The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-01-04 00:00:00

A HUNGARIAN CAUSE CELEBRE.

A trial is at the present moment taking piece at Szegedln,
In Hungary, the extraordinarily complicated and dramatic
history of a hich is destined to occupy a conspicuous place
amongst the criminal records of all countries and epochs.
The individuals involved may be counted by hundreds—their
crimes and offences by thousands and the first arrests took
place as far bask as IMO. The Lloyd of Fedh gives an out-
line of the case under the title of the " Prone, Sandor "
KWIC or being the name of the chiet of • band of malefactors
whose depredations and atrocities rendered them the terror
of Szegedin and the surrounding distlict :
According to the Pesth journal, ever since 1860 the
inhabitants of Szegedin bad become RO terrified in con-
eequence of the daring exploits of Sandoes band of
briiands that they locked and bailed themselves in
their houses every night at dusk, and dared not to ven-
ture into the streets even during the day without
being armed with revolvere and sword-sticks. Rob-
beries, incendiary fires, and asesieeinations were the
order of the day; and the malefactors carried their
audacity so far a. to attack the diligencen in the open
day, and in the very midst of the town itself.
For a long time the criminals escaped, whilst num-
bers of innocent inhabitants were arrested on sus-
pison ; and it was under thi. se circumstances that M.
de Raley was sent as a Ro) al commissioner to Serge-
tlin, charged with full powers, and having at hie diepie
:Minn the forces and the resources necessary to put an
• nd to a state of things so deplorable and alarming. M.
un Radio' soon be .ame convinced that not only Szegedin,
but the whole cornitat and the surrounding districts:
were infested by formidable "companies 'oh brigands,
whose organ'ati n wag complete and their circle of
action clearly defined. When one of these companies
was not sufficiently numerous to carry outs, daring enter-
prise, aeriatauce was lent by the other companies. Two
of these bands of brigands, leagued together, not long
ago succeeded M entering the cellars of a bank, and in
carrying the immense safe into the street ; they failed,
however, in getting it into a cart which they had
brought for the purpose, and found themselves corn-

pelled to abandon their valuable booty. The safe was
found intact at the door of the bank on the following
morning, and the operation had been carried on with-
out any one's attention having been called to it, or
without any one daring to give the alarm.
After careful and minute inquiries the Royal com•
missioner found, to his amazement, that a number of
administrative and juilical functionaries were acting as
accomplices of the various bands of brigands—that even
the titled notabilities of the district al trill sa receiverei
of the stolen property. A number of these companies
were soon tracked, and several of the bandits were
arrested and given up to justice. It was then found that
the p .lice agents were in league with the malefactors.
At Szegedin a commissary of police, two judges, four
employes of the Treasury, and 46 detectives were
arrested as being implicated in the depredations of the
bands. Crimea have been brought to light which were
perpetrated 30 years ago; and an old man of 70 was
condemned some short time ago for a crime committed
when he woe 40 years of age.
The novel and peculiarly "psychological" system
pursued by the Royal commissioner in order to find
out the guilty turtles amongst the hundreds of in-
dividuals arrested is worth recording. The prisoners
were completely is, dated from the rest of the world
during their confinement; and their eyes were bound,
in order to prevent any conversation by signs usually
resorted to by accomplimhed thieves. " Companions in
captivity," totally unknown to them, were placed in
the same cells, who soon insinuated themselves into
the confidence of the prisoners, studied their characters,
marl- themielves acquainted with their secrets, and
used all their efforts to bring about a full confession.
With isgard to Saudor, the Royal Commissioner
himself succeeded in getting a full and comple'e
avowal of his crimes by adopting tacti s of a most
ingenious kind. Knowing the great brigand chief to be
exceedingly vain of his reputation, and to be in the
habit of looking down upon his less daring accomplices
as mere "purloiners of chickens," M. de Raday ordered
Sander to fall upon his knees before his fellow pri-
soners—the small-fry of the band—whose instructions
were to reproach their chief with being a chicken.
stealer like themselves. The ruse was perfectly suc-
cessful; the proud Sandor's " honour " was mortally
wounded, and the "brigand king' (as he loved to style
himself) immediately entered into a full confession of his
long series of crimes, as well as thoseof his accomplices.
The expedient resorted to by the Royal commissioner in
the case of another famous brigand, named Jean Bajdor,
WW2 this: Baj di or im known to be e xceedingly superstitious ;
he is charged with having committed two murders,
and insists upon asserting his innocence. One evening
the examining magistrate had Bajdor brought into his
cabinet, and imuiediatelv addressed him as follows
John Bajdor, I cannot sleep on your account; the
ghost of Peter Bodri. whom you assassinated, ap
pears before me every night, and threatens to haunt
and torment me until such time as I shall have put
the rope with whir h you strangled your victim round
your own neck!" On saying this the examining ma-
gisizate threw a rope round Bajdor's neck, and ordered
him to he taken back to prison. At midnight
John Bajdor, who had slept soundly, notwithstanding
his fifty-nine crimes, jumped up affrighted. and rushed
towards the door of the prison, crying for help. This
was the moment the examining magistrate had
anxiously awaited; he made his way into the cell,
when Hajdor confessed not only to having murdered
Boob i and his son, but also to having committed a
number of other heinous crimes. In consequence of
these disclosures the two bodies of his victims, with
the ropes still round their necks, were discovered.
Acting on Bajdor's advice, a number of other pri-
soners have made free confession of the crimes they
committed ; all the malefactors arrested, it must not
bi- forgotten, are kept in the utmost ignorance as to
the charges which weigh against them. On their first
examination they are not questioned as to the perpe-
tration of such et such a crime ; they were simply
asked to give an account of any offence of which they
might acknowledge themselves guilty. By this means
a number of crimes have been brought to light hitherto
totally unsuspected.
An idea of how desirable a place Szegedin must have
been to live in may be formed from the following
enumeration of the cases which are now being tried
before a specially appointed court. When the Royal
commissioner firat arrived at Szegedin there were 1,506
criminal charges to be heard; a little later 500 mote
charges were made; and when the Royal commission
had terminated its duties 950 fresh cases were brought
to light—making in all nearly 3,000 crimes of the
gravest character. Of this total 1,000 judgments have
already been given, and nearly all these judgments
have been confirmed on appeal. The crimes and
offences discovered by the Royal conandssion amount
to 8,000. The principal charges are those of murdes,
robbery, pillage, incendiariant, &c. (the cages of rob-
bery alone exceeding 4,000).