The Cleverness of Czolgosz

An Expert Says That His Crime Was Consummately Planned.

     W. Herman Moran, Acting Chief of the United States Secret Service, in speaking of the attempt on President McKinley’s life, said yesterday: “It is true enough that we have received a number of letters threatening the life of the President and other prominent people. A man who means business, however, does not advise us first of his intention; he goes to work, saying as little as possible about it. The man who writes letters exposes himself and his scheme and it has been our experience that he is harmless.
     “In the present case the evidence shows that the would-be assassin had gone to work in a most business-like manner. It would seem probable that he had everything planned and arranged, and he planned lamentably well, too. In a crowd of so many thousands not even the most astute detective would suspect a man on account of his right arm being bandaged. Then Czolgosz, according to what I read, was a decent looking man; he looked like a mechanic, of course, but there was nothing about him that would justify suspicion. I do not think that the man is insane. I am of opinion [sic] that he is simply an Anarchist who is imbued with anarchistic principles to such an extent that he thinks he is simply doing what is right. If he is insane, all Anarchists are insane.
     “It is not the man who writes the threatening letter who is dangerous; it is the man who works out his scheme secretly. The letter writing individual frequently is a man who spends his earnings in company with others who discuss newspaper comments on the acts of public men. These comments and their discussion make usually a deep impression on the listener, who makes up his mind that his country is going to the dogs and that something should be done at once. The result, as a rule, is the threatening letter, which, when investigated, brings to light the crank.
     “I think Congress, in the face of events, should pass a law whereby a person can be brought to law before the overt act has been committed. If a person is an avowed Anarchist and preaches his doctrine of riot, murder and destruction, and incites to forcible measures against existing laws and society, he should be made harmless. There should be law [sic] that could reach the people who preach the doctrine of murder. There are statutes providing for the arrest of a person in whose possession are found evidences that he intends to flood the market with counterfeit money, or intends to make it. It is the intention of the crime which can be reached in this case. If a person threatens to kill, the law can also reach him. It is the avowed principle of the Anarchist to kill and there should be a law reaching the promulgators of dangerous doctrines and promoters of assassination and murder.
     “It would be a good idea, too, if everyone who seeks to be introduced to the President or wishes to shake hands with him, should be known to one of the officials present, or should have a letter of introduction, or something to show that he is safe.
     “To a very great extent these Anarchists are foreigners. They are not accustomed to the freedom of the press and speech which is the boast of our country. They take everything they read in the papers to be true, and there are a great many papers that have been speaking most disrespectfully of our mode of government and the President himself. It is these papers that give nourishment to the Anarchist movement. The Anarchists see in these attacks on the President a certain justification of their own doctrine and acts.”
     The officials of the Immigration Bureau are virtually of the same opinion regarding prohibitive measures as those offered by Mr. Moran.