Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-07-18
cnitsan and His Crime

The more that is learned Of Guiteau
the more diabolical his crime appears.
The complete account. which District
Attorney Corkhill furnishes of his move
ments from March to July 2, renders
the theory of insanity well nigh untena-
bic. He planned the deed forty-fve
days before the murderous assault was
made. he went about examining
arms; purchased pistol
weeks in advance, practiced at board
to improve his skill, logged his victim,
followed him into church, chose favor
able spot from which he could fire upon
him the following Sunday. selected the
time for despatching the President, but
relented in pity for his wife, followed
him through the streets and at last shot
him down This is the record The
coolest villain unhung could not have
exceeded him in cool calculation, grim
determination aud remorseless persist
ency.
And take his record aside from the
dastardly attack on the President. The
most versatile Bohemian could not excel
him in beating" hotel keepers and
boarding house proprietors. He has
tried his hand at everything to gain
livelihood without sweating his brow,
and the police dockets Of the coun-
try frequently bore his name. His
campaign efforts show that he was
sane enough to comprehend the Repub-
lican platform, and to digest the giant
mass Of abuse and vilifcation heaped
upon the South by the Republican
journals and orators. Searching his
mind, as evidenced by his record, no
trace of insanity is found save in
the sctual pulling Of the trigger;
and even after the hammer fell, accord
ing 10 an intelligent and discriminating
eyewitness, he exhibited, instead Of the
set purpose that preceded the shot, the
calculation of the coward and the sanity
Of the villain, who is eager to Zee from
the consequences Of his act. He has ex-
hibited too great a fertility of resources
and fixedness Of purpose to warrant
prompt acceptance of the theory Of I'M
soundness Of mind.
The whole affair, view it as we may,
leaves only his motive wanting to ex-
plain it. and the more that is learned OF
him the greater the necessity for probing
the matter until the discovery Of his
motive is made, or found to be impos-
sible. If the theory Of general ''cusscd-
ness, and a reliance On the hope
of reward in the event of success,
whether his crime were suggested or self
| conceived, does not account for it, then
the only rational explanation is the one
we have adhered to, and that is that
Guiteau, inspired by the tone of the stall
wart press and the law-defying spirit of
the party leaders, wrought himself up TO
the belief that he could do the party
service by relieving it Of the man who
stood in the way of those who previously
IuiOu ~ dlus a. tAC AbOeNAA
ing Board thieves were compen-
stated, would receive his reward
for so doing when the way was made
clear for them. We do not, we cannot,
think that any representative Republican
hired him for the JOB. but the leading
men of the day are so surrounded with
strikers and tools, VINO enjoy their con-
fidence, that the suggestion of such a
measure Of desperate expediency from
a powerful member of the Paternity
might appear to a Guiteau power of at
torney to perform the work.
The fact that so much has been learned
of Guiteau in so brief time necessitates
that the movements of his mind be sub
jected to aproportionate search. His life,
from his cradle to his crowning infamy,
is an open book; the American people
will be slow to concede that the causes,
or suggestions, that lay at the bottom of
his conception of the murder of the
President shall remain a sealed page.