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Punishability Of The Insane?

Punishability Of The Insane? image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
October
Year
1881
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Crime and gin are not the same. A man may oommlt crime against law and still, aeertain elassof moralist, hfedeedaay be regmrded as iluten 'i'o save the reputa! ion of ¦ sister or a daugliter, a m;m niay tnke the law into liis own liands and commit a ordar. The act wquld be a crime, luit tben are thousandsof our best citirns that wonld look upon the deed as sin leas. tor the protection of society. Crime is the violation of the law and the 1 rpctratorshould suffer the penalty of the law, iki matter what motive led him to oommlt the crime. Vet it is a disgrace to the civilled world that the lawsfail to perMi, ir rnncOon. Thta fact more than ariy otherle&di to crimina] acts for which there seems to be some justiíication. The fear that the murderer whould escape the law led totfae recent lynchirjíí i" Northern Michigan. The leader are no w ander trial tor the ruhneeg of their deed. The laws ¦Ut be inaintaincd, lint the man is lackIng in Christian charily that can not lym(AtUe in his own heart with the motive that led thcni to eommit Ouht crime. The ¦ame energy that wonld have ben used to free the Kuilty man is non liring exerted ajrsiiut On ufflwulen of the law. The lyncherswere rcsponsible for their deed, and herein lies the justice of their punishmi'nt. A man is ruilty or not iUilty of a crime in as much as hc is responsible or not retponcfble tor the sanie. When all othcr pleas fail in freeiug a criminal, the plea of msunity is alino-t miivi-rsally resorted to. Now the quettton ariscs: Is an insiine man punUhable for any crime that he inaycominit? He most certainly is in as inuch as lie is responsible for the deed. Temporary insanity is MOttd liy allowlag the mimi to dweil uiou onc mbjeet, ud there b imt one man In a thousand that comniits ¦ crime during ¦ fit of hmnity bot that has concelved ud eren ptaaned the crime la sane momento Buch a man is responsible 11 crime. There is a case on record of ¦ man eonsultinga physician becausc while worklnx '" hta gmrdcn, trttb hk little child playinx aboat bioi, he feit au almost irreBlsüble Impulse to Uil bervMhUi spade, Ur nu ufraid tliat lic inijrhtsome time lose ¦1 f blmwU and injurt! his cliild. He as told that he ourlit to place bimaelf nnder the conttralnt or :in asylum for if he slioukl commit the deed he would be as uilty of murderas the coldest blooded asand ouht to receive the samepunsbment tor lt Temporary insanity is no l'lia at all fortliecommission of a criminal offenw. Jf men were given to onderstand that, if tbey (boaid allow any such fecling te mastcr tlu-ni, (hey would be punished UH us if the deed were done in cold blooü, there would be less crimes cominittcd to-dii)-. It is an idtnowledged fact that lunática are Infloenced by rewards and punishnRiits. And it s justas true that wonld-bfl lunática can be inlluenced in the same way. A man naturally flighty or lacklngla self-coutrol, wouldbeled to control liimself f besaw that iiunishmcnt was Ntrg to follow a criminal act. As it is, a man luis only to conceive that he has just groundf fot its commission, or that he is appointed of 9od to do ¦ rcrUio deed,wfan tlie world is ready to forglve and forget. Tbere is a notable example of the state of niiiid that a man can créate in himself bei'irc thepeople to-day. Aman, claiming to liavo been comrnissioned of God to kill our President, is soon to be tried for murder. The universal pleaof insanity istobe lialf. It does iiot matter what the state of li niiinl was at the time of the slionlinir, hl confewton shows tbat II WM a caictiilly planned, eold-blooded Brander, The plea that the assassin was =metir.cs fligfatljtl of no avail. The plea that he was commissionedof God isabsnrd. Accordinji to bis own coniession - extracts from whieb are given in another column- the tbought neverentereil bis head until he ! tbat li'1 hail l'ailed m obtaining either tlie min isti-y to Austria, or the ConBuUhip to Pari From that time the idea ucfull.v narscd muil it raatted in elotlilnir .1 WOrid in moiirninr. No man can (Uny bul tbat Charles.]. Uuiteau is reBpongible f or the crime that he bus mitted, and u a rwpooribla man ouiit to RiilfVr Jtutpantabment for it. The symputbJes of law abiding citizt-n (hould be liardcucd a:iinl :iny sucli unreasonablc plea. As (,arfi.;ld hiin-elt has sil, a man Deed onlyto raVeand tcar liis hair, tlicn go and kill liis man and the plea of insanity wulf ree lmn. it Is time fortlita itcfeof eventa to eeaae. Let the ntpoaalUa be lifld IWipODBlble tor tlicir dcwls. Titen abont as many Ciindidates for the Speikenhip of the House is tliere are Koinibücan memben of thatbodjr. Amoag otlicr iianics mcntmncd tis iininnnent candfdtwM Kern Bstterworth, Calklnt, Dnviaof illlnota, Horr, Honck, HeGooh jind otlin?. Bacfa aoe thloki tii:it, m tke Bowtwil bc bart-ly IJcpublican. he has the best chances to aeoore tiic success of thai party. If NCw York .-lection turns e anticípate, the House wil) have a ama]] BepabUcaa majority.