The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-11
DEALING WITH THE ASSASSIN.

Ine TeellnR among law dUluiIlB peOpic everywhere after the first moment of blind sorrow and anser-will be one of satisfaction that the man who attempt ed to assassinate President Mckinley was not killed by the excited crowds at Buff falo The first and natural impulse in such a case Is to slay the offender as summarily as one would crush venom ous Insect. If the mob had leaped upon the assassin and taken his worthless life on the scene of his deed the first in- pulse of the nation would have been to exclalm that he deserved 1t. But this etantiy by a sober second thought of re- gret. It is best that The law should punish lawbreakers. The greater the crime the more necessary is 1t that the proper punishment shall be inflicted Tn &C., cordance with the dignity and majesty of the law.-Chicago Tribune.
 Of course right-thinking people all agree that it is proper for this cowardly assassin to be legally punished. but If we were to look only to the effect 1t Is not certain that his immediate killing would not have been best. That would have deprived him of all opportunity of posing as a hero, and taken from him and his followers one of their most potent weapons
 Taking the position, however, that his punishment should be by law, the proper thing to have done when he was arrested was to at once hurry him to a cell and not have allowed any human being except necessary officials, to hold any conmuni- cation with hiR whatever. His name and identity should have been suppressed and no hint should have gone out to his fellows as to his disposal
 Instead of a course of exclusion and suppression the exact reverse was adopt
 T AaI 1 l,A n0lK rAf ct al ceased to float on the air till he was boosting of his deed to the newspaper reporters. or to those who would inform the newspapers. and his defiant brag- gadocio, always a characteristic of his kind, was being made public in all DOT tions of the civilized world, and the despatches from various quarters state that "anarchists are filled with joy"
 Of course they are. Cylolgosz Is hero in their eyes, and every boast and vaunt of his will be treasured by his fellow as- sassins and repeated at their meetings. He will be apotheosized and if he Is put to death his name will be added to their roll of martyrs
 To deal with this assassin in the most effective way he should have been placed in solitary confinement at once, and kept thus until his trial. No word or com- munication from him should get to the public. If the President dies the assassin will be tried for murder, of course. but that trial should be secret, with no one present but the necessary officials. If he is executed the execution should be in a cell or dark room without spectators be- ing allowed to witness it. In short, so far as is legally possible the story of The Man in the Iron Mask should be repeated.
 It may be argued that such course as we have outlined would not be in ac- cord with our system of government. To this the plain answer Is that we are not dealing with normal conditions and can not proceed in the ordinary way if any, thing is to be accomplished. Our govern ment is dealing with a foe who works in the dark and that foe can only be sup pressed by like methods. At the same time. publicity after a crime has been committed, Is the very breath of life to anarchy and anarchists. To plot and execute a crime in silence and darkness. and to glorify it and defy the criminal after his work is done Is the meat upon which this class of criminals subsist, and no surer method of suppFessing the evil can be adopted than to punish the crimi- nals silently and surely and give them no chance to exploit themselves and their acts in the neWspapers