The Wilmingtonian., 1886-03-06
VOL. VINO. 91S
Must Robinson Hang ?

court for telonious assault upon Mrs. Ella
GMdner must be ung unless au appeal is
made to the Governor to stay execution
The vital question at issue in this ease,
SIS Charles Robinson guilty Of the crime OF
wn'Gh he stands adiudged? ?" We do not
question the justness or the right
eousness of the statuatory enact
ment which preScribes death to those whoare
guilty of feloniously assanltng won y.
Rape is one Of the most hnrrid and revolving
OF crimes recognized by the statues of our
State and all conceivable sa ieguaris should
be strewn around about female chastity.
A wretch who would invade the sanctity
OF nome fDr the purpose ot perpetratng A.
ltrage should be torn limb from limb, but
il charge Of this kind there shon'd he no
doubt concerning the guilt Of the accuse l.
Noman whether he be white or black
should be condemmsd to death upon the
testimony of halfway Strumpet unless such
testimony is fortified by corrUborative evi-
dence
OF the m Dral status of the ptoSecurrix 10
this case we have nothing to do but en- pas-
sGnt would state that if the witnesses of the
defense are to be credit were she to be
compared to the untrodlen snow shs might
have reason TO feel that c1mpI is ms are
odi1us.
Again, those who were present ut the time
of this trial and noted the bearing Of Ms.
Gardner on the witness stand and also after
she left the witness box and seated herself.
fronting the vast audience in the court
room, were not prepared to appreciate the
statement that the chief witness OF the st tie
was overwhelmed with innate modesty; in
other words the demeanor Of the proSecut-
rix suggested that a mau ought not to be
rair ,aled to the gallnws solely upon her
unsubstantiated declarations.
Is Charles Robinson gailty of the crime of
which he stands adjudged?
He may b., but caudor compels the admis-
sio that he was so rem9tely connected with
this crime by the States prosecuting attnr-
ney, that a well def ned doubt of Robinson 8
gull permsated the entire court room,
Ii will be remembered 1T the preliminary
hearing hat NJ $. G lrdner stated her asSail-
ant lad we'll m .rkad scar on his face but
at tho trial she Ignored the scar altagethe.
Mrs Gar liner seemed Impressed with the
Thought that it was about time S 'me mig
ger should hang but what ''ugger that
should be, was immaterial 10 her.
Again, i will bo recalled that there was 10
men on Of the outrage until same days after
it v Is supposed to have occurred. At first
MI, G lrd er stated that she had been as
sauaed but Later mlgnii d the assault int
an outrage. Had she been subjected 70 such
violence as she testified to upon tho witness
stand we can not conceive how she could
have escaped, being eaciente, the gray
e5L Consequences resultant upoh tt.t re. If
tauce such as any vrtuous wo uau would
m M naturally make under such appalling
Surroundings
Hld Mrs. Gardner Ii r clothes torn in tie
strggle-jt did noc SO appear at the trial?
Were there any ia aiGttlpls that MS Gar
du i wts,maly wtYpiysicaily nion1en'en-
ce or injured by the alleged oatrage-it did
not 70 appear At the trial? The Sttte diI
not uroiuce an iOtl Of medical evidence 10
substlntiAte Mrs. Glrdner' testim my Of pei.
sonaI violence, and the absence Of such medi-
cal evidence largely cpntroSerts and mateti
ally tliscredits Mis-. Gardner's statement.
IL Charles r ,binsun guilty OF the crime d
which he stanls adiudsed? He may be-
but to our minds his identity as the perpetia-
tor of the alleged assault was not established
1t will be remembsred that while some ul
the witnesses for the State positively swpIe
that Robinson wore black hat, other wit
nessss also for the state swore with eqna
positlveuess thatl II ,buson Wore white hat
and although the States Att tprney adrotly
us s,ti this statement as proof tuat the accuSeC
changed his hats yet there was no evidence
adduced sh wing thar he, In reality, d."
oh .ngs his hats. We do not believe thai
Robinson changed his hat SIMPLY because ht
did not possess the second hat whe ewltl HI
could make the change Is a matter of eaa,
yer ieation there is not one negro in tiy'
Thousand, in the rural districts, who own
two hats at the same tine.
In the Spring the GulOred man of the eoln
try invests in Il head ornament which serve
him until early frost, then he purchases
he,. gear which runs him until Spring, ap'
seldom or never does he possess two gentce
hats at the same time.
Ii r ,binson hal bnt one hat and that wa
black hat, then the colored man wno wa
in the vicinity of Gardner's residence wear
ing white hat was not Robinson, and il no
Robinson, then Robinson is presumabi
innocent Of the crime Of which he stand
aojudged?
Furthermore it will be recalled that one q
the jurors, Alliey by name, stated in advanc
of the trial that in case he should get on tn
jury i'll the Robinson trial that he won't
hang the ''-ni4ger higher that
rhi1k Of it a man allowed to sit in ude
mont upon human being after haviu
declared in manifold places that no matte
what might be the t,sim my he unil
hang the ..-blaek nrgger." ForsooH
vat an exalted jnrsprudence Del4wal
can boast
There was one Allfrey upon the jur
which condemned Robinson to the galIuw
but how many more Allfreys upon that san
jnry has not yet come come to the surlac
Allfrey's acknowledgement in the presenr
Of the court af ter "A verdict had been ren le
ed that he had freq lently expressed a h,l
of Robnsnu's pnvictun should have bee
sufficient evidence to have sent All'rry
Jail and to have secured for II ,binsun ne
trial.
We have NJ sentiment to plead in Robi
sons behalf, but we are persuaded that Y
IN tho yni,,, nf lar,r,a I'M inhpr ,t "A,