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The assassin of McKinley was tried,
convicted and sentenced within less than a month after he committed
the dastardly deed and within less than a week after the death of
his distinguished victim. There was no ostentation, no sensationalism,
no demonstration indulged in, but simply a fair and impartial American
trial, as is accorded to the high and the low alike. The swiftness
and dignity of this trial which will occupy a conspicuous place
in history teach [sic] a lesson. The people all clamored for the
death of the assassin and advised lynch law, but the government
itself protected this vile human being from those who thirsted for
his blood and the martyred President’s command that “no man hurt
him” was obeyed. The trial shows to our own people that justice
is just as swift in this country as ever and that the courts can
be relied upon. It shows the nations of the earth that no matter
how vile the criminal, he stands upon an equal footing with all
in our courts until found guilty and is accorded all the rights
and privileges of the laws of the land. This trial was a heavy blow
to lynch law and, doubtless, has convinced a great many that there
is no necessity for such indulgence by a civilized people.
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