The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-25
SAVANNAH, GA WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER % 1901

hurt him. he was taken, confined in
our prison, indicted, put upon trial
here, and the case is soon to be sub
mitted to you, as to whether he is
guilty of the crime charged against
him. That, gentlemen, speaks volumes
in favor of the orderly conduct of the
people of the city of Buffalo.
Here was a man occupying an ex-
allied position, a man of irreproachable
character; he was a man who had
come here to assist us in promoting
the prosperity of our great exposition
And he was shot down while holding
a reception.
His death has touched every heart
in this community and in the whole
world, and yet we sit here and quietly
consider whether this man was respon-
sible for the act he committed That
question is one you are called on to
decide.
Mentally irresponsible.
1.-THE law presumes the defendant in
nocent until he is proven guilty, and
we start with the assumption that the
defendant was not mentally respon-
sible for the crime he committed. We
have not been able to present any ev-
idence upon our part. The defendant
has even refused on almost every oc-
casion to talk with his counsel He
has not aided us, so we have come
here unaided to consider this import
ant question. But l know there is in
every human being a strong desire to
live. Death is spectre that we all
dislike to meet, and here this defen-
dant, without having any animosity
against our President, without any
personal motive, so far as we can see,
committed the act, which, If he was
sane, must cause his death. How can
a man with a sane mind perform such
an act? The rabble in the streets Will
say no matter whether he is insane or
not, he deserves to be killed. The law,
however, says that you must consider
the circumstances and see If he was
in his right mind or not
when he committed the deed.
If you find that he was not
responsible you would aid in lifting
great cloud from the minds of the peo-
pie of this country. If the beloved
President had met with a railroad ac-
cident and been killed our grief could
not compare with what it is now. If
you find that he met his fate through
the act of an insane man it is the same
| as though he met it by accident. / had
| the profoundest respect for President
| Mckinley. I watched him in Congress
and during his long public career and
he was one of the noblest men God ever
made. His policy we care nothing
about, but it always met with my
| profoundest respect. His death was
| the saddest blow to me that has oc-
CURED in many years"
Judge Lewis was crying when he
| finished and the eyes of many of those
| in the courtroom were filled with tears
| Judge Titus then arose and said that
| Judge Lewis had so completely cover
ed the ground that it seemed entirely
unnecessary for him to reiterate it
and he would therefore rest.
The Prosecuting Attorney.
At $40 o'clock District Attorney
Penney began summing up. He spoke
in a clear, we'll modulated voice and
every word could be heard in every
| part of the room. He said:
1T is hardly possible for any man
to stand up and talk about this case
without the deepest emotion. 1t was
the most awful tragedy that ever came
upon the world.
I'VE have shown you how this de-
| fendant stood in the Temple of Music
| that afternon and shot down our be-
| loved President. We have shown you
how he deliberated on and planned
this awful crime. We have shown you
how he attended anarchistic and social
istic meetings at which were sown in
his heart the seeds of his terrible act.
"The counsel for the defense says if
the defendant was sane he was re-
sponsible, and that if he was insane he
must be presumed to be innocent. He
tells you that is presumption of law.
ut is also a presumption of law
that every man is sane until proven in
sane. Evidence tending to show that
the prisoner was insane has not been
| forthcoming, it has been proven that
he was the agent of the crime, and
| IL - l.
minds as to the responsibility of the
defendant.
This is no time for oratorical dis
play. Counsel for the prisoner and
myself have endeavored to eliminate
all sensationalism from this case. 1t
is not my intention to indulge in ex-
tended remarks. You understand the
responsibility resting upon you. The
| counsel has said there should be no
lynch law in this state He has told
you that the people of Buffalo are to
be commended for the spirit displayed
by them since the murder of the PreSi-
dent, but the law must be vindicated.
This terrible thing has happened be-
cause there are people in this country
who unless they feel the irresistible
force of prompt and proper action in
this case will cause something awful
to happen to our beloved country.
The Greatness of the Victim.
Think, gentlemen, of that grand
man who stood but a few days ago in
the Temple of Music and how he came
from the lowly walks of life, how he
was first a school teacher, then a law
yer, then a judge, a governor, a con-
gresham and then a President of the
United States and, above all, loving
husband, and that on the last day
when he said 1T is Gods way; good
bye, all. goodbye a man so great that
he could raise his hand and save his
own assassin, a man who could shake
the hand of even the very worst man
you could imagine.
'It is a great lesson that so great a
man can stoop so low; that he was Sc
great he could forgive his own assas-
sin. He was the noblest man, be-
lieve. God ever created. A man who
stood near him in the Temple of Mu-
sic said to me:
L have travelled in all parts of the
world and have seen people assembled
to greet their rulers, but when / saw
the people stand in the railroad sta
tions and along the country through
which the funeral train passed that
they might get look at the casket OF
the great man, / was convinced as
never before that there is such a thing
as a national heart
The National Heart Broken.
"That national hart was broken and
ii will take Gods way and time to heal