Daily Republican., 1881-11-28
GuiteaQ's Insanity

Is Guiteau really insane? There
no nse denying the fact that stronI
case is being made out in favor Of in
sanity. The history Of the family a
portrayed by the defendants shows tina
there was wonderful disposition to
wards crankiness on the part of Gui
teau's father, and also that his mother
about the time of his birth was not in a
sound state of mind Guiteau's actions
before the court that is trying him for
his life, if not feigped, give strong evi.
dence of unsoundness of mind. Could
perfectly sane man act as he has act
ed before the jury, and use the express
sions he has used? 1t may be possible,
but if he could, then indeed has the
part he is acting been we'll studied
Bnt when 1t comes to settling a ques.
tion Of moral responsibility for crime,
where is the line of debarkation to be
fixed How crazy must a man be to
be held unaccountable for his actions :?
The question might easily be raised
whether any sane man would commit
murder, and the very fact that
Guiteau shot the President at the time
and under the circumstances that he
did, argues an unsound mental copdi-
non. Any person might have known
shat there was no possibility of escape
after the com mission of such an act in |
apublic place and in crowd of people.
A reckless, angry, daring man who
cared nothing for his life, might have
dared the consequences, but was Gui.
teau that kind Of man? He cannot
Tor a moment be compared with the
daring intrepid Booth, the assassin OF
President Lincoln. He seems neither
to have been reckless nor angry, but on
contrary was timid and passionless.
=, 'ime for the commission oil
his pio0hS "~ rmed
my plan of escape worthy of the name.
Even his bargain with the hacknan to
be present. was the mere shadow of a
plan altogether impracticable and
one which no sensible man would have
male, and yet it was just possible that
had he reached the hack, he might have
been whir.ed away from the scene of
his murderous exploit and for the time
have escaped arrest. |,
Guiteau's Interruptions in court are
too quick to be premeditated, and
disprove the theory Of insanity. They
are nearly all relevant to the particular
point before the court, and many oil
them evince . keen discriminatngt
mind. It's evident however that his
moral perceptions are terribly blunted,
that he fails to appreciate tine gravity |
of the charge against him, and that he
takes the livliest satisfaction n the pub.
licity which this trial is giving him.
These are not the characteristics of a |
sound mind, and if the evidence estab- |
fishes the fact of his insanity, the jury
will have nothing to do bat to acluit |
him.
1t will be hard for the people to recon-
cile themselves to such verdict, but |
after all it il surely better for the credit |
of the county that the assassin of the
President should be adjudged crazy
crank and out of his mind when he
committed the act. 1t would be terri
rible to think that man of sane mind |
would desperately assassinate the
President.
But before Guiteau is acquitted, his
insanity should be proven beyond a |
doubt Many cranks, such as he, have
been hung when it was known that
they were of unsound mind, but not 50
unso"nd as not to discriminate between
right and wrong. Cranks such as Gui-
teau are numerous and dangerous, ow-
ing to the eXcitablc state of their feel
ings. The clearing of Guiteau would
have bad effect upon cranks, ~ their
weak heated brains might lead them to
emulate Guiteau for the sake of making
sensation. The hanging of a crank
now and then would have wholesome|
effect in deterring others from crime,
but we would be the last to advocated
the hanging of any body who is wholly
ire: ponsible for his acts. That Guiteau
is morally and mentally unsouud to a
certain degree we believe, but We are
not convinced that his unsoundness of
mind is Of such degree as to render
him irresponsible for his acts. AS the
shot fired in this case was not merely
against an individual, but against the
head ofa nation, and in sense against
the very life of nation, the proof of
Guiteau's insanity should be CORES.
pondingly great. The presumptions
that might Re sufficient to acauit in an
ordinary case are not suffi cieht In Gui-
teau's case.
The INDEPENDENT Reform commit
tee of One Hundred who have under
taken to purify the political atmosphere