Judge Lewis then addressed the jury. It was the first time in twenty years that the venerable judge had stood in the place of an advocate addressing a jury. His snow white hair, erect figure and calm, deliberate manner were most impressive. Everyone knew that the duty devolved upon him was most distasteful, yet he performed that duty most nobly and well. He spoke touchingly of the great calamity which had befallen the country, at the hands of his client. His eulogy of President McKinley was most fittingly spoken and in perfect harmony with his argument in favor of the acquittal of his assassin. There was no doubt, he admitted, of the killing of the President by Czolgosz. The question and only question to be discussed was whether the act of shooting was that of a sane man. If it was, then the defendant was guilty of murder and must suffer the penalty of the law. If he was insane then he should be acquitted of the charge of murder and confined in a lunatic asylum. He submitted the question of the defendant's sanity to the jury in these words:

"The law presumes that this man is innocent of the crime, and we start, in investigating this case, with the assumption that for some reason or other he is not responsible for the act which he performed on that day. That is one of the merciful provisions of the law of this civilized State, and it is a provision of law which you must consider and which you must permit to influence your minds until you are satisfied by the evidence in the case that that doubt has been removed.

"Now, gentlemen, we have not been able to present any evidence upon our part. The defendant has even refused on almost every occasion to even talk with his counsel; he has not aided us; so that we have come here, under, as I said to you, the designation of the Court, to do what we can to determine this important question which is to be submitted to you.

"All that I can say, to aid you, is that every human being—yes, nearly, certainly every human being-has a strong desire to live. Death is a spectre that we all dislike to meet, and here is this defendant, without having any animosity against our President, without any motive, so far as we can see-personal motive-we find him going into this building, in the presence of these hundreds of people, and committing an act which, if he was sane, must cause his death.

"Now, could a man with a sane mind perform such an act? Of course, the rabble in the street would say, no matter whether he is insane or sane, he deserves to be killed at once; but the law says, no;

the law says, consider all the circumstances and see whether the man was in his right mind or not. But one may say, 'Why, it is better that he should be convicted, as a terror to others.' That may be so in some regard, but, gentlemen of the jury, if it could be, if it can be, that you find this defendant was not responsible for the crime, for this act, you would aid in uplifting a great cloud off from the hearts and minds of the people of this country and of the world. If our beloved President had met with a railroad accident coming here to our city and had been killed, we should all regret very much, we should mourn over the loss of such a just man, but our grief would not begin to compare with the grief that we have now, that he should be stricken down by an assassin, if such were the case. That adds poignancy to our grief-it does in my case, to a very large extent. But if you could find that he met his fate by the act of an insane man, it would amount to the same as though he met it accidentally, by some accident, and passed away under such circumstances.."

The point was most happily taken that if the assassination was by the hand of an irresponsible man it would afford great relief to the country and the world to know that it was not the result of a conspiracy of evil disposed men, without respect for law or life or station, who in the future might, in their contempt for law, repeat the crime of September 6th, upon the life of the next President or some other ruler of a nation.

Judge Titus simply said that Judge Lewis had so completely covered the ground and had so fully anticipated his own thought that he would not attempt to add anything further.

District Attorney Penney then briefly addressed the jury in behalf of the people. His argument was simple and to the point. It was that, the shooting being conceded, and no proof of insanity having been given, the law would presume the prisoner to be sane unless evidence was given of his insanity, so that there was but one verdict possible.

Judge White then gave his charge to the jury, with eminent fairness and a perceptible effort to allow no sensationalism, no consideration of the high character of the victim of the murderous attack, to affect the minds of the jury in their consideration of the case.

The jury retired at ten minutes before four o'clock in the afternoon and returned to the court room to render their verdict at twenty-four minutes after four.

While no one doubted that the jury could come to but one conclusion and that conclusion a verdict of guilty of murder in the first de

gree, yet the most intense, though suppressed, excitement pervaded the entire audience. The few minutes that the jury were out seemed to be hours to many who were waiting for the verdict. At last the jury were announced and they filed into the court room, and the foreman delivered its verdict: "Guilty of murder in the first degree as charged in the indictment."

The Court announced that the time of sentence would be fixed for the following Thursday at two o'clock in the afternoon.

The announcement of the verdict of the jury seemed to have but little effect upon Czolgosz' demeanor. He was as stolid and as impassive as ever. The verdict which thrilled all others seemed to produce no sensation in him, to whom it meant death. It has been said that one of the principles of Anarchists is to feel nothing if defeated in their plans: if death is their fate, to bear it like stoics; to say nothing when called upon to plead in court, thus showing their contempt for law; but when brought before the court for the sentence of death, then to speak from their hearts in defense of anarchy and in condemnation of government, law, order, religion, domestic ties and all that good citizens hold dear and sacred as the foundations of civil and domestic happiness. But Czolgosz did not speak. It was thought on one or two occasions that he would deliver himself of some speech, but he always failed. In fact he could not: he was incapable of any great thought: he possessed enough spite against those above him to do them injury, but, as his words to his guards showed, his ideas were of the narrowest range.

