Two members of
his own band shot him down in his own house, April 3, 1882. They
at once reported the deed and surrendered themselves to the
police, were soon put on trial, pleaded guilty of murder, were
sentenced to death, and were at once pardoned by the Governor.
Meanwhile, the funeral ceremonies over Jesse James's remains drew
a great concourse of people, and there were many indications of
popular sympathy. Stories of his exploits have had an extensive
sale, and his name has become a center of legend and ballad
somewhat after the fashion of the medieval hero Robin Hood.
The legislative blundering which tied the President's hands and
made the Government impotent to protect American citizens from
desperadoes of the type of the "cowboys" and Jesse James, is
characteristic of Congress during this period. Another example of
congressional muddling is found in an act which was passed for
the better protection of ocean travel and which the President
felt constrained to veto. In his veto message of July 1, 1882,
the President said that he was entirely in accord with the
purpose of the bill which related to matters urgently demanding
legislative attention. But the bill was so drawn that in practice
it would have caused great confusion in the clearing of vessels
and would have led to an impossible situation. It was not the
intention of the bill to do what the President found its language
to require, and the defects were due simply to maladroit
phrasing, which frequently occurs in congressional enactments,
thereby giving support to the theory of John Stuart Mill that a
representative assembly is by its very nature unfit to prepare
legislative measures.
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