the very frame OF its cOnsti-
| tuition.
| Having met The World on its own ground,
| let us take advantage of another of its lucid
| intervals 1t has collected the opinions of some
| leading lawyers on the obligations of our Gov
| eminent to extIadite foreign criminals in the
absence of special treaties. Mr.. Clarkson n.
Potter, while making courteous attempt to
defend The Worlds position, confesses that
| it is matter of international comfy. and
! that when there are no treaties the general
duty remains OF surrendering those who are
| DtilcNSu 10 nave committed helnOuS crimes,
Mr.. Coudert AYERS that "mllrder has never vet
been recognized one of the legitimate
methods OF curing political disorders" and
! that " neither our judiciary nor our executive
would like to place itself upon record rs giving
Hartmann absolution, at least as holding
that, unwhipped of justice, he is fit to associate
| with our people," Ex-Judge Dillon contends
that in the absence of a treaty, extradition is
| matter of Executive discretion and that Hart
mann cannot claim exemption from surrender
on the ground that his crime was of o. DO
| litical nature. Adopting the views of eminent
| Continental jurists, he considers assassination
| as Il gross crime coming under the common
law OF nations, and concludes that "the
Executive has discretion to grant n surrender
| on the ground that the country is not bound
| to give refuge to, dangerous crimnals.n
! These three specialists unite in the opinion
that even when there is no treaty a way may
be opened by international comty--the recog-
milton of common obligations-for the extra
| dition of murderer like Hartmann This ia
not Whist The World has been trying To prove.
| But that is not fault. 1t is because there
are - technical reasons imbedded in the very
! frame OF civilized society why nations shou d