Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-11-02

'ioOu IeCIOtW SOHSTeSSs sItt OuC
which we ourselves made years ago
in these columns, came from France,
in a communication by M. A. Corne.
relating to the injustice shown by all
nations toward acquitted prisoners.
All governments seem to act on the
principle OF the wolf in tho fable,
who told the crane, alter she had tax
out the hone that was sticking in his
throat, and she asked for the promls-
ed reward, that II was reward enough
to have had her head in a VOLTS
mouth aud be permitted to take it
out again. It is thought quite salts.
faction enough for man accused nm
justly to de acquitted and to escape
an nndeserved punishment. But no
person can be subjected to criminal
process without material injury AS
well as mental suffering. To be ac-
crsed oi u crime, TO be imprisoned
while awaiting trial, TO suffer all the
suspense which must attend one sub
iccted to the uncertainties Of the law,
however staong in the sense oil his
Innocence, is q most serious wrong,
and one that should be righted, as
tar as money can do it. But, besides
all this. many m innocent man has
been discharged, and bid Ego with.
out day." who found his bniness
ruined, the happiness of his family
destroyed, perhaps a shade OF suspi-
cion always resting upon his good
name, in spite of his acquittal. and all
the rest o: his life cmbit,erc.l by the
injustice of which he has been the
victim
NJ. Cornc gives some startling sta
,istics on this point as to matters in
France. Out OF 10000 arrested for
crime, more than 10 900 were acquit-
ted, or discharged as innocent with
out trial, and with no compensation
from the State tor the disgrace and
damage inseparably connected with
their imprisonment One case IN par
,icn.ar he cites, of two men who
were imprisoned tor twenty two
months. and then acquitted on clear
proof OF their innocence. 1t would
be well for our prison philanthropis,s
10 collect the statistics of acqulttal
in this country, with details al the
cIearcst and hardest cases, so as to
make up stl ong case to present to
the varions State Legislatures. The
case OF an English solicitor, Nj. Bar.
har, who Was falsely accused OF forg-
ing viii, convicted, and sentenced
To transportation TO Norfolk Island,
at Il time that that he'll upon earth
WAS at lis devi!ish worst, was so flag.
rant as TO ex.ort Il moderate com
pensaiinn from Parliament. This ed.
ucated gentleman, OF gool character
and large business, WAS charged Oh
perjured evidence with forcing and
altering n will. cxp,ated his inno-
cence by two or three years, =. least,
OF the most cruel punishment, uEier
a tiendisl governor, including, II we
do not much misremcmber, whip
ping; when iull proof was had that
the charges against him was :rnmped
up, aud that he was absolutely limo.
cent. OF course, Her Mai jes,y was
graciously pleased to extend to him
Il tull pardon tor an Oft, n,e he had
never committed; rs the Governor OF
Massachusetts did last Independence
Day to two prisoners III the same
pre.'icament, on which We comment
ed at the time. The hardship and in
Justice OF tins case was SO grossly pal
pable that Parliament, with extreme
reluctance, doled ont grudging sum
OF some $4,000 or IS, ,0O0 as indcmni-
" tor this enormous injury. And
this probably would not have been
lone tor man OF an humber posi-
tion, anl who had not IN honorable
place in the profession of the law.
We will not deny that there are
practical difficulties in the way OF JUS
tice looking in this direction. The
persons who have charge OF prison
ers, almost without exception, would
advise against it as only a bonas On
crime. 'fhey learn to take it for
granted that every man committcd
to Jail is guilty; and, if he escape
punishment, i, is by good luck, and
not hy good deserving. And, II he
should happen not to have done the
particular thing for whlcl, he suffers
punishment, they believe that he has
done abundance of other things tor
which he has gone scot free. These
worthless would accord hlm the same;
advice that the Right Ro.crend
Father in God, DR.. Mea,le, late Blsh-
op Of Virginia, did TO the slaves, in
his talpors sermon from the text
Servants, obey your masters" !"
While exhorting them to bear pa
tiently the chastisements their short
comlngs might bring upon them, he
allowed that it might seem hard
measure should they be fiogged, as
might happen, for what they did dnot
do. But then they should remen-
her that, though they had done moth
ing to deserve that particular whip.
ping, still they had deserved many
others which they had escaped, 80
that the account was still IN their
favor. OF course, It is the readier
way to refuse. justice altogether than
to search out how it may be done in
part. For entire remuneration for
this injury, in the cases which would
most deserve it, were impossible.
But there might be an approxima-
ton attempted toward it. A sum
equal to moderate days wages for
every day Of actual confinement be-
tore trial resulting in acqaittal would
not be ruinous tax on the public.
NJ. Cornc calculates the time his in.
noccnt Frenchmen had been incar-
cerated to amount to about $50, 900
DAYS; which, Mt say two dollars a day.
would amount to about hall a mil
lion lollars-a sum which France