The world may well dismiss Czolgosz as in no sense the exponent of, but rather a sporadic product of Socialism and Anarchy, and simply regard him as a soft creature, not deranged, but acting under an evil impulse, fully conscious of what he was doing and what the consequences would be.

After the verdict was rendered, the prisoner was removed to prison to await his sentence. All that his able counsel could honorably do in his defense had been done. True, they might have delayed the trial for some months, on the plea that having just come into the case they required more time, and until the next term of Court, to prepare their defense. At the next term it would not be out of the usual order for a further continuance to be granted, putting the case over another term, and, upon one pretext or another, the trial of the case could be postponed for one or two years, and in case of an appeal to the Appellate Division, and from there to the Court of Appeals, three years might easily elapse before the final

trial, or disposition of the case. In that interval who can tell what might not happen to render the conviction of the prisoner impossible or of no salutary effect?

It is unquestionable that the speedy trial, conviction and execution of Czolgosz for the crime charged against him, will have a more potent effect and a more deterrent influence upon others of his class,-Anarchists, Socialists,-what you will, than whole libraries of theory for the suppression of Anarchy and Socialism. It is universally considered that the whole proceedings from the arrest of Czolgosz to his execution were conducted with the utmost dignity, order and decency. There was ample time to prepare for the trial on both sides, and yet but ten days elapsed between the death of the President at the hands of Czolgosz, and his conviction after two days' trial,-a record most unusual and remarkable, and reflecting great credit upon the Court, the District Attorney and the prisoner's counsel. On Thursday, September 26th, the condemened man was brought before Judge White to receive his final sentence. He placed his hand upon the Bible and was sworn to make true answers to such questions as should be put to him. He stated that he was born at Detroit, Michigan, twenty-eight years ago, and had attended small common schools, the Catholic Church school some; that he used to go to the Catholic Church. When asked by the clerk if he had any legal cause to show why sentence of the Court should not now be pronounced, he said he did not understand. District Attorney Penney then repeated the question to him, and he faintly muttered, "Yes." Judge White explained to him that what he had a right to say related explicitly to the subject in hand here at this time, and the legal causes which the law provides he might claim in exempting himself from having judgment pronounced at this time, were defined by statute. These were that he was insane; that he had good cause to offer either in arrest of the judgment about to be pronounced, or for a new trial. To this Czolgosz answered: "I have nothing to say about that." "Nothing to say?" asked Judge White. Then his counsel, Judge Titus, asked him what he wanted to say. In a low tone he said: "My family, they had nothing to do with it. I was alone and had no one else. No one else but me." He spoke in a mumbling way, quite indistinct. His words were repeated to the Court by both Mr. Penney and Judge Titus. The Court asked Judge Titus if he had anything to say in behalf of the defendant at this time, to which he replied: "I have nothing to say within the definition your honor has read, as to what

we can say, but it seemed to me that in order that innocent people should not suffer by this defendant's crime, the Court should allow him to exculpate at least his father, brother and sisters."

"Certainly, if that is the object of any statement that he will make," said Judge White.

"That is what he tells us," said his counsel.

ment.

Again Judge White directed Czolgosz to proceed with his stateHe said: "I would like to say this much, that the crime was committed by no one else but me. No one told me to do it and I never told anybody to do it." "Your father and mother had nothing to do with it?" asked Judge Titus. "No, sir. Not only my father and mother, but there hasn't anybody else had nothing to do with this. * * * They didn't know anything about it. I never told anything to nobody; I never thought of that until a couple of days before I committed the crime." This was all the statement that Czolgosz made in court, which was literally wrung from him by the questions of Court, counsel and prosecuting officer.

Judge White then imposed the sentence of the Court upon Czolgosz: "That, in the week beginning on October 28th, 1901, at the place, in the manner and by the means prescribed by law, you suffer the punishment of death.” How that punishment is inflicted, has already been shown.

This was the end of the trial of Leon F. Czolgosz, for the assassination of the President of the United States. The prisoner's counsel realized that the trial had been fair, impartial and without reversible error. They made no motion for a new trial or in arrest of judgment. None of the legal devices for putting off the day of execution were resorted to, for, as good lawyers, they knew there was no proper ground for it, and as men of large common sense, they would not resort to a hopeless attempt, solely for the purpose of delay.

The prisoner was soon removed to Auburn State Prison, where, on the morning of October 28th, 1901, he was placed in the electric chair, and died the death to which his wicked, wanton act condemned him.

LeRoy Parker.

NOTE. The bills of expense incurred by Erie County, in the trial and conviction of Czolgosz, were but $1799.50. The attorneys for the defence were paid $350.00 each; the alienists who examined the prisoner received $1,000.00, as follows: Dr. Carlos F. McDonald, $300.00; Dr. Allen McLane Hamilton, $100.00; Dr. Joseph Fowler, $200.00; Dr. Floyd S. Crego, $200.00; Dr. James W. Putnam, $200.00. The other expenses were for guarding and transporting the prisoner to Auburn State Prison for execution, and some incidentals.