The evening times., 1901-09-10
Protecting the Government.

Protecting the Government.
The attempt to assassinate the Presi-
dent has brought up for Yoluminous
discussion two very important ques-
tions, which. in a sense. are cognate-
These are first. what should be the pun
ishment for attempts upon the life Of a
President. and second. the suppression
Of anarchy in general. There is a re
maTkabl uniformity of opinion on both
that drastic changes should be made in
the laws. but there is here and there
the suggestion of a qUibbIe which goes
To show the extreme cautousness Of
some minds with reference to laws Of
repression. All must admit that laws
framed upon either point should be
carefully drawn to the end that the OBJ
iect sought may be attained without
undue infringement Of popular rights,
but there is no apparent reason why the
laws cannot be made effectuaI and at
the same time free from all fair ob5ec-
tion. Every friend Of law and or1lr
should be willing to sacrifice a little
something for the common good.
Lawyers are habitually technical. and
this characteristic it quite obvious in
some Of their comments upon the pro
posed changes Of the laws. For exam
pie. Judge Roger A. Pryor, speaking di-
rectly Of the punishment Of one who
attempts the life Of a President, says:
Where would you draw the line between the
man and the official? II you have a law for the
President why not for the Cabinet oficersg And
If for these, why not for subordinate officials
clerks IN the departments At Washington or
clsCWhCTc-OT all Government ofhCillSE The in
jury done the United SJste7 a nation by the
assassination Of Its President IS undoubtedly very
great. but, Tar the principle goes the na-
tion suffers INJURY Of similar kind, though. Of
course, much les IN degree, by similar crime
committed against other officials The law must
deal with principles and it would be hard 10
draw the line
That is exactly the argument d skill
ful lawyer would make in pleading for
q criminal on the most rigidly techni-
cal lines The simple answer is that as
I in all other cases within the puryiew Of
the criminal codes the line should be
arbitrarily drawn somewhere.
While it is true that the official ranks
shade off gradually from the highest TO
the lowest. il is also true that the most
ordinary intelligence can at once per
ceive the wide difference between the
possible effects Of the murder Of the
President. and anything that could fol-
low the death Of other officials. h0wev-
CT high they might stand. The killing
Of q President might easily result in
change Of national policy that would be
disastrous in the first degree It might
even be the immediate cause Of a
bloody revolution Nothing Of the kind
could possibly result from the killing
/ "a al interior ..fFfIf11 Ia.
might occupy tire position Of Vice Pres
| ident-- There would be no particular
objection 10 bringing the Vice President
within the scope Of the law. but il
I hardly seems necessary. and the better
/ plan would be 10 draw the line sharply
at the President. An attempt to kin
| him should be treated as a crime
! against the nation, and not merely an
! offence against an individual Thr
| London Globe" OYeTshOOts the mark
| however when il proposes that Con-
| gress should pass an ex post facto law
| to cover the case Of CzolSOsz. That is
| expressly prohibited by the Constitu-
| ton, and to override that provision
would be 10 establish a most dangerous
precedent.
London Daily News" fears that at
tempts to repress anarchy might be
carried too far and become dangerous
| to liberty itself That may be said
with equal force Of measures intended
| TO prevent any other sort Of crime
| Governments are fighting crime con-
| tinuously as it is, and war upon anar-
| chy would be merely adding one more
| offence to the criminal calendar. II we
are TO have government at all we must
! be prepared TO protect IL TO the fullest
| extent necessary. II is easy TO disfin-
/ guish between attacks upon the policy
| Of a government as administered by
| certain political party, and the propa-
! cation Of tho doctrine that there should
| be no government at all.
! The historical cases in which at
| tempts to repress have been carried too
/ far are not parallel Efforts to put an
| end To organized brigandage. when
! properly directed, have been successful
| and this without destroying liberty.
/ The same can be done with anarchy.
| The plans Of those who profess that
| doctrine contemplate both the murder
| Of individuals and the destruction OF
| all government which latter would
! create a condition Of laWlessness in
which no mans life would be safe. A
| worse crime in principle and in its pros
peetIve results cannot be imagined.
| and it is mere sickly senumentality 10
! argue against strong measures for the
| determination Of the cult