Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-09-29

water-but II Is not the bread and
water that will make his life worse
than death. He could be happy on
such simple fare II his mind had work.
In his prison Bresci Is protected from
the sun and the rain and the cold. He
can sleep rs many hours rs he likes.
No duns can trouble him. He pays no
rent. There Is absolutely nothing that
he must do. But there Is absolutely
nothing that he can do. The most des-
perate man, harassed by cares Of all
kinds, would seem blissfully happy in
Brescrs eyes. for he has ut least full
play for his sentiments, for his activi-
ties. To punish Ravaillac's attack on
the life of the French King long ago
they tried ingenious devices. They
broke him on the wheel. They tortured
him slowly. Finally they poured melt.
ed lead into his stomach. 1t was .
hard death. But they did not punish
Ravaillac as severely as Brescl Is to be
punished. The minutes, the hours, the
weeks, months and years will drag
along. ldleness, idleness, idleness.
Nothing. nothing, nothing. No human
smile or voice to measure time. Sleep,
bread and water: sleep. bread and
water. Gradually madness will come
and bring relief. BE glad that you are
active, you who work willingly. And
you young men who rebel against labor
and long for the chance to do nothing,
study Brescis case and take up your
load gladly. The decree condemnlng
Us to earn our bread In the sweat Of our
brow was merciful, not stern. For that
same power which sentences all to work
also causes happiness to be found In
work alone.
In the North American Review, DR..
Felix l.. Oswald discusses the motives
for political assassinatiOns. He as
crlbes the increase In this form Of crime
partly to the fact that death has lost Its
terrors for large class Of criminals.
He Is inclined to believe that the assas-
sins choose this as an indirect method
OF suicide. They rarely make any eff
fort to escape. They must commit
their crime In the full knowledge that
they will suffer the extreme penalty.
For this reason DR.. Oswald Is In favor
Of ceaslng to Oblige these murderous
gentry In their suicidal plans "by bar
ring the privileges Of the Styglan ferry
| to political assassins." He would sub
stltute life Imprisonment for the death
penalty. DR.. Oswald's theory Of the
motives of assassins will not account
FOR the deed Of the Italian who killed
King Humbert, as Bresci must have
known that Imprisonment for life
awaited him. Russian assasslns have
not been deferred by the knowledge
that they would have to spend the re-
mainder Of their lives In the Siberian
mines. 1t Is true that Imprisonment
for life Is a more dreaded punishment
than death. The modern prison Is the
most hopeless Of places and even sui
eide can be made almost impossible
there. But DR.. Oswald's theory that
life-weary desperadOes will be less will
Ing to run amuck II they know life i'm
prlsOnment awaits them hardly pre-
sents IN adequate cure for the evil OF
political assassination. 1t Ia hard
enough to guess the thoughts of a nor
NAL man, but II Is practically impOss!-
BILE to get ut the workings Of so abnOr-
NAL mind as that Of the assassin. De-
sire for death will not account for a
majority Of these cases. Neither Wilkes
Booth, nor Guiteau, nor Prendergast
was impelled by the motive Of suicide.
The murderers of President Carnot,
Premier CanOvas, Empress Elizabeth,
and King Humbert would probably
have done the same whatever the pun
ishment awaiting them. The assassin
alton mania appears to make It's vic
Tins blind to the future. So far as Il
normal mind can get at the motive of
these murderers, II seems to be an in
ordinate desire for notoriety. Political
assassins nearly always imagine them
selves to be doing something that will
bring them glory. They seem to be i'm
PEELED by perverted form of the same
impulse that leads sailors to volunteer
for a torpedo enterprise that Is prac-
tically certain death. The assassins
are In every case the product of sur.
rOundlngs that make them look upon
the killing Of king as title to fame.
II there Is any cure for this dstemper
Of the age, It must be applied to the
hot.beds Of morbid thought In which
assassins are bred. The punishment
for the crime does not greatly concern
the propagandlsts Of anarchy, for they
cOnfine their energies mostly to talking
and to inducing others To com NIT the