Our American Letter.

Otago Witness, Issue 1582, 18 March 1882, Page 9

Our American Letter.

San Francisoo, February 11th.

The Guiteau trial is ended, and the murderer of President Garfield has been sentenced to be hanged on Friday, June 30th. The long date fixed for the execution is owing to the requirements of the law of the district of Columbia* which provides that a convict caanot be hanged until the term after the one in which the conviction is had. Guiteau's counsel spun out the trial into the tionnnencenieht of the present term, and thus ensured this long interval between sentence and execution-. The Jury did not take many minutes ill arriving at a conclusion, & Verdict ttf guilty being reached the first ballot* When the news was announced on the bulletin-board of the San Francisco Post, a crowd of incredulous men gathered around it, and it was some time before they could realise the fact that an American jury could be got to return a rational verdict in a capital case. Experience went dead against the idea of a conviction in Guiteau's case. Every day one encounters men and women who should have expiated their crimes upon the gallows, or who should be in the State prison : and it was naturally looked for that the " irresistible-impulse " plea would serve Guiteau's purpose, as ft had served the purpose of so many criminals before him. When the truth dawned upon the people, there was an evident satisfaction that the Jury had done its duty ; but "he will never be hanged/* was the popular verdict notwithstanding. There are so many legal loopholes in American criminal practice .that this conclusion was not wholly unwarranted. The bill of exception, however, in Guiteau's case has been practically narrowed to one pomt — namely, jurisdiction. President Garfield died in New Jersey State, and the crime was committed in the district of Columbia, and it is urged by Guiteau's counsel that Judge Cox had nO jurisdiction as judge of the district* If that plea holds good Guiteau cannot legally be tried at all, because the ruling of the New Jersey Supreme, Court in a similar case decided that the Courts of that State cannot take cognisance of crimes committed in another commonwealth or territory. The case was this :— A man stabbed in New York was removed to Long Branch, where he died ; An attempt was made to try the man who did the cutting, but the Supreme Court ruled that he had committed no crime of which New Jersey could take cognisance, the death being the result but not an element of the crime. This case exactly fits that of President Garfield. The point is to be argued before the District Court in Banco, and Guiteau deolares that the Almighty ordained that it should so fall out to protect him from the hands of his enemies and those seeking his life. The decision of the full Court is looked for with great interest. Should it quash the entire proceedings there is no reason why Guiteau should not go free, inasmuch as the Constitution inhibits the enactment of ex post facto laws— a constitutional safeguard, by the way, which would have prevented the consummation of not a few jobs, big and little, in your own tight little insular Colony, and neighbouring Colonies also. It has its inconvenient side, doubtless ; but on the whole it is a salutary provision. Guiteau was very violent in his denunciation of the Judge, Jury, and prosecuting counsel, both when the verdict was rendered and sentence was pronounced; but as I enclose the newspaper reports for your use, I need not encumber my letter by further reference to these outbursts.

TRADING INSTINCTS OF AMERICANS.

I have an object in writing these letters which | should be apparent to most of my readers by j this time, I want to make them familar with American methods, and 1 also enable them to understand somewhat the philosophy of American civilisation ; for, with all respect to the Anglo-Saxon idea, the people upon this Continent are building up a hew and distinct system of ethics and. polity, and, according to the unalterable law of progress, this new system is destined to override that which hath gone before, no matter how sacred or venerable it may be. I therefore select such facts as may serve for illustration, taking those which lie nearest at hand, or which may be, by reason of association, of general public interest. The Guiteau case happens to present an illustration in point. It emphasises the trading instinct and lack of reverence of Americans. It likewise, in degree, brings out their strong individuality. An American (I speak of course generically, because I regard a thorough American, male or female, as the very highest type of the human family) would sell the bones of his ancestors with as much complacency as he would a prize hog, and would consider it, moreover, in strict accord with the eternal fitness of things that he should be a gainer, as their living representative, by the conversion of their undissipated remains into cash to subserve a purpose of general utility. He is also quite prepared to accord a similar privilege to his descendants, when he has no longer any use for his own body. Indeed, he would much rather it should be converted into coin and put into circulation again, than to lie an inert mass of putridity, to be resolved into its original elements by the slow process of nature, as an eternal protest against inertia and decay. This, of course, is in glaring defiance of the sentiment of veneration for the dead, based no doubt upon the old Egyptian doctrine of the resurrection of the body, which was incorporated into Christian theology, and which has ever been sedulously fostered by the Church. Now I am not going to say what I believe in the matter, I am simply drawing an inference from what is transpiring around me daily, and which challenges thought and attention from time to time by some striking incident. Madame Tussaud familiarised the British public with the idea that great criminals after execution might become legitimate sources^ of income to decent people ; but that enterprising collector of old clothes and wax images did not go the length, even in imagination, of exhausting the resources of science to preserve the bodies of malefactors in order that the cadavers might thenceafter.be kept on exhibition. This has been reserved for American business enterprise to undertake, and, most probably also, to accomplish. The proposal in short is TO MAKE A SHOW OV GUITEAU'S CORPSE. During the trial of this malefactor his business instincts cropped out, and he speculated as to what terms he should make with the lecture bureau upon acquittal ; but there were others, with equally keen business instincts, who were prepared to speculate on the chance of conviction ; and to ensure success in their speculation, several propositions were made to him by letter for permission to exhibit his dead body. Guiteau was business-man enough to keep these proposals open for a given contingency; but he felt satisfied that he had a better thing in hand, and backed himself. One of the sharp Americans, who stood ready to make a pool m uuiteau gallows stock, has displayed remarkable ability nnd perseverance. Not satisfied with the general favourable consideration of his offer by the prisoner, he wrote to Scoville, Uutoaii's attorney and brother-in-law, offering to go into partnership with tha. relatives of the

