The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-01-30
THE PRESSONJU JUDGE WOODS
STILL 0ENouNclNe FIN FREELY.
he Has Placed ''An IndeIbIe Brand Upon
His RePutatiOn'-The sIornl Aspects of
the 5Iatter-"A Most Infamous
Piece of Partisan yillainy."
IN. Erenin. Pn.t.l


The case has two aspects, a legal and moral
one Judge Woods has disposed of the legal
one; the moral aspect remains for the cOnsid-
Grafton of the various churches and religious
organizations with which Dudley Quay and
Platt, not to speak of Gen. Harrison himself,
are connected.
The plea that Dudley is not guilty because
there is no proof that anybody Yielded to his
temptations may be good in law but in morals
1t resembles the plea set up by the famous
Judge Advocate Swain, that tie sentinel who
tried to kill Guiteau by firing irto the window
OF his cell was not guilty of any crime because
Guiteau was not in the line of ire, and could
not possibly, owing to his position with respect
to the window, have been reached by the bull
let. But then, augmentation OF this sort does
not hold water in churches and SHnday-schoOls.
zen. Harrison has been, we believe. Sunday
school superintendent or teacher, and Dudley,
understand, Is now. Neither of them we
are sure, teaches the children that the moral
luality Of design or intent depends on sue
eess or failure III carrying IL out Neither
would say:
Dear children, you hear a good deal about
the wlckedncSs OF lying, and theft, and bur
giary, and murder, and you are told that il is
As great sin before God TO plan. or intend,
desire to commit such ofenses as actually to
commit them; but there Is "A good deal of con-
fusion about the matter which ought TO be
cleared up before you go out INFO the great,
wicked world. Know then, that if you tell
o lie IN order TO get your father TO give you u
pair OF rOller-skates and he does not give them
10 you; or you agree with another boy TO
help you 10 break into store and get
at the til, and the other boy does not
keep his appointment, and you are
afraid 10 attempt the job alone; or you tell
your mother you are SICK in order to stay at
home from school. when yen are really very
well. and she doesn't believe you and makes
Won 20 all the same-yOu have not in any OF
these cases done any wrong Wrong depends
on now the affair turns out. You may make
Is many wicked plans as you please; but II you
are prevented in any way from executing them,
or II nobody sees you executing them, or can
appear as 4 witness against you, you will not
be blamed by your parents, or teachers or pas
tor, or friends, or by anybody but the nasty,
snarlng mugWumpS, OF whom you have all
heard, and whom you must try and avoid"
Surely Gen. HarrisOa would not teach such
doctrine as this Quay might but not Gen.
Harrison and John Wanamaker Yet this is
the doctrine they will have TO teach in order
10 Get their friend Dudley out OF his present
scrape, unless Dudley can somehow get into
court and before some impartial Judge, and
either CD prove he never wrote the letter, (2(
Or that it will not bear the Interpretation put
JpOn II by its enemies, 81 or that, ii it will
bear that Interpretation, it is in the light of
surrounding circumstances capable of another
and entirely innocent Interpretation. But this
must be some other than a legal tribunal.
Judge Woods has done for him all that the law
allows. We must now, in order to satisfy Gen.
Harrison, step into the forum of morals, and
Get his case on the calendar there.