River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-02-16
HE WILL HANG.
NO New Trial to be Granted. and Judge
Cox Sentences Guitcau to be Hang
ed June 3Oth.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.-This being the
morning for Judge Cox to render his
decision on the application for new
trial, the court was formally opened
with the prisoner in the dock.
ScovIlle wanted to introduce some
hearsay evidence that he had come in
possession of, but Corkhill objected,
and Judge Cox imm ediately began to
read his decision. He covered all
points of law, set up as objections by
Scoville, and summoned up as follows.
81 am unable to find any reason to
grant the motion for new trial, which
is therefore overruled. Scoyille noted
an exception to the ruling of the court
Judge Cox then informed Scoville CT
the rules of practice applicable to filing
exceptions, and after this matter had
been arranged, Col. Corkhill renewed
his motion saying: at is now my duty
to ask for the sentence of the court"
Judge Cox-to the prisoner stand
upl Have you anything to say why
sentence should not now be passed up
on your"
Guiteau-still sitting-"I ask your
honor to postpone the sentence as long
as possible
Judge Cox" Stand upl Have you
anything to say why sentence should
not aow be pronounced upon your"
The prisoner then arose, pale, but
with lips compressed and a desperate
determination stamped upon his fea-
lures, and in a low and deliberate tone
he began; but soon mis- manner became
wild and violent, and pounding on the
table he delivered himself of the follow
| ing harangue:
II am not guilty of the charge set
forth in the indictment. 1t was Gods
act, not mine, and God will take care
of me, and don't let the American peo-
pie forget it. He will take care of
every officer of this government from
the executive down to that marshal.
Each man on the jury, and every
member of this bench will pay for it,
and the American nation will roll in
blood if my body goes into the grave
and am hung.
'The Jews put the despised Galileean
in the grave; and for the time they
conquered; but at the time of the de-
struction of Jerusalem, four years af-
terward, the Almighty got even with
them.
81 am not afraid of death. / am
here as Gods man. Kill me to-mor-
row, if you want to. | am Gods man
and have been from the start"
Judge Cox then proceeded to pass
the sentence, addressing the prisoner
as follows:
''You have been convicted of a crime
so terrible in its circumstances, and SO
far-reaching in its results, that it has
drawn on you the horror of the whole
world, and the excavations of your
| countrymen. The excitement pro-
| duced by such an offense made it no
easy task to secure for you fair and
impartial trial, but you have had the
power Of the United States treasury
and of the government in your service
to protect your person from violence,
and to procure evidence from all parts
of the country. You have had as fair
and impartial a jury as ever assembled
in court of justice. You have been
defended with zeal that merits the
highest encomium, and have certain
ly done my best to secure a fair pre-
sentation of your defense. Notwith-
| dill tlllS tOu Z
1t would have been a comfort to
many people if the verdict of the jury
had established the fact that your act
was that of an irresponsible man. 1t
would have left the people the satisfy
ing belief that the crime of political as
sassination was something entirely for
eign to the constitution and civilization
of our country, but the result has de-
MED them that comfort.
The country will accept it as fact
that the crime can be committed and
the courts will have to deal with it with
| the highest penalty known to criminal
courts, to serve as an example to 9TH
ers
| Your career has been so extrordlna-
ry that people might well at times have
| doubted your sanity, but one cannot
but believe that when the crime was
committed you thoroughly understood
] the nature of the crime and its conse-
quences.
Guiteau-'I was acting as Gods
man."
That you had moral sense and con-
science enough to recognize the moral
iniquity of such an act.
The prisoner-"That's a matter OF
opinion"
! Yo-r own testimony shows that you
recolled with horror from the idea.
You say that you prayed against it;
you say you thought it might be pre-
vented. This shows that your consci-
ence warned you against it; but by the
wretched sophistry of your own mind,
you worked yourself up against the
protests of your own conscience.
What motive could have induced you
to do this act must be matter of conjec-
ture. Probably men will think some
| fanaticism or morbid desire for self
exaltation was the real inspiration for
the act Your own testim ony seems to
controvert the ideas of your counsel.
| They have maintained and thought
honestly, / believe, that you We're
driven against your will by an insane
impulse The testimony showed that
you deliberately resolved to do it, and
that deliberate will was the sole inn
pulse.
This may seem insanity to some per-
sons, but the law looks upon it as will
full crime.
You will have due opportunity OF
having any errors | may have commit
ted during the course of the trial, passed
upon by the court above; but mean
while, it is necessary for me to pro-
nounce the sentence of the law:
That you be taken hence to the COM
mon jail of the district. from whence
you came, and there be kept in cofine-
ment; and on Friday, the Both day OF
June, 1882, you be taken to a place
prepared for your execution within the
walls of said Jail and there, between
the hours of II o'clock noon and 2 P.
NJ, you be hanged by the neck until
| you are dead, and may God have
mercy on your soul"
During the reading Guiteau stood APP
parently unmoved and with his gaze
riveted upon the judge, but when the
| final words were spoken, he struck the
table violently and shouted
"And may the Lord have mercy on
your SOUL I'd rather stand where do
+, than where that jury does, or where
| your Honor stands. Pm not afraid to
die. | stand here as Gods man and
God Almighty will curse every man
who has bad part in procuring this I'M
| righteous verdict.
Live Animals Thrown Into Crater.
Hilo Letter in the San Francisco Chronicle.
| The boast of the missionaries and