I p-rkfoeHh exhibiting Gtritettti s body through all the principal cities Of America arid Eiirope; This offer was predicated upon the assumption that Guiteau would most certainly bo hanged, and it was an indirect bribe to Scoville to "let the prisoner slide," as it were. This ho did not do ; but he telegraphed m reply after conviction :—: — . " "Yours of the 28th received. Relatives are inclined to regard your proposition favourably in case of death. Brain will have to be removed for post-mortem examination.— Gkoboe Scovllle." „ Now Scdville is a respectable man, of good social standing, ahd with 1 some reputation for piety, At all dveiits He does hot frequent bars, playhouses, 1< reethought lectures, and such-like godless places; and he may be taken as a fair type of middle-class American society. Yet he does not spurn the proposal with loathing and contempt. On the contrary, having done all he can for his relative, he is ready to trade off his corpse m case of failure. And he see 3 nothing morally wrong in it ; neither does he anticipate social ostracism. He anticipates a large sum of money and marked social distinction instead. Nor does he stand alone in his readiness to trade off Guiteau's body. There is very little doubt that Mrs Scoville t th.c sister 1 who stood by Guiteau all through his trial, and Who stands by him still, will listen to business arguments when the end comes. She has been interviewed, and says : "We have not reached the point of considering what shall be done with the remains of my brother. Whenever and however he may die, I shall take his body and havo a po&t-mortem examination mad« by experts of my own selection. The idea of exhibiting his body around the country is horrible, and I would not have it done if we were starving. I have refused a 5000dol cash offer for his body. He will not be hanged ! " Just so. But then, should he be hanged, the offer of ohemist Ridgway, Of Philadelphia, is vastly different from a 5000dol cash offer. In a reported interview that solid citizen estimates that the Guiteau family would receive from 400,000d0l to 500,000d0l as their share of the enterprise. He treats the affair in the most matter-of-fact style, describing the refrigerator car and glass show-case, which he is having made at a cost of 25,000d01, to be ready when Scoville is prepared to deliver the corpse of Guiteau. He proposes travelling with the show himself, paying Guiteau's relatives half the receipts; but doubtless one or more of them would travel as checktakers to prevent fraud, and enhance the attractions of the show. Mr and Mrs Scoville " at the door " would be certain to draw on their own account. Mr Ridgway anticipates making more money in London especially, and in European cities, than in America. , " In regard to this present affair," he said, " I have no feeling for Guiteau one way or the other. He is simply a condemned criminal. This is purely a business matter with me, and business is business all the time. I don't know what Guiteau's relatives think about it ; but they are poor, and it seems to me that after all theabuse they have received from him during the trial, and all they have had to suffer in consequence of his act, they ought to have some recompense. Now. I haven't the slightest doubt that their snare of the proceeds from this enterprise will amount to oeisween 400,000 and 500,000d01. This will be some compensation to them after what they had suffered. lam conducting this enterprise alone, but there is plenty of money to back it." These remarks coyer the whole greund. The law of compensation is tersely stated. When asked whether the people of the United States want to see such a spectacle, Ridgway remarked : " Well, I rather guess they will. I haven't the slightest doubt of success from that point of view. Why, in every city I expect to engage the largest and most prominent place of amusement for exhibition, and am confident of being completely satisfied with the financial result to myself." GRAVEYARD INSURANCE AND FLOWER MISSIONS.

