Evening star., 1932-05-18
The Fourth Shock.

The depths of depravity are being
sounded in the Lindbergh kidnapping
case, in a succession of villainies that
can net be paralleled in the annals Of
crime in America. First came the steal
ing of the child, itself a diabolical out
rage the more shocking to the people OF
this country because of the prominence
of the parents and the high esteem in
which they were held. Then came the
disclosure that ransom money in large
amount had been paid to the supposed
kidnapers for the return of the child,
without result, apparently at the time
a shameful breach of faith, but later to
be disclosed as monstrous fraud. Next
came the discovery of the body of the
little hostage, fiendishly slain and cast
away in a wood near the scene of the
first crime. Now is revealed, through
confession, an amazing betrayal of con-
fldence in the pretense of giving assist
ance to the bereaved parents for the re-
covery of the little one.
This sequence of shocks leaves the
public in a state Of furious anger
against those who stole the child, those
who slew it, those who defrauded the
father of the baby by taking ransom
money without any intention or posi-
bility of delivery and, finally, the des-
picable creature who, for the sake of
self -glorification and profit, conducted
a search for contact with mythical kid
napers.
1t is difficult to conceive the quality
of mind that would so seek personal ex-
ploitation at the expense of the hopes
of the stricken parents of the stolen
child. In the light of the discovery CT
the baby's body, evidently slain shortly
after the kidnapping, this enterprise Of
the scoundrel who led Col Lindbergh
hither and thither after fictitious con-
facts" did not affect the chances of re-
covery of the infant. No time was lost
that might have been more usefully en-
ployed. But every hour occupied by
SAASoC ~ hNIdlCAIG Pd1 oullo anu WY dkSS
was by reaction an added agony.
What is to be done with such a
man? There is only a slender chance
of his punishment under the laws. His
offense is against society at large, but
not against any specific statute, unless
he may be accused of impeding the
finn pfipr1c Cf fha
the misuse of its naval equipment, or of
misdemeanor in the making of false
reports in connection with crime He
pleads insanity, in effect. He asks for
mercy on the score that he was dis
traught by his own financial misfortunes
and caught in the web of his self
glorifying imaginings.
But after all, Curtis, however despi-
cable his performance, is not the major
offender. The persons who stole the
child and, presumably, slew it, are the
ones against whom the weight of con-
demnation rests. The thieves who took
the ransom money, without a posi-
bility Of restoring the infant, are
secondarily objects Of universal con-
demnation. They are the carrion OF
the primary crime.
With the collapse of the Curtis phase
Of the case disappears a prospect of
an early solution of the mystery. The
pursuit Of the kidnapers must 60 or
without any Of the traces that seemed
to have bsen established by the activities
of this contemplate parasite. But it
is not to be accepted from the flasco of
his enterprise that the investigation is
rendered more difficult. Sound measures
Of research are undoubtedly now In
action, such as should have been insti-
tuted Immediately upon the disappear
ance of the child. The ardent hope of
the country is that the next sensation
in this astounding sequence will be the
capture Of the real criminals, with such
certainty as to lead to their swift pun
ishment for one Of the most diabolical
outrages ever perpetrated.