Criminal Law and Its Administration in the State of New York [excerpt]

     The recent trial of Czolgosz, at Buffalo, was an illustration of what a criminal trial ought to be, and as an example, it cannot fail to be of great value to our country. It was orderly, dignified and brief, and yet all the rights of the defendant were conserved. If he had desired to make a defense and had employed his own counsel, the trial would probably have lasted at least a month, and then an appeal would have stayed the execution of the sentence for several months more, and probably at least a year would have intervened between the crime and its expiation. Thus justice would have been delayed, the general welfare in several ways sacrificed, with the only result to the defendant of prolonging for a few months his worthless life.