Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-12-17

wife, and as YOU nave Always anu W.
now, maintain the pleaSantcst relations
with him, ~ YOU have implicit conf
dence in his innocence, as you believe
that il he suffers the ignOminOuS punish
mont that must bcfali him in case he -
iound guilty would be unjust, would
YOU, Madame, undersuch circumstances
and under oath, make measurement to
save him, who YOU love better than your
life, from punishment
Srs. HAYDEN gave way under the
strain and burst into tears. The coun-
sci for the defense babe her not answer,
and said the question was "an Insult. -
The prosecuting attorney thereupOn re-
piled;
at is not an insult Far be it from
me 10 insult a loving wife and lady
ike the one now on the witnesS-stand.
| would say nothing b. hurt her feelings
except what duty compelS me to say.
Ii is no insult to a devoted wife to IN
innate that in order To save the lite oi
her husband she would, II necessity
compelled her to 10 so, perlure herself.
Ii is rather an honor to do SO. A wo-
man who loves as she loves,
If she thought her husband must
suffer an ignOmnlous punish
mcnt, would eXaggrratC, preyarlcalc
AMI. IL necessary, tell an absolute false
| hood To save him, and though she should
/ violate the law i'm so doing, | should
/ honor her for il. | should expect my
wife 10 do that for me. This is no Ito
MIA and perfection has not been and
never will be reached. Ii | were IN
similar position To the accused and my
wife. mother % six children whom kind
| Providence has seen tit to bless us with,
were i'm the place OF the witness and !
thought She would not eXaggerate and
prrvaricate and, ID necessary, perJure
herself i'm order To save me, | would not
love her with one-halt the love | now
| bear her.
To say that this reply Of the attorney
inculrates 4 low standard OF morals is
not enough. II is burlesquing both
moral and civil law.
The civil law gave this woman the
right to testify in a case in which her
husband was accused OF crime. Ii the
civil law, in conierring this privilege,
recognized, as does this attorney, that
wife would not only be justified but
"h0nored' in perjuring herself to shield
her husband, then the civil law Is
sham and a fraud. 10 would place
a strong temptation in the way of wo-
man and then punish her for yielding
10 il. Il would say To- jury: this wo-
man is permitted to testify, but her tcS-
timonv is Of no value, for it is not To be
expected that she will regard truthmolc
than the welfare Of her husband, and
sheis TO be honorcd for her adroitncss
at ialsehood and loyalty TO her husband.
The law must punish her with the Sc
we're penalties prescribed for perjurers,
hut ut tho sau,u u.ur size il To- 10 ""m-
mended for violating the law and incur
ring the penalty.
Having recognized the principle that
truth is only Il matter of eXped;cncy, as
argued by this high-toned attorney, the
same rule must be recognized in all
other eases. II is only question Of
gain or loss. This legal moralist in the
HAYDEN case does notcSSay to prescribe
lust how much truth is worth-hOw
much i'm dollars and cents can be set
over against the value ot human testi-
mony SD as 10 render it utterly unrclia-
bic, but it is nevertheless asserted that
truth is simply matter OF expectancy,
TO be followed or ialsilicd according to
the value the witness places upon the
life, liberty or property at stake.
We must admit that this is very
general mode Of estimatin. the value Of
truth. 1t is measured in dollars and
cents. 1t is placed along side Of tenn
poral gain and weighed i'm the scale with
transjtory advantages. liza man can lie
10 his advantage, without damage to his
standing among his fellow men, it is
counted as clear gain. Ii he lies AMI is
caught. he is fool only for taking the
risk or lacking skill. lie deserves COM
meudatiou i'm the one case, and condem-
nation i'm the other. In any case, an in
dividual is oulycxpcctcd to be true when
he thinks it to his temporal advantage
to be so. This is the code Of morals that
a Connecticut attorney seeks to set up
in a court of law.
We will not attempt 10 follow ont the
legitimate and necessary results OF such
a doctrine i'm it's effects upon society and
civil government They are suggestive,
even considered as a question OF expe-
diency.
That man has lived to little purpose
he is but 4 poor philosopher and
worse observer-iihe has not made the
discovery that the inevitable consc-
quences OF q lie are to place him At a
vantage-inevitable in the consti-
tuition of things. No man ever followed
out the logical AMI inevitable conse-
Juences OF lie to its ultimate results
without accepting tins conclusion.
believer in the efficacy or profit OF lying
is always 4 weak mani short-siehted
man. The biggest fool is the greatest
liar. Ro intelligent, far-seeing or logical
mind is deceived by witnessing 4 tenn
porary advantage gained through lie.
No one ever followed lie to It's leSiti-
mate and last result and found a profit
on the side of the lie. Either this is 50
or the divine economy is failure, and
the world is run upon different princi-
pies than those which seem to govern or
are known to revelation or human OBJ
Scryation.
We are discuSsiuga lie As 4 question
OF expedicncv only, aud not rs qucs-
ton Of morals. The civil law, the un-
written law and individual experience
and observation have pronounced,
through all the ages, that it is mcIyfli0d
10 lie; that its results are disastrous to