Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-05-27
GuTTEAU ONCE MORE.


The action of the Court in Bane re-
fusing q new trial to GUITEAU, and sus-
tanning the rulings Of the Court below,
which were excepted to by his counsel,
was so universally expected as to call
for little comment, and although it Is
said Mr.. REED has not yet exhausted
the of the law in behalf OF his
client, there is little probability that he
will be able to ave him from the gal
lows, or delay the set time for his exc
cntlon. The most serious question be-
setting the case was that Of the jurisdic-
ton of the Court, in consequence Of the
death OF the President in New Jersey,
on which there was some doubt and
confusion in the legal profession, was 50
thoroughly dealt with by Judge Cox as
to afford little promise to the ingenuity
of counsel before the appellate court.
And o as we reeede from this trial
and view it 81 a thing ofthe past, We
have great for satisfaction
with some of those features
which were specifically distasteful
at the time, despite the great prejudice
against the assassin, and the universal
e~xeeratiOn with which his crime was
viewed, indeed largely because Of these,
the sober second thought Of the count
Nv earnestly desired that he should be
secured a fair, full and impartial trial.
There was no thoughtful or patriotic
person who did not feel that it would be
infinitely better for the guilty wretch to
escape just punishment, than for the
Government to be again disgraced by
such q "bloOdy assiges" as hanged Mr..
SURRATT and sent DR.. Mud to the
Dry TortGsas.
We believe this desire was fully graft
fed. Every privilege and protection
which the humanity of the law have
devised to save the innocent when I'M
justly accused;. every liberty, or per-
haps license, which it was possible to ae-
cord the prisoner himself; the purse Of
the Nation to bring them witnesses
from all parts Of the land; able and
faithful counsel to defend, and rulings
uniformly liberal toward the accused,
so as to exclude no fact
which could throw any light on
the case, all this was ~vOuchsafed by the
people to the assassin of their ruler, and
the result has been that every doubt as
to his sanity and responsibility, which
the enornmity of his crime was so well
calculated to beget, has been cleared
away, and the finding of the jury APP
proved by the public opinion of the en-
lightened world. To the verdict of the
particular twelve men who sat in the
Jury box we attach little importance.
No doubt they made up q respectable
Jury, and by general consent their bear
ing throughout the long and vearisome
trial was discreet and decorIus. But
GUITEAU was really tried, as indeed he
50 often exclaimed, not by the court at
Washington and the twelve men there
impanelled, but by the intelligent,
watchml opinion OF the entire country.
No ruling from the bench; no statement
from the witness stand; no argument
from the bar; and especially no impu-
dent and blasphemOus interruption of
the accused himself, but was known,
weighed and considered by the millions
who followed with thrilling interest the
daily course of the procedure. That
this great outside public accepts and APP
proves the result Ofthe trial as the just
and only possible deliverance in the
case, is surely cause for congratulation
and comment, and that this outside
public has been able to reach this con-
clusiOn and rest confidently in it, is due
TO the manner in which Judge Cox
chose to conduct the difficult and EN-
barrassing trial. 1t is pleasant to know
that the thoughtless and Incorporate
censure with which so many Of the
newspapers, especially the New York
Tribune, followed him at the time, has
given way to general approval OF his
course, and to hearty commentator OF
his able and judicious discharge ola
grave and difficult duty.