The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-03-26
DISCUSS BURDICK MURDER
New York Papers Debate on the
Standing of the Principals.

@sOW 4 C1A EaPSkS O6DAbS On the
Standing of the Principals.
The Brooklyn Eagle is not yellow
journal. but apparently it pays some
heed to the maunderings of its saffron
hued contemporaries across the bridge.
The Eagle remarks:
The state OF affairs thus revealed as
existing in the fashionable set in
which Burdick moved is not peculiar
to Buffalo. The morals of that indefn-
ite something called society in that
city are neither worse nor better than
the morals of society in other places
where inclination and opportunity COM
bine to put a premium on vicious in
diligence. Whether the police invesd-
cation leads to the conviction of any
one or not it win have the salutary
effect of holding up to the condemna-
ton of decent people the moral turpi-
tude of certain sca1ywags. male and
female, who ought TO have known bet
ter. Murder is a high price to pay for
the exposure of scandal but there are
some scandals that are exposed cheap
~ at any cost Beside, the real society
of Buffalo, like the real article in New
York, is decent. The other sort, spelled
with a big S, or put between quota
ton marks, or called or calling itself,
the Smart Set is of no consequence
anywhere except to the yellows or to
the police
These morals are good, but those
facts are mixed. The Burdicks and their
friends We're neither rich nor fashion
able They belonged to the middle
classes" in every sense of that I'M
ported term. They have only been in
Society with cap) since the lady re-
porter and the staff artist and the chief
of the (newspaper) detective bureau
discovered the Elmwood district and
this murder mystery" The possession
of a couple of golf sticks does not qual-
fly one for the Smart Set even in be-
nighted Buffalo.
The Eagle will probably agree with Us
that the newspapers are not nice read
ing for children nowadays Everyb BODY
connected with this tragedy has had
his or her -antecedents" spread open
even unto the third and fourth genera
ton. A woman is mentioned. lmmedl-
ately we are given some spicy reading
about her deceased father, or 1t is IN
simulated that her husband may have
committed bigamy at some time or
other AS the Eagle remarks, it could
all be endured in a good cause. But
does the end justify the means? Listen
to District Attorney Coatsworth on that
point He is quoted in the Buffalo
Courier as saying:
DO you believe that a husband traced
his wife to Burdick's house and there
made a discovery which brought Bur-
dicks dea tn %
NO" said Coatsworth. and along
those lines let me ask a few questions
and state a few facts. Who knows that
Burdick was in the habit of making
engagements with women: who knows
that there was a single blemish on his
moral career?
I'VE have not been able to discover
any downfalls in his past. He has beel.
branded as a man who was constantly
involved in intrigues with women; was
branded as a man Of but little moran
character. Let me say to you that we
have so far been unable to discover any
foundation for such statements or innu-
endOes-
1T appears to be very common
practice nowadays for many to sneer-
ingly say, when the name of a man
who is disliked comes up: He's got a
bad reputation Though there have
been many statements about Burdick' s
alleged immortality, we have been I'M
able to find a stain upon his private
| life. We have traced down many Ofsthe
rumors; have worked hard to establish
the fact that he was in the habit of
carrying on intrigues with women and
that he was constantly involved in such
affairs We get nothing tangible. PeO-
/ pie say that Burdick was notorious for
his affairs. They give US no aid in
establishing the truth of those state
ments."
If this is true of the principal in the
affair, 1t is as likely to be true of the
suspects and alleged accessories and
!
common rumor is usually a common
liar-and the yellow journal is her
handmade. And yet we do not blame
/ the newspapers, even the yellowest Of
them, overmuch. It is their boast-the
yellow ones-that they give their read
ers what they want. while the best
newspaper is at least as good as its
/ best reader As Mr.. CoatsWOrth has
shown, the yellows have but unearthed
rumors that were current in this COM
munity before ever the wise men came
from Gotham. Even in the rBurdick
circle private individuals have been
found wonderfully willing to betray
their friends to the extent of selling
their photographs or retailing gossip
about them.
There are many moral lessons con
tanned in the Burdick tragedy-"but
the greatest Of these is charity. ''-Buf-
/ falo Express.
April is one of the best months In the
/ year to visit California Colonist rates
RI California Y90intS via the Santa He