Because money alone doesn't absolve the effects of violent crimes. Especially blood money.

Speaking in terms of realism, the ability to simply pay off one's bounty for crimes is somewhat unrealistic, as they're almost treated more like fines. However, it makes sense for the developers to have applied this as a game mechanic to more or less naturally give players a bit of leeway in exploring the open world.

But further from a gameplay perspective, that would also just be too easy of a way out. The ability to pay off your bounties is only really intended to give the player the option to manage the heat they gain largely by how they play.

While Honor is tied to it to some extent, other actions outside of crimes influence it. So, allowing the player to essentially pay their way to become a good noodle would almost render the mechanic redundant.

That is, of course, unless you're playing Red Dead Online. In which Honor pretty much is.

Fair points. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

That’s a really good question. I think it should depend on how much the bounty is. Let’s say Arthur’s bounty is $100. Well, the person playing Arthur shouldn’t gain honor for paying that $100. I think that’s because $100 isn’t enough money for the player to earn honor. But if Arthur’s bounty is let’s say $2,500, well, the person playing Arthur should definitely earn some honor. That’s because $2,500 is a lot of money to pay, especially for a bounty. I understand $2,500 isn’t a lot of money when you get into the latter chapters, due to the robbery missions that the player does with Dutch, and other gang members, but $2,500 is still $2,500.

But, that’s just my opinion on this topic.