The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1881-09-27
UNCERTAINTIES OFLAw.

The dispatches received to-day bring the
information that the lawyers of Washington
give it as their opinion that Guiteau cannot
be convicted. The phraseology of the law is
said to be that death must result within one
year aud a day from tine time when, and the
death of the ex-President in the State of New
Jersey was under a Jurisdiction other than
that In which the fatal shot was fired. The
law as it stahds seems to presume that the act
of dying is a necessary part of the crime, and
that the venue cannot be laid in two indie
pendent Jurisdictions. Certa My, Guiteau
cannot be tried in New Jersey, for the reason
| that his crime was not committed there. The
seventh amendment to the Constitution
guarantees to every citizen, III all criminal
prosecutions, the right to a speedy and public
trial Gin the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which dis
trict shall have been previously ascertained
by law" He manifestly cannot be tried any
where beyond the jurisdiction Of the District
of Columbia. Whatever feeling the Ameri-
CAH fcOplC hloJ INV" h"'S uPoh mas PA|>e
lar question no doubt springs from their
| sense Of the enormtty of the crime that has
been committed. In ordinary cases, the law,
| as it is alleged to exist in the District Of Co.
| lumbia, might commend itself to the popular
judgment as founded in principles of right
and justice. Such a law Is no doubt based
Oh a conviction in the minds of the law
makers that the wounded man who goes from
one place to another does not have that pru-
dent care for his recovery that is necessary to
fasten a capital otiense upon his assailant.
Certain it is, in ordinary cases, that the man,
wounding another who goes to another iuris-
diction and afterward dies, would be held to
answer for no greater crime than that of a
criminal assault. Morally considered, the
man who fires at another and misses him or
one that takes human life. The iutent is the
same in either instance.
Sergeant Mason, who fired into Guiteau'.
cell was actuated by a like murderous pur-
teau. The prisoner in his cell was there I'M
der a presumption of law Il ut he was .inno-
cent until proved guilty. In this land We
have a beautiful theory that all men are equal
before the law; but the human
cannot be brought to act upon this
theory. 1t is a greater crime in public
estimation 10 strike down a venerated official
and useful citizen than some worthless vaga-
bond. Aud here is where the uncertaintie.
of the law do manifest themselves. Our feel
ings Of indignation and horror at the enor-
nifty of such a crime as now fills the land
with mourning prompt us to demand a spec
ial dispensation of justice for this special
case, and to regard Sergeant Mason as a ben
rather than a criminal. The courts,
however, cannot twist the law to suit public
cla,nor, They must administer it as they
ind it, and cannot take judicial notice that
the great and good man who perished was any
more valuable to society than his slayer.
The consequence will be that they cannot
deny q motion Tor q nsus prosequi in the case
of Gui.eau, and the concurrent consequence
will be that he will be seized by a mob and
The worthless life that he has forfeited will
terminate. The attent ion Of the country has
been called by this exigency to the absence
IF law to meet such cases. Assassination of
men in public station for &C 8 connected with
he discharge Of public duties ca not be toll
grated IN this land. We justly regard assas-
with feelings Of aversion; but we fail
o discover that all murders, except those
=. A. lao. -c LJ-zl .---.
tion.. An exception must be made for the
of those to whom are entrusted
be civil power, for the security of the gov
rnment and the welfare OF society. While
he theory of our Cover nment is based on the
lea that we are to be ruled by the ballot, we
aust cut OF the alternative that we may be
uled by the bullet. As much as the sRlight-
ned sentiment Of the age deplores = resort to
lob law, it seems to be the only one now ap-
licable to the case Of Guiteau.
General Grant recently nominated Gener-
| Hancock for President for life of the Az
&c Club of Philadelphia, i'll the place of
Ieneral Patterson, deceased. The Euening
lost, commenting on this act of military
states that General Graut had
General Hancock as a swlndler, to
the New York World retorts: Gas
ne matter stands, this extraordinary para
raph prose nts the journal in which it ap-
ears in the scandalous attitude of making
he of the most illustrious OF American SOL
iers a slanderer in order that it may attack
Of the most illustrious of American
3ldiers as . swindler." ]
Full particulars Of the Doncastsr St. Leger
.ce won nv Iroo,nis nm tho 11th boya