Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-02-17
rnsaSIrr ANp cRrME.
A Correspondent Presents His Views ON some
Recent Public Executions.

Recent Public Executions. l
Eps. INrEIt.raENCER: "The insanity
dodge saves many murderer from the
gallows James Mutt when no shot Dukes,
Gen. sickles when he shot Philip Barton Key,
Emma Bickel now in the Norristown
asylum-and yet perfectly sane, when she
shot her former paramour,-were no more
crazy than am, unless we accept and give
legal effect TO the theory that
every person under the influence Of
anger is insane Medical experts say
that there arc very few persons who
are perfectly sane; that is, whose brains are
not moro or less diseased. But passion Is
no excuse for murder. Our tempcrs should
be under the control OF our Will, and IL we
allow IL to control our actions and hurry us
into crime we must suffer the consequences.
But while we condemn the laxity that acquits
the murderer on the ground of CONDITIONAL
insanity"-that is, uncomfortable anger-we
should be careful not to go to the other eN-
treme and hang people who are actually IN.
for the act committed. l am led
| to make this remark on account OF
| the recent hanging of DR.. Beach. did not
| read the evidence given during the trial, but
| If it was "a stated in the papers, don't see
| how we can como to any other conclusion
than that he killed his wife while in parox-
| ysm of insanity. 1t seems that he had insane
/ and idiotc ancestors that he himself had
L
| wife was for that reason; that there was no
quarrel or other motive for the act and that
| he made no attempt to escape, but admitted
| the killing Under the circumstances can
\ readily believe his statement that he had no
| recollection of the deed-that it was to him
| only a horrible dream.
Now to hang a person who commits a
homicide involuntarily, under an insane inl-
| pulse, is to me perfectly horrible. We might
| as well hang a person for having the measles
or the smallpox. 1t is his misfortune, not
his crime. An insane person cannot commit
a crime. Mary Lamb. the talented sister OF
the eccentric Ella" in such a paroxysm
! plunged a knife into the heart of her mother;
| an uncle of the writer, an estimablc man, at
| tempted to kill his family and then Killed
| himself; some months ago Col. Rathbons
Mortified the world by similar act Was
| Mary Lamb murderer BY no means. DR.
same nature and therefore l cannot think o
his hanging without a feeling of horror. Per
sons so afflicted should certainly be prevent
ed from doing further harm but they should
| not be hanged.
Perhaps I shall shock some of your readers
1T may be regarded rs a sort of heresy-
insanity, possibly f; but have the same feel
ing in regard to Guteau. would not lik,
! nuisance that he was. All the evidence wen
| TO show that his removal " Of Mr.. Garfield
| was without any adequate motive that woul,
| influence sane person he was religion
| fanatic VINO Delleveu he was ulNlnely COM
missioned to do the act On other subject
: perhaps he was sane, though eccentri
a (unless eccentricity is insanity, but on thi
= | his mind was clearly diseased. Some year
ago, when living in Honesdale this state,
e knew a mana good business man, INTEL
Q | gent, respected-who was perfectly sant
( and would converse intelllgently on ever
subject except one, If by any chance Chri:
= was named or suggested, then he was Jesu
X Christ, and a maniac. Guiteau's insanit
g was similar to this and to my mind the ex,
n cution of his death sentence with its prelud
: | of incoherent babblings and maniacal sin.
e ing, was more dreadful than the act fC
l. which he was hanged-dreadful beyond g,
,r | preston as that was. And the saddest thin
:, of all was the popular frenzy that demande
," his blood whether he was crazy or not an
a. gloated over it with sort of insane deligf
" If Guiteau was insane when he shot Il
president, he committed terrible deed b
not murder and the court, in sending hi
: to the gallows, committed either grievo
A. error or a terrible crime-unless we adopt Il
barbarous theory that crazy people should
hanged TO get rid of them. l for one belle
o. it is best to err on the side of mercy; "bett
IF that ten guilty persons escape than that ol
innocent person suffer- J. w. w.