Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1932-09-22
THIS is NO TIME TO CODDLE THE
CRIMINAL

This paper has commented before on
the very evident impulse that influ-
ences a larger number of American
people whenever their emotions are
aroused by the commission of some
outstanding crime. Especially Is this
noticeable whenever one of the more
beinous crimes has been committed,
such as murder. Whenever the murder
er is caught and convicted, there arises
q number of people whose sympathies
apparently go out wholly to the mur-
derer. It would seem as though they
lose all interest in the man who has
been wantonly killed and against
whom there has been committed a
colossal and outrageous wrong 1t is
strange quirk Of human nature.
We are impelled to these observations
by an incident transporting in our COM
munity few days ago. No murder was
committed but the community had the
exciting time of going through a bank
robbery, the arrest of the confessed
bandit in distant city, his return here.
his pleading guilty in district court and
the imposing Of so year penitentiary
sentence on him by the presiding judge.
Because Of the unusual character Of
the affair and probably because the
bandit was young and good looking
and had the reputation Of being a
bad man. the court room was packed
by interested spectators on the two days
in which the bandit appeared before
the court Many Of these spectators
were women. It is said that when Judge
Pomeroy pronounced a sentence Of
SO years in the penitentiary at hard
labor, an audible sigh of amazement
was plainly heard in the court room,
coming chiefly from sympathetic
women.
Of course the robbing Of the bank
caused much discussion and what
some consider heavy sentence has
likewise been discussed to some ex-
tent. Naturally there is a difference
of opinion regarding the matter. Let
us see if we can use a little reason
in the matter
Here is young man, % years old,
good looking, large and well built,
strong and healthy. He chooses to fol-
low life of crime as business Since
1923 his record is marked by the COM
mission of one crime after another.
Much of that time he has been either
In jail or some penitentiary. He escaped
from the Walla Walla penitentiary on
June and in the short time since his
escape, he is said to have committed
three major crimes, the robbing OF a
railroad ticket office in Sacramento,
Calf, and the holding up and robbing
of bank at Cashmere, Wash, and at
Libby. How many lesser crimes he
committed no one knows. From every
indication while in jail here, he shows
no trace of repentance, flippantly stat
ing that his was a good business SO
long as one did not get caught. His
record at Walla Walla brands him as
desperate criminal, and officials
there warned that extreme care should
be used in handling him.
Starting out with petty thieving, he
has now advanced in his criminality
to where he seeks bigger game and
walks into banks and holds men up at
the point Of revolver Suppose he had
slipped in his calculations here and
EDmething had gone wrong, and a
murder had followed, common ending
to such deeds. Would some still have
had sympathy for him? With the
brazen effrontery Of criminal, he de-
spises honest labor and takes from
others by compulsion that to which he
has no possible right, and in the taking
of which the snuffing out Of one or
more lives is very apt to happen.
This mans record proves that he
chooses to be criminal There is no
question but that he is menace to
society. And inasmuch as he is a
threatening menace to society, the
sane thing to do is to put him where
he can do no harm and keep him there
as long as he persists in being a threat.
Perhaps this young man was sur
rounded in his youth by influences
that were not Of the best and then
again perhaps he had every reason
able chance to become a respectable
citizen If his youth was not what it
should be, that Is shortcoming of
society which many men and women