San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-01-26
RUSSIAN "JUSTICE."

A wholesale Arraignment in st. Pctars.
barg-Four Years in Prison Before Being
| brought to Trial. r,
The correspondent of the London
Times in st. Petersburg describes this
sample Of Russian procedures: Acii g.
Though people speak and think chief
ly about the war and the way in which
it is conducted, they do not entirely
neglect other spheres of activity, in
some of which there is likewise cause
for dissatisfaction. A good deal of at
tention, for instance, is being devoted
to a great political trial which is at pres
ent going on before a special tribunal
Created for aifaits 81 the kind. or this
matter Thiean I'd speak at some length
as soon as judgment is pronounced.
Fbr the moment suffice it to say that
nearly two hundred persons are accused
Revolutionary propaganda, and that in
all probability a considerable number of
them will be condemned. Itcan not be
said that the Russians have much sym
pathy' with revolutionary agitation Of
any time, and especially when the coun-
try Is struggling with foreign enemies;
but'the judicial and eStra-judicial ad-
ministration have conducted this affair
in such q way that very many people
blame the authorities, and synipathi4e
with the accused The Investigation
was begun and arrests were made four
years ago, and it isl only now that the
accused uH have n beent brought to
trial. In the interval isothebof them
havsOsd;ed; others nave u contracted
chronic diseases, ard several Of them /,
ii, is said, have, become insane, d The
whole number iof arrests amounted Il
am assured, to ,nearlyua thousand but
alsrge number lwere4} liberated after q
shorter Or longer period Of c0afahiesmlsfSht,
and Others were TRANSPORTED Without
trial to small provincial towns and
placed there underf police supervision.
The trial was delayed 80: long because
the official who. conducted the iavesti-
cation wished 70 prove ,tthat' those w sJha
had taken part in the propag lhe-
longed to,a great secret soeiety end 4e
zealously strove to bringltosjdstice oil
the lmembersIof this supp osed labsocia-
ton. The advantages to be- gained frrY3Hh,
this method Of procedure can not easily
be explained, but the evil results are
only too patent. If the accused had
been tried at once in little, groups, the
whole thing would have passed off with
out attracting much attention, but treat
ed as it has been it has become public
scandal Tie attempt to prove that all
the accused belonged to a great secret
society had evidently broken down ), for
they have been divided into groups,
each, Of WHICH is, being tried separately.
Seeingithia, not only the accused and
their friends, but also the public gen.
orally, ask why these ,lnfortunates have
been kept in prison for three Or four
years. when they might have been tried
at once, In important details as well
as in the general plan of the prosecution
the authorities have, made serious mis-
takes, Ayoung girl, for in,ssgtia,ncs,i was
arrested because she had learned somss
facts from letter Of acertain Debogory.
Aman of that name was among the
accused, land the. . authorities hat
once leaped to the conclusion that the
young person in question had been
in correspondence with members Of the
supposed secret society, When she had ha
been in prison for two or three years II
was accidentally discovered that the
writer Of the letter ,waslnot the Debogqry
who had been arrested, but a newspa7
per correspondent Of the same name,
and that the letter appeared in one, Of
the daily papers. Investigators into
crime are, of course, liable to error like
ordinary mortals; but many people
think that as the prosecution was conl
Quoted so very leisurely, more care
might have been taken to avoid such
mistakes Other Incidents, in which no
informal injustice was committed, have
made painful impression on pub
lie opinion. A young doctor,
who had been compromised
four years ago, but had been allowed to
remain at liberty on condition of ap-
pearing when summoned, was recalled
from the army. where he had distin-
guished himself, and was placed in the
dock. Still more sympathy has been
auakennd hr the casfr nf 81 rnnnO girl