Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-11-20
"CRANKSn

The present year has bc-n prolific in the discovery of comets, and "cranl,s [" having a sposition to shoot some body. The comets are beyond the reach Of mortal co .rol, but the cranks" de- serve consideration and should be dealt with. Their increase in number since the terrible tragedy of tEe shooting of President Garfield by the assassin and so called ~crank Guiteau, has been so rapid as to present an alarming moral
 and psychological problem.
 No well-baianced man with his mind in proper condition will commit crime,
 but that is no reason why criminal
 should escape the penalties of his acts because his menta! organization was deranced Such a theory is monstrous
 and in it's effects on society would be damoralizine. A "crank who murders or commits any Of the lesser crimes Is as great an e-gmy of society as if he was not "cra z1 and soci t. must be pro-
 tected a. crimes Pul,shel whoever
 commits them.
 ! We dor believe that p7iteau was irresponsi @, and We do Bot believe that
 the maa D threatened Jag Could was ] irresponsible We are rather of the
 opinion so aaly expressed by one who
 is himself 8 criminal under the natior's laws, being the leader Of the Oneida Free Love Community. ME Noyes argues 1 from strong premises thai Guiteau,
 though prone to mischief, was no more
 insane than i4. genius who has pen
 chant for music or art. This seems to cover the ground excellently, and there seems no reason why the fool who con-
 Inits murder shoald not be held respon-
 siblc as well as the man who having a hardened conscience, commits theft.
 Society is loo sentimental on these topics, and il their reasoning were car
 riel out, it would result in such a refined system Of excuses for crime that rogues
 would go unpuuished as we'll as maniacs. Tine fine spun theories Of hereditary in-
 clinations can easily be stretched so as
 to include all scoundrels, and We would at all events face the queer demous;ra- tion that d man must be relieved of legal liability because his father was a rosac before him.
 II may be a fact that the man who threatened Jay Gould is insane. He is | either that or be is a stock-manipulatoI
 who sought this method 60! getting even
 on losses. IT he be insane, his own let l Ter, published yesterday, shows that he
 knew fall well the penaIty ol any at tempt at assassination. He says: "The Lord assured me no harm would | become of me; that the rope was moi | made, neither was the hemp grown tC ! make a rope to hang me with, and that ! he wouli deliver ne cut of the hands Oi l mE enemies.
 IT this be the yaPoing of Q deranged man, tle Ierangemeut is of such a na-
 tuIe that it did uot prevent the fellow from knowing thlt he Vas transgressing the lalr, and a little heroic proof, in his
 case, that the Lords assurance wasn't
 worth the substance Of a dream, would ! quickly be a wholesome lesson to other | cranky felons.
 The insane dodge is becoming a curse
 to society, and its scope Is widening to a l dangerous extent. At the rate things are going, it cannot be long before crim- inal prosecutors will be compelled to face in court the subtle theory of those
 metaphysical experts who hold that a
 nan, whose father was criminal, is free to play the rogue because hereditary traits render him "irresponsib.e.'