The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-09-02 00:00:00

THE COMMUNIST TRIALS.

The charges against l'rliain were thus summed np by the
preseeuting comeiel haute the l'utart-Matthil at
--

"While the enemy was besieging, blockading, and
bombarding Paris, Prbain was haran;,Taing public
meetings and snaking hinsself the mouth-piece of the
Vigilance Committee in their demands upon the
Government. Appointed upon the Commune at the
heal of the list for the 7th Arrondissement, t f which
he was the ashninistrator, he became afterwards a
member of the Committee of Pul die Instruction, in-
stalling himself with his concubine at the Maisie.
The author of, or the accomplice in, arbitrary
arrests, and sequestrations, he oiled his prisoners
and decorated his concubine with their jewelry.
At the same time he scattered the funds in-
tended t:r public education, and when the crisis be-
came inevitable he divided what remained among Isis
accomplices. It is needless to revert to the Landau
affair, which reveals all these acts of baseness. As a
member of the Military I lommission Prbain visited the
barracks and the ramparts, followed by his orderly,
both 'taunted upon stolen horses. In that manner it
was that he presented himself at the HOtel tie Ville.
He voted for the institution of the t 'ommittee of Public
Safety ; he signed a search warrant at the bottom of
which he vile:pled an order that any one resisting was
to be shit. On the PHs of May, in the Commune, it
was he who propos.' the execution of the hostages."
The ease of Trinquet was thus described :

" Tringuet was a fervent disciple of Rochefort. lie
wan convicted in 11i70 of having uttered seditious cries,
and of illegal possession of arms and ammunition.
1-king mune'd a member of the Commune and of the
Committee of “eneral Safety, he co-operated with
Raoul Rigatalt and Ferri;. tie was attached to the
Maine of the 20th Armudissement, and was specially
charged with the celebration of marriages. lie dis-
tinguished himself by his violence ; he directed searches
to be made in the churches aml in the priest's houses.
He was the anther lif a proposition, presented to the
Commune at the sitting of the 12th if May, directed
against ali,ent National Cuards. Therdwas found upin
him a sum f 1,230 f., dimbtless a portion of the dis-
tribution effected byJourde id the balance hi the Trea-
sury. This man participated in all the acts if the Com-
mune. lie Is, moreover, accused of having taken part
in the executions of the tffith and 26th of May at the
:Shire of the 20th Arrondissement. Ti inquet was
guilty of an act of horrible cruelty which would suffice
to condemn loin; after having presided at the aasas-
sination of the unfortunate Rocques, who woo executed
without trial, he was brutal enough to discharge his
revolver into the still quivering lsitly at his feet. He
was also, by reason of his position at the Make, one
of the chiefs of the Belleville quarter, which has been
no notorious in all in-urrections, and where the army
experienced a strong resistance. The numerous houses
in that quarter winch had been mined afford strikini,'
proof uf ion that point. Nothing, therefore, presents
Itself in his favour, and I demand against him the
rigorous application of the law."
With respect to Luther the prosecutor

" I cannot better acquaint you with the history of
Lußier than by referring to two articles in the record
against hint. He has denied that he belonged to the
internation,dr, and yet there are two documents which
prove that he had relations with that society. He him-
self has given you an account of the events which pre-
ceded the 11th of March, as also of the succeeding
days. He has by this statement of the preparatory
acts of the insurrection shown that there W3O a con-
spiracy, the first element of the attempts imputed to
the accused and the existence of which had been denied
by Jourde. He has also informed you of the active
share he had in the events of the earlier days, espe-
cially with respect to military affairs. He has explained
to you the strategic plan which he had formed awl exe-
cuted in order to enclose the army in a neutral section
of the territory around the city. It twist he noticed,
however, that all these grand conceptions came to
nothing, as the regiments which then c,omposed the gar-
rison of Paris received orders on the 18th of March to
fall back upon Versailles. Anticipating the duty of the
prosecuting officer, he gave you a striking picture of
the Government of the Central Committee and of the
Commune, which has greatly lightened my task. He
has repudiated the acts, the decrees, and the crimes of
those bodies. He has also explained the motives which
had most effect with the popular masses. I may add
that he united in himself all the qualifications for be-
coming the chief. He has, moreover, hall the frank-
ness to admit that the charge of insurrection against
the Government with thecluect of provoking civil war
are consequences of the I,art he took in the movement.
With respect to the (large of having raised troops
without orders or permission from the legitimate antis,-
rity, he has attempted a diSellSBitlll, but the fact is
evident, since he admits that lie had collected upwards
of 200,090. men in arms. In short, his title of Gene-
ral-in Chief of the Federal:, constitutes the crime pro-
vided for by Article 1)3. The crime of seducing soldiers
from their duty is flagrant. Luffier is convicted of
having addressed aspeech to French soldiers in which he
urorethem to abandon their flag and join the instil,
regtion, promising them good lodging, good food, and
promotion. Intelligent as his written notes and his
conduct here have shown Ulu to be, active, energetic,
noted for courage, daring, and contempt for death,
Luther would doubtless have had a noble career before
him if his unsocial character, his undisciplined mind,
and extreme vanity had not led him into the worst
possible path. During his military career he gave evi-
dence of insubordination and even 14 rebellion. He
has allowed the gwsl qualities with which he has been
endowed by nature to be turned to evil arc-soot, and I
(1,, not hesitate to declare that Luther have beeome a
dangerous man. Society, which has suffered much
from his insane projects and criminal attempts, has a
right to demand guarantees for the future. The law,
gentlemen, gives you the means of insuring those
guarantees to society."
of Clumpy it was said,—
' " ' '

" He was an assiduous frequenter of the clubs, and
was the mast regular attendant at the sittings of the
I ',lmmune. He directed seizures and requisitions, and
then, when the time came to defend himself, he took
refuge in concealment, but even at the last moment he
did not forget to avail himself of the funds which
Jourde distributed among the members of the Com-
nmne. A document proves that he persevered in re-
sistance to the last ; it is an onler to prepare mortars
and petroleum shells to be fired upon the Lyons rail-
way."
With reference to the case of Descamps, the prosecuting
counsel said - . . . .

"It is customary when information is required con-
cerning the moral conduct of any particular individual
to apply to the Commissary of IN dice, and there is an
undoubted right to do in when the person referred to is
under accusation. Arnow the reports relating to Des-
wawa I find the fellemeg PeaDABO ;77' the

ideas were extravagant; he continually threatened
persons who possessed provisions that he would seize
them for his own advantage. In short, all the infor-
mation obtained respecting him is most unfavourable,
both as to his political opinions and his private charac-
ter.' His patticipation in the acts of the Commune is
clearly proved, and the letter which he athiressed on
the 15th of May to the Colonel of the 11th Legion,
requiring that the posts should be doubled, shows that
his criminal action endured up to the latest moment."