Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-08-25
BOY SLAYERS' DEED is
BLAMED ON HEREDITY
AND Environment
Continued from First Page.)

affect the impressionistic, visionary,
dreaming mind of Babe, who read 1t
while normal boys were playing base
ball. He never should have seen it,"
But he got from it finally an OBJ
session that he and his chum, Dickie
Loeb, were indeed "supermen."
The best efforts of a thoroughly
prepared force of guards were re-
quired today to handle the hundreds
of would-be auditors of Mr.. Darrow.
Hours before he was due to start
the last chapter of his plea for
Nathan S. Leopold, jr., and Richard
Loeb. the curious began to gather
hoping that at least the head of the
line might gain admission to the
building and perhaps even find seats
in the courtroom. All except about
two dozen of the 275 seats in Judge
John r. Caverly's courtroom went
to friends of the attorneys or to per-
sons who were known to court
attaches
There was no crush or disorder be-
cause the strong force of police kept
| the early arrivals in line and told
! the tardy ones to "move on"
Mr.. barrow said he had been try
! ing to make a plain statement of
| facts in this case without considera-
| ton of the lives and training of these
boys"
1--WE are not able to peer into the
human brain and see its workings"
| he said. I'VE must judge men by
| conduct, for the mind is an elusive
| thing But when we do find from
human conduct what we believe as a
| diseased mind we naturally wish to
| learn how it came about"
The pleader said that he had tried
to understand the lives of Leopold
and Loeb, had studied them for three
months, but failed.
Il know only that some combina-
! ton of things was responsible for
| Dickie Loeb's mad act" he said.
He was child Of wealth and OPP
portunity Courts over and over have
considered the chance Of the child OF
! the streets and have done it right
| fully.
But wealth has it's misfortunes in
too much opportunity given to the
child, and l ask your honor TO con-
slider the rich as we'll as the poor.
Here was a boy placed early in
| life in the hands of a governeSs. He
| was fed on facts as a plant is forced
| in a dollhouse. He had no chance for
play except through lying and cheat
| ing"
| Mr.. barrow said the result was
| nothing strange.
He was planning to get from I'M
der her control and she watching
! every possible minute of his life,
| said Mr. barrow. He read detective
stories on the sly. every story he read
| was a story of crime"
| Mr.. barrow emphasized that there
was law in Illinois forbidding
| miners to read stories of crime be-
cause of their possible influence on
| the young.
Read Crime Stories.
"Dickie read these stories even
| through his senior year at college,,
| he said.
Mr.. barrow said it was natural that
| Loeb should from this progress to the
| idea that there could be perfect
crime" one in which the detective
| was baked and the criminal made no
! mistake.
Then he said Loeb had naturally
| acquired his belief that he could beat
| the police. He had been interested
! in the Charlie Ross case and so in
planning his perfect crime" he made
| kiGnapinG and murder the center of
| the act
THE Franks kidnapping and muir
| der was, in short" said Mr.. barrow,
| "a perfectly useless, aimless, childish
| thing. The facts are plain as to that
Dreams Declared Natural.
why. they could have planned this
weird. mad act in an hour instead
| of spending months on it
Mr.. barrow turned to a discussion
| of the life of a normal child point
! ing out it's lack of responsibility and
! freedom from care.
The life of a child is a life of
delusion and Dreams" he said. Dreams
are a part of the wool and warp of
childhood. You know that. judge, and
! so do l. for ! dreamed of repeating the
experience of julius Caesar when he
| led victorious troops across the Rubicon.
| have been there since and l found
l could step across the stream.
Perhaps l was lucky too that l
| had no money. We have grown to
| think it a misfortune not to have it.
But the terrible misfortune In this
! terrible case is that they had money.
'That destroyed their lives and
brought us here. Wealth, unlimited,
| Is a terrible misfortune in every step
of life. Yet. we have come almost
| to a belief that human instincts, logic,
| sympathy and love can only be OBJ
| tanned for cash. This has corrupted
| the hearts of nearly all of our peo-
pie
Mr.. barrow said that Loeb's vi
| sions of directing undetectable crime
| became Authorizations. evidenced by
I his play when he finally became free
! to pursue his own way.
Before 1 would fix sentence on a
youth" Mr.. Darrow said solemnly,
Il would recall how the world looked
| to me when l was boy.
What had this boy to do with his
! life? He was not his own father.
| He was not his own mother He was
not his own grandparents. All this
| was handed to him. He did not sur
| round himself with governesses and
| with wealth. And yet, he is asked to
| pay a penalty.
Asks II All Are Crazy.
Shall we hold them responsible p
| he shouted at one point. Shall we
| deck Chicago as If in holiday, and
hang them so that the cry for blood
| may be appeased? Shall we have
them suffer contrary to the wisdom of
| all the ages, all the seers, all the
great teachers of the ages?
For Gods sake, are we all crazy?
81 know there is no better citizen
| in Chicago than the father of this
| boy" said Mr.. Dafrow pointing to
| Loeb. Il know there is no better
| woman in Chicago than his mother.
| But l am going to be honest with this
! court. I am going to say that this
| crime was inherited by this boy from
his ancestors, or else it is the product
| of his training after he was born.
Denies Full Responsibility.
ITO say that youth is responsible
for its own actions independently of