The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1873-01-28

One of the Greatest Criminal
Trials ON Record.

One of the Greatest Criminal
Trials On Record.
In the whole history of criminal ju-
risprudence there has never probably
been anything equal to the gigantic
trial which concluded at Moscow, in
Russia, on the 21st of November. ard
in which were arraigned five hundred
prisoners, upward Of two hundred of
whom were convicted and sentenced to
cruel penalties. sAmong the accused
were persons in every station in life
gray-haired men and youths, men and
women; among the latter some highly
accomplished and prepossessing in APP
pearance. All the prisoners were charg
ed with one of the gravest offenses in
the criminal code of Russia-that of
counterIeiting. That code says: ''The
person that counterfeits the coin or cur
rency Of the imperial government shall
suffer death" Notwithstanding this
rigorous provision, Russia has been
flooded for many years past with well
executed counterfeits of the government
treasury notes. The prompt execution
of several who we're caught in passing
the spurious currency did not check the
evil, and for the last three years it be-
came so great that the minister of
finance was almost in despair. Offers
of the largest rewards did not lead to
the detection of the guilty parties
Changes in the appearance of tile treas
ury notes did not do much good either,
for SO vast is the extent of the Russian
empire that it takes the imperial gov
ernment six months to communicate Its
DEGREES to the remotest part Of the
country.
AT length, in last July, curious acci-
dent gave tue government tue long look
editor clue, which led TO the discovery
Of an association Of criminals Of both
sexes, banded together for the purpose
oi circulating the spurious currency,and
which extended FROM the bleak aid froi
Zen shores of the White sea to the VII
| ga and the Black sea. In the course Oi
The two following months, three thou
sand men and women were arrested ;
but after preliminary examination
twenty-five hundred OF them. were dis
charged, and ablut FIVE hundred were
held Tor trial. Among the latter were
SIX Frenchmen, of St. Petersburg, who
had been caught printing the counter
felt notes, and a comparatively large
number of women. The prisoners were
all conveyed to Moscow, where they
j were confined in the vast vaults under
heath the Kremlin palace. Criminal law
in Russia is bal barous at the best, and
the male prisoners were herded togeth
er Ike so many hogs. They received
the coarsesl OF fare, aud straw was their
only couch. Tue women were treated
but little better.
On the 10Th of October the trial was
opened in the large hall of the Krem-
lin, which holds nearly five thousand per-
sons. The proceedings were protract-
ed for month, and the prosecution
succeeded in establishing the guilt Of
over one third of the accused. Two
T hundred and three of them were found
. guilty, among them about fifty women
Sentence of death was passed upon the
six French printers, and the other con.
victed parties were condemned TO hard
labor in the gold mines OF the IRA
) Mountains for life or fol ten yea The
: doomed men and women burst into
piercing shrieks and howis, and wei
they might; for, in the case OF the for
? mer, the sentence included barbarou:
t tioeging and branding on the forehead
with red-hot iron while the women
t some of whom were of refined descent
n shuddered at the idea of having to d.
: the most menial work for life or tel
b years at the station-houses, where til,
: keepers OF the mail prisoners reside
4 In their despair some of the unfoitu
: mates threw themselves upon th
( ground, and their piercing cries, min
: gled with the clanking of chains, pro
n duced truly horrible effect. The ex
t element anu phenzy of the condemne,
: grew from minute to minute more in
n tense, and the judges, in order to re
C store auietude, had to call in the sol
b diers. who, with their kantschubs, bea
4 The prisoners right and left, and the
dragged them back to the vaults of til
r Kremln.