Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-01-30
ThD oFoatOSt Criminal Trial on Rec.
ord.

ll the whole history of criminal jurisprudence
there has never, probably, been anything equal to
the gigantic trial which was concluded at Mos.
COW, In Russia, on the 2lst of November, and in
which were arraigned 500 prisoners, upward of
200 Of whom were convicted and sentenced to
cruel penalties. Among the accused were per |
sons OF every station in life-gny-haired men and |
youths, men and women; among the latter some |
hignly accomplished and prepossessing in appear |
ande. ALI the prisoners were charged with one |
OF the grav0st Offences in the criminal code oil
kussia-that OF cOunterfeiting. That code SAYS
"Ihe person that counerfeits the coin or currcn-
cy bl the Imperial Government shall suffer death"
Notwithstanding this rigorous provision Rus
sia has been flooded for many Years past with
wcll-executed cOnnterfeits of the Government
Treasury notes. The prompt execution Of sever
| oil who were caught in passing the spurious eur
Teney did not check the evil, and for tho last
three years 1t became great that the Minister OF
Finance was almost IN despair Offers of the
largest rewards did not lead to the detection of
| tho guilty parties. Changes in the appearance of
| thc treasury notes did not do much good either,
Tor so vast Is the extent of the Russian Empire
that 1t takes the Imperial Government six months
ID communicate its decrees to the remotest parts
! OF the country.
At length, in last July, curious accident gave
the Government the long-lOOked-for eew, which
led TO the discovery OF an association of criminals
Of both sexes banded together for the purpose of
circulating the spurious currency and which ex-
tended from the bleak and frozen shores of the
White sea to the Volga and the Black sea. In the
course OF the two following months, 1900 men
and women were arrested, but, after preliminary
examination, 1900 of them were discharged, and
! shout 800 were held for trial Among the lattel
I We're six FrenchmAn, of St Petersburg, who had
been caught printing the counterfeit notes, and o
comparatively large number of women. Th,
prisoners were all conveyed to Moscow, wherl
\ they were confined in the vast vault underneath
o lhe kremlin Palace Criminal law in Russia il
o parbarous at best, aud the male prisoners wer
herded together like as many hogs. They receiy
ed the coarsest OF fare, aud straw was their onl
n couch The women were treated but little BET
. ter.
On the 10th OF October the trfL was opened il
q The large hall OF the Kremin which holds nearI
q 5000 persons The proceedings were protracte
l. for month, aud the prosecution succeeded in e,
n Itahllshlng the guilt of over Onethird of the aC
10 lcused Two hundred and three of them wer
ar found guilty, among them about fifty women
n Sentence OF death was passed upon six Frenc
printers, and the other convicted parties wei
ia condemned to hard labor in the gold mincs of tl
"A U r0l mountains Tor life, or for ton years. Tl
m doomed mon and women burst into pierein
De shrieks and howls and we'll they might fOrin q
~ case of the former tho sentence Included barba
IA Gus hogging and branding on the forehead wit
as red hot iron while the women, soma of who
an were OF refined descent shuddered at the idea
lst having to do the most meniAl work ior life or
ten years at the station houses, where the keepe
ss OF the male prisoners reside. In their despai
,r some of the untoHunates threw themselvea upG
he the ground and their piercing cries, nlIngl
nd with tho clanking of their chains, produced
of truly horrible effect. The excitement and ffen
nj OF the condemned grew from minute to mnu
lco more intense, and the judges, m order 10 resO
M qnetude, had 70 call in tho soldiers, who, wi
ir. their kantschuba, beat the prisoners right Al
left, aud then dragged them back TO the vaults
the Kremlin.