Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-01-30
CANINE l3AL,SM.
Is II Ever 'u.iiti IhIc. E..a in - .if- Drfeuscr
a Hard OceS,i"I to Answer


II Hard Qces1i"u to Answer.
The ease uf the tnnhali-tc crew Of
the Brit. h yacht VI gaoncttc. who have
been found -ui'ty of murder. and whu
have taA"n an Il. ar"o. oilnE to our
cable dispatches. ra;>r> an Interesting
and novel 4:ir-';n in law. if not IN
morals. Their uff-n>v !, not -.n,ply
that OF such Il Ctuuibtli.m ~ WIS
charged against Lieutenant GrrlN :
crew. The shipwrrckrd men uf the
MiGnonette deliberately slew ia" boy
who was with them, and Il 4 50 for the
purpo 4 ~ cat;E-r him. Thry dd rhi,
TIE r.-tt 'ruth day after the n h.pN.c,h.
and a.t'r hv.u-r been for eight days
without food. Ey mrau- Of the relief
which they obtained in tbs way they
survived until III" twcnty-fourth day.
when they w'rc rescued by II German
sailng-fr>-el. lroh their return the
wrctchcI men freely told all that had
happened. Tiny mtdc no attempt to
conceal any of the facts nor To
vary their stories after they were
arrested and held ~ trial. Oae
of the three hSd from the begin
ming refused 10 have ANYTHING To- do
with the k!lllnr. He would not. he
said. Kill ANY one, nor woud he allow
any one to Kill him. The tNo others
justified t!!rm-".vrs on the ground that,
aS they hal families ard the hov had
none, II was right 10 sacrifice him that
they might be- abb, to return To the sup
g /, Ill
No case of tn kind has ever before
come into the courts. As was pointed
out by the JUDI" who charged the
Grand Jury which indicted the men.
there have been cases which bore "A
shad0wy resemblance to il. but rome
which could bequoted in support Of the
view that such homie dc was done in
sclf-d"fense. There is a case reported
without name and without place by
Baron Putlendorf in which seven ship
wrecked Englishmen lei ono ot their
number for fool and were acquitted
when tr.ci. hut th" court in this case
declared that To he too vague for n
precedent. Their" l. 20 other parallel
ease in the books, and this one had
therefore to hc dee de on its intrinsic
merits. Look;n~ ~ II IN thi, WAY, the
Judge instructed t." jury that III.
crime WAS one Of murder, pure and
simple. Th" do trim" Of necessity will
not stand an APP eat on to this case.
The >hipwrcckrd man who pushes an
other OF Il !tuk tlia: VIII save only
one is ju~tilicd 10y Blackstone on the
ground of necessary >,li-dcf,nsc. since
the remaining of b,tl on TIA" plank i a
mutual thoIgh innuc / culangcriug 81
each other lfr. l:u, this. even II il
be right. is not in point hero. The loy
who WAS k He'd WAS not cndangrring
the lives OF his comr3'ic, in arv way.
This is mot Gle rly cNprr>,,d hy tie
Judge i'll his rymarn that what impcr-
lied their live, was not the presence of
the boy in the boat but the absence II
food and drink.
But though the ruling of the court
was unii'nchingly in favor of verdict
of murder against the Cannihal> of the
Mignonette there was an assurance
that the clcmcncy Of the pardonn z
power would be invoked if they were
found guilty. All the circumstances
of the affair invite sympathy for the
survivors in only les degree than for
the boy whose sacrifice saved their
lives. The tragedy j. frightening
revelation of the easy de cent bl which.
when deprived of the accessories of
civilization. nine r"nlh-crntury man
will slip back into prch >toric barbar-
iSm.- chicago IriiaLf.