The Crime Acainst [sic] the Nation

     The shocking crime which culminated on September 14th in the death of President Wm. McKinley must excite a feeling of horror in the heart of every law abiding and government respecting citizen, no matter what his party affiliation, or his political beliefs, and arouse a fierce call for the prompt punishment of the assassin by people of all parties, and to demand that this country no longer stand open as an asylum for the exiled opponents of all government from other countries. No sane mind can, by the most extravagant strength of imagination, find a shred of extinuation [sic] for this crime, and no one can suggest a punishment to fit the crime. The assassination of President McKinley was not only the dastardly murder of a splendid representative American, but it was a stroke at the government of which he was so able and benevolent an executive, which adds to the crime and to the horror with which it is received. Americans, whether born to the heritage of a free country or adopted by this land, will sorrow over this despoiling of a home and bereavement of a nation. It is a national calamity.