The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-06
CRIME MAKES MEN BLIND.

Were it not for the serious conse-
that it lets fall upon young lives and
it's blasting breath upon character and
reputation, a crime like the recent bank
robbery in st. Paul would almost COM
mand attention for it's fudicrous aspect.
It shows once more, what has been
demonstrated some thousands of times
in human history and experience, the
extraordinary power Of a contemplated
criminal act to distort and throw out
of relation to each other the ordinary
affairs of life; so that the criminal be-
comes, apparently, incapable Of exer-
clsing the ordinary judgment that he
used in planning and consummating
his act down to the very moment Of
success. Here, for instance, was a
crime planned and carried out with
surprising ease. The simplicity of
it, it's DARN gness and the unshaken
nerve with which it was executed
are as admirable as any evil
thing can be. 1t would not have oc-
Cured to many that so large a sum
of money, making bulky package,
could be spirited away in broad day
light from a banking Office in which a
large number of people were at work,
without leaving a trace of it behind
The scheme was ingenious and it's ex-
ecution seems to have been almost per-
feet
Eliminate the element Of conscience
and the inherent weakness of conscious
guilt and you have a crime of which
it would be almost impossible to con-
Wet any one. No one but the two par
ties to this could possibly have knowl-
edge of it. There was no other wit
ness Of the affair. There was nothing
but the bare suspicion that the money
package had been taken from the bank
by the method actually used, because
no other way could be imagined. Thus
far the scheme of the confederates was
an absolute success, and against 1t
+, there stood nothing but a shrewd and
accurate surmise Of what had happen
ed. Save for a previous crime, which
this one was designed to cover evil
dence was wanting, and must be want
ing until the discovery Of the stolen
funds or the confession by some one
who had participated in the robbery.
It was at this point, it is always at
this point, that the criminals scheme
breaks down. There is no cohesive
power in evil. The ability to plot and
plan and arrange a series of compli-
Gated details fails when the attempt
Is made to apply it to conduct after
| the crime is finished. Usually. the
| criminal betrays himself, and gives up
the fruits Of months and years of plot
ting, by some incautious word or act
that is unimaginably indiscreet. So. in
the present instance, the betraying evil
dence was left in half dozen different
directions, that could not fail to lead
justice to her objective point. It was
| easy enough to get the money. It was
an impossible thing to so dispose of it
as to battle detection and so to act as
to sustain pretended innocence.
If those who contemplate criminal
action could know in advance what it
| means to cover it afterward, the annals
of crime would be stripped Of nine
tenths of the events recorded there. Not
the operation Of human law, not the
keen scent of those whose business it
is to unearth crime but the effect of
crime itself upon the individual, it's
weakening Of the judgment, its lessen
ing of the ability to think clearly and
to coordinate thought and action, are