New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1893-12-20
Nm, DECEMBER % 1898 WHOLE lIBEIs sss


sH fhe question ociets is no be-
ginning to ask, a1ld which ass con nstantl II
accuniu acc lating series Of crimes is forcing
upon ltsll,,re g and more,ls Whet tller proved
insanity established ilres possibility
ought to free q cri,nina rom the laws
penalty PEI The ground of contention Is
shifting It Will soon lot be enough to
pfove#a YEA criminal ui,sound mind be-
cause 6 y 1T will still remain true that society
IN 'sseif-defease will declare that It ca M
not not permit t q. me Der Z osce so worth
1855 ls' an and SO tialg geTous5to remain alive.
This IS milne with the work of penal in
vestiggation and refornl, which emphasii-
zes 'es the aspect of legal. penalties that re-
CARDS CARDS them as preventive rather than as
pulnitoiy. unit i is coming to be poor sat-
isfaction for rational men to. lnfllct some
sort}of pain on a man who has offended
merely 1le1't, Tor the sake Of having him suffer.
Unless there is the further end in view
OF preventing him from offending again.
or OF protecting society from him and
from his kind in future, the galloWs and
the prisons cell would be emblems only
OF the ferocity that makes one brute
turn and rend another,
We haveb been nearing this point for
long g time in a practical way, though
people have hesitated about discussing it.
For example, the murderer of President
Garfield was put to death with the ap
proval Of the whole people. It appeared
plainly that the man was unfit to live
among men; men that society would gain bv
his removal that his continued existence
c.uld benefit neither himself nor any one
else; and that his execution was demand
ed for the safety Of the public. Yet
that Ina he was Of sound mind we suppose
no g person in the country believes. He
was was Just as insane as Prende dergast; and
that that. Pl'redergast is not sane appears in
every step Of the testimony so far. The
open question remains, then shall we
continue to take refuge behind the sub
terfuge Of declaring weak minded man
sane in order that we may be privileged
to hang him, when we know that he ough
to and must be hung; or shall we step
out into an honest light and say thai.
insane criminals Of this kind, persons
who, IN no sudden freak Of passion, but.
by the slow workings of mental derange-
ment, come to bend their whole life to
the accomplishment OF an end through
murder. must be removed by the lava
That is the issue that confronts society.
and it will be interesting to see what
solution is offered. What will be done
with this particular man no one knows:
but it is not hard to guess what vii {.
| happen as the homicidal crank continues
to multiply. Valiant, too, vas surely
insane, Technically speaking. n man
Of normal mental conditions would have.
thrown that bomb to Wreak no Vengeance.
accomplish no purpose, only to MAIN
and to kill unoffending people. Should.
he therefore go free2 Is there to be
certain immunity offered for every murd-
erer who makes his act sufficient inn
personal and dramatica Is the value of
the life of the homicidal lunat1c to socie-
ty sufficient to secure him protection
and maintenance by the state till hcdies2
And AZ is not the right of society to pro-
tect and preserve itself pretty much
ignored BY the theory that mental ire
sponsibility along with it2 These are
some of the questions that are coming
very close to US in these times Pioneer
Press.