Some of my readers may think that tho authorities will forbid the Guitoau show. lam not so certain about that. The Press has familiarised the public with the idea, and it so entirely commends itself to the moneygetting side of American character, that it will soon grow upon them. And so much can be said in favour of it, after all, from an American standpoint. " Servo the dirty dog right," II Better than he deserves," " Make a show of him and then feed his carcass to the pigs," and such-like expressions, mark the growth of the trading idea in the popular mind ; and when it has strengthened, as strengthen it will, by continuous publication in the newspapers, the love of the horrible, which is dormant in all classes of American society, will prevail, and those who were deprived of the satisfaction^ of gazing upon the murderer in life, and begging his autograph, will clamour for the privilege of paying to feast their eyes upon his ghastly remains. This "business enterprise" once successfully launched, and we shall have a bettor use for dead bodies hereafter than to bury them^ and moreover, a strong pecuniary incentive to crime. This project is an improvement upon the graveyard insurance companies of Pennsylvania and other Eastern States, in which policies are issued upon aged men and women without their knowledge, upon persons in every stage of disease, and upon young and old indiscriminately. These companies are usually run by reputable citizens living in the odour of sanctity, and it isonlyin cases of flagrant crime and fraud that an exposure is made. The solid citizens of one of the rural counties in an Eastern State lately assembled in response to a general call, and haying read a statement of their losses, publicly burned policies, the premiums paid upon which exceeded 40,000d01. The popular indignation n gainst the companies was great, yet it was engineered in the interest of the companies, which wanted to destroy all evidence of responsibility to the assured. The policies and receipts being burned a.s worthless, the swindlers were safe. The extent to which this graveyard insurance business is carried on is something astounding. It has transpired that insurances representing 50,000d0l have been effected on the life of the aged mother of the late President without any of her family or herself being cognisant of the fact. Guiteau was solicited to have his life insured since the trial began. Of course, when subjects of speculative insurance live too long, means are taken to hasten their departure to a less sordid world than this. These institutions are not generally condemned. They are an outcome of the business instinct and want of respect for human life in American character, which peculiarity, as I have already hinted, is destined to take a universal range and dominate mankind. Selfishness is the strongest motive oE human action. It is the germ of the commercial idea. Republican equality has developed it fully ; and America will present, in the not distant future, the concrete systematised results. For good or for evil— for rich or for poor, their modern synonyms— the great social problem of the greatest good (riches) to the greatest number will be solved on the American Continent. This may prove disastrous to the Vauderbills and Goulda, and Maekays, and Floods, strong as they now stand ; but the era of general distribution \v-jU not be inaugurated while it is possible to make

money by graveyard Insurance and exhibiting the preserved remains of notcniouß criminals. While a "stiff" is equivalent to lOOdol the thieving rich 1 are Safe. Wherefore, these and similar enterprises may always count, to use Mr Ridgway's words, as having plenty oi money back of them. . This is not pleasant reading, I admltj nor does it present humanity in a favourable light ; but it is the truth, nevertheless, and while 1 am not a pessimist, I cannot fall into the opposite extreme, and regard men and women as steadily advancing towards the great ideal of perfect self -sacrifice and general observance of the law of kindness. I don't see it lying anywhere aroiind, and, to speak deliberately, I don't at all see an opening for unselfishness. The 1 man who 1 puts up money on that deal is b'Otind to lose his coin and get laughed at for his credulity. Still, a case of unselfishness, or tvllirt? has ju&t been reported in San Francisco. We have a "flower mission" in this city, the members of which are pious ladies, mostly young, who visit criminals in their cells, and blend floral fragrance with religious instruction. The consequence is that they often form very queei acquaintances, sometimes do imprudent things, and have been known to lapse from grace through sympathetic criminal association. Among the flower mission workers was a younj.woman, of iri'eproaGhablo character, who formed an attachment for & German who has been convicted of murdering his young wife. The circumstances were not very heinous, looked at from the modern American standard, although if he had not been so hasty the Divorce Court would have served his purpose better, as it did her first husband. However, he cut the marriage tie by cutting his wife's heart; and tho Court sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment. After his sentence, this young flower mission angel and a male friend presented themselves at the" county gaol, having procured a license in due form, and without delay the convict and his feminine instructor were married. '* Now lam the happiest man alive !" exclaimed the convict. Why ? Doubtless his young wife is now at work with a petition for pardon, and in a few months lie will be enlarged. There is nothing odd in this marriage ; — only a little American and sensational. Even Guiteau had offers of marriage from wealthy females, who were prepared to purchase notoriety by sharing the murderer's couch. Perhaps this San Francisco case wa,s one of pure love and affection ; then, again, perhaps it was not. Women are women and men are men in gaol or out of it ; and theprevailing idea is to surround murderers with a halo of glory, and strew their path in life with flowers.

Jacob Terry.