Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-03-29
Another Crank.

Maniestly Judge Advocate Swain
is bigger fool than either Guiteau or
Mason, and his exhibition Of himself of
late demonstrates that Mr.. Garfield, like
many other men of culture, displayed
great weakness in the selection of his
confidential friends, Of whom this Swain
was one. Swain exhibited his feeble
ness of mind in setting aside the Whit
taker court martial on a technical triv-
iality in order that the case could be
disposed of with the least damage to the
Republican administration. But his
reasoning in recommending that the
finding in Mason's case be set aside, is
much silIier than in the previous case.
He argues that he was not guilty of an
assault with intent to kill /" as Guiteau
was beyond the reach Of a musket shot
from the position occupied by Mason at
the time of the firing;'' and cites the
legal principle that "where the ability
to commit a felonious attack is both ap-
parent and really wanting the offence is
not complete" The facts in the present
case, as given by Swain himself, are that
Mason was ordered to the Jail for guard
duty; standing on the outside of the Jail,
discharged his musket, the ball passing
Obliquely through the exterior window
of the prison and through the grated
window of the cell occupied by Guiteau
the ball entering the cell, cutting through
some of Guiteau's clothing hanging on
the wall. Mason then exclaimed, " l
hope have killed him. don't know
whether have or noe. I tried to kill
him. am not going to come out here
to guard God damned assassin There
was evidence tending to show that Gui-
teau was in the habit of standing at the
window through which the ball passed.
Upon this occasion, however, he was re-
clining on his cot at the time the shot
was fired, and happened to be out of
danger. Mason, however, did not know
this 80 far as he was concerned there
was not an apparent" lack of ability
to commit the offense, and that he in
tended to do it is plainly proved by his
declaration that he tried to kill him and
hoped that he had done so. No civil
court could reasonably have found any
lack of intent to kill. any more than if
Guiteau had been hit and saved by a
bullet proof vest of which Mason was
not aware. We believe that Mason
should have been tried by civil court,
as Gen. Hancock insisted, and that in
this event he would have escaped with
much lighter sentence than before a tri-
bunal where his civil offense and
his breach of military discipline were
both considered in his sentence. We be-
lieve, too, that public sentiment would
sustain mitigation Of his sentence.
But his exemption from punishment or
the straining of law and common sense
to set aside his sentence would simply
tend to encourage Guiteauism and to au-
thorize every crank to set himself up as
an administrator of his ideas of the law.
GOV. HoYT's home organ, the Wilkes.
barre Record, has broken loose most vic.
lently against Cameron and Cameron
ism This demonstration in an unexpected
quarter may be variously accounted for.
1t is no secret that Hoyt is not an original
selection nor favorite Of Cameron. He
was brought into state politics rather by
the Hartranft corps of the Stalwart
division. Then he and Palmer estab.
lished certain sympathy with Butler
in the crusade against the legislative