West-Jersey pioneer., 1873-08-01
FEM ALE CRIMINALS.

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and romance have endowed them, are
nonsense; and yet poetry and knight er-
rantry never could have made these
names apply if there had not been some
foundation for the words. We laugh
very properly when we hear bread and
butter eating individuals denominated
''angels," and yet there must be more
of the angel in her than there is mus,
else we should never have called her
50. Nobody, either in poetry or ro-
nance, makes the mistake of calling
men by that title. For some cause or
other, which has lain too deep i'll hui
manity for expression, men have always
accorded to women higher and purer
moral nature than they have claimed
for themselves In the history of crime
we have naturally expected men to take
the lead, and they haze taken the lead.
The most of the coarser crimes have
been committed by men. The vast
majority of murders have been by their
hands. Burglaries have been confined
almost exclusively to masculinity.-
Brute force in manning and beating,
has naturally been practiced by men.
Pistol shots, daggers, and anything
which drew blood, has been considered
the property of men. Duels have
scarcely ever been fought by women.
Their line of crime has usually been of
a more trivial character, and whose ef-
fects were more easily retrieved than
those of men. Occasionally, however,
as if to prove that there is no rule
without its exceptions, daring and ter
rible crimes have been committed by
the tender sex.
According to past history, women
have sometimes been the most enor-
nous criminals Semiramis, in the
long past ages, and the Warehouses of
Brinvilliers, in modern ones, stand
among the most atrocious names that
have stained the records of this fallen
world Just now, however, women ap-
pear to be claiming equal rights with
men in the privilege Of evil as well as
franchise In New York there is prob
ably nearly as many women confined
on charges of murder as there are men.
The feminine shuddeIing at blood does
not appear to have had effect enough
to restrain them. Revenge has been
as powerful passion with them as with
the fercer sex. It is to the credit of
women, even in cases of crime, that
they generally spring from less de-
basing motive than moves the other
sex. It is very seldom that women
kill for money It is more seldom still
that they take life in sudden qrarrels.
In all the cases we believe now in pris
on on that charge, the impelling motive
has been betrayed affection, 1t was SO
in the case of Fanny Hyde, who killed
Watson. It is SO in the case of Kate
Stoddard who has recently acknowl-
edged the murder Of Goodrich. She
had been inveigled into pretended
marriage, which she afterward ascer-
tanned to be false She had been cast
off and left to go into life ofspublic
prostitution or starve, as she thought
best. Poor girl! it would have been
better for her if she had starved, for
she could then have gone before her
Maker simply as wronged woman
wronged through love-and appealed
for justice and vengeance. She chose
differently, and revenged herself, and
sent her betrayer before her to the
eternal judgment, where both must
account for the deeds done in the body.
It is not likely that either of these
women will be hung. There is pre-
iudice against encircling the neck of a
woman with a hempen bracelet, and
jury never places them in such deadly
peril as verdict OF murder would
place them, if by any means it can be
avoided. The hanging of man shocks
the community it is true, but the shock
is accompanied with feeling of salts
faction that a murderer has his due.
In the case of woman, no matter how
much it may be deserved; the shock is
almost feeling of Indignation against
a law which could hang a woman. In
the case of Kate Stoddard, society had
provided no adequate penalty. Look
ing at it as crime against society, she
ought to be punished. Looking at it
in the light of fathers or brothers, we
think she ought not to be condemned.
The provocation was so great-the
penalties upon her false lover so few,
that there was little else that she
could do than what she did. Clearly
society will have to provide a better
and more easily reached class of penal
ties for crimes like these, or, with the
increase of profigacy in men, will come
the increase of similar crimes in women
Few persons are aware of the great
convenience to the public Of the Money
Order Office. Among the most recent
of all postal improvements, it is our
only national bureau that pays the
treasury. The Patent Office is self
supporting; but the Money Order
Office nets an annual profit of over
one hundred thousand dollars. 1t is
only eight years old, yetit transmits fifty