Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-18
Eutsrcd as second clsss mail matter at the pos
Office AT Washington. d. C.
An Officially Declared Lunatic Loose

In the escape of Harry Thaw from New
Sork's institution for the criminal in
sane at Matteawan occurs another of
those convincing proofs encountered
from time 10 time of the failure of sys-
TENS which are almost regularly ignored
for the purpose of subsequent reform.
The record OF American civilization is
filled with instances of demonstrations
that certain things are fundamentally
wrong which an intelligent appreciation
Of the value of warnings would have
turned to good account and set which
have gone unutilized and unapplied.
There is no reason to believe that this
will be the exceptional case, that the
escape of this man who has been formal
~ proclaimed by court TO be danger
ously insane, and yet technically mot
guilty of a murder committed while in
this state of arrangement. will result in
such a change i'm the criminal law Of
New York as will make similar avoid
ances of proper punishment impossible
In the future.
In another respect the escape of Thaw,
in the present state of interstate law.
stands as an emphatic object lesson OF
danger. This man, definitely declared TO
be dangerously insane in the state of
New York. may find in some other state
a perfectly safe haven through the decla-
ration of jury, possibly influenced by
his large wealth, that he is sane, If he
had been convicted of a crime. being
sane at the time of its commission. he
could have been extradted from another
state, or with rare exceptions from an
other country. But the law of extradi-
ti.,, baIf Ax-ifh ha rerorlinC of
guilt in the technical sense. 1t differ
entlates between the man who Stays
while in a state of mind that jury has
regarded as normal-though in point of
fact murder is necessarily the result of
an abnoral mental cOndition-and the
man who Stays while in '.brainstorm :
No respect whatever is felt in one state
for the findings of jury in another in
the matter of mental condition. and thus
men afflicted with latent homicidal mania.
highly dangerous people. menaces to social
safety. may go at large il they can bride
their way out of their places of detention
as. judging from all the known facts in
this instance. Thaw has just bought his
way out of Matteawan.
If insanity is to continue a sufficient de-
Tense for capital crime. SO that those who
are acquitted on tnat STOuHu are hot
executed but put under detention. it
should be the law i'm every state that a
verdict of acquittal on this ground stands
as the equivalent of conviction with re-
spcct to extradition in case of an escape.
This is the plain lesson of the Thaw
fight from Matteawan. but, as already
suggested. there is but small confidence
that it will be Learned in terms Of a re-
vision of the laws of the various states
The situation is obviously difficult. 1t
will not suffice for New York alone to
pass a statute, but this must be done by
all OF the forty-seven other states. or
recent years the governors of the states
have been meeting in the hope Of neutral
izing the differences between the laws of
their varicns jurisdictions, but the proc
ess is a slow one. For several decades
uniform divorce laws and with some
measure of success. though matrimonial
DEGREES of court still i'm large degree
nuliied by differences between even ad-
jacent states.
1t is possible that Harry Thaw select
Ell the present time for his escape from
Matteawan because OF the confusion in
state affairs. With divided authority
at Albany and consequent demoraiiZa-
tainiy acted with a cIeverness that serves
III this hour to east additional discredit
upon the verdict which declared him suf-
iicicntly insane 10 escape the extreme
penalty for his crime OF eight years ago.