The Washington herald., 1915-01-10
/ ITY the poor sane man!

~ ITY the poor sane man!
He is the only man in mod
eTn life who has to go his way
assuming all responsibility tor
his deeds; who has to carry his
own burdens; who has 10 suffer for his
transgressions and who is denied sympa-
thy, pity and help whenever he does
transgress.
The poor sane man is the only man
who can commit murder, but who can
not live happily ever thereafter. For him
there is only one way out in time OF
difficulty, and that is to hire a score OF
attorneys. who in turn will hire two
score of physicians. scientists. alenists
and other experts, who know everything
about the head and how the wheels go
around in it, to prove that the poor sane
man was insane for part of a fraction
Of a second when he committed the act
that brought him into difficulty, and IS,
therefore, not legally responsible for the
act and cannot be punished for It.
These alienists, scientists and others
have an array of words and phrases con-
cerning sanity and insanity which Is
guaranteed to bewider any jUry-espe-
Cially a jury that is trying man IOr
murder. without stopping to take a
breath they can lead a jury through the
mazes of paranOia, dementia Americana,
mania, brainstOTm and mOnOmania at a
pace which will cause any twelve men,
tried and true to be willing to declare
any prisoner insane, provided they can
get from under the deluge of scientific
terms and insanity explanations the
alieniSts shower down upon them.
And now the twilight state" has been
added to the list. The twilight state"
plea is calculated to fill in any inste--
stiCes which the dOvetailing of all the
other terms may have left open. 1t is
influence in an utterly benign way over
any deed that any man may COmmH ana
has the further advantage of being con-
struCted on double principles. 1t will
not only save murderer from suffering
the penalty which rCiety is supposed to
demand for its own protection, but after
the trial will still save the murderer from
Incarceration in an insane asylum.
This new and notable plea was used
for the first time in America in the
Cleary murder case. William V. Cleary
is the political boss and town clerk of
Haverstraw. y. Y. He is the father of
beautiful daughter, twenty-One years
old His wife one night told him that
the daughter was about to become
mother and named Eugene NJ. Newman.
the eighteen-year-old sweetheart of the
girl.
Cleary sent for the boy to come to his
Office He nodded Curtly to the youth to
take a chair when he arrived, and then
arose and walked to safe at the side
of the room. His back WAS turned to-
ward the boy as he swung open the safe
door and CROPPED into one of the COM
DartmPnts. Young Newman sat with a
hand thrust into the inside of his coat.
Suddenly Cleary wheeled and faced
the boy, his eyes Glaring, his cheeks
white and his lips snarling. The lad saw
with horror the revolver Cleary held and
tried TO rise from his chair. But he never
did. For in rapid succession four bull
let's entered his body. He did not utter
a sound. His small body sagged slowly
sideways and then dropped to the floor.
And later it was discovered that in his
inside coat pocket he carried a certif-
cate of marriage which showed that the
Cleary girl was his legal wife.
The case seemed clear enough. No one
thought there would be any doubt about