Omaha daily bee., 1889-08-11
THE MAVERICK CASE.
A Revision Of Feeling Sets in
Against the Condemned.
BELIEVED TO BE A MURDERESS.
Popular Opinion Now Sustains the
Jury's Verdict.
PROBABILITY OF A REPRlEvE.
The Home Office Likely to Com
mute the Sentence.
SENTIMENT OF THE PRESS.
The Provincial Papers With But One
Exception Favor the Verdict
Labouchere Would Also Have
Convicted Her.
The One Topic of Discussion.

Inc one IOp1C Oh DISCUSSION.
Copyright 1859 on James Gordon Bennett.
LONDON, August 10.-fNew York Herald
~Cable-Special to The BEE. Here, as
everywhere else apparently, the great sub
ect Of discussion, when we are not actually
under the speakers eye, is the Meybrick
case. The jury has decided it, but it is still
being tried by extra judicial tribunes all over
the country. We have no court Of appeal of
criminal cases, but have the press, which is
always ready to perform the functions of
such a court. Immediately after
the recognized minister of the law
had pronounced sentence the press
set to work reviewing the entire proceedings,
and soon reversed the decision of the Judge,
30 that to-day, If it were not for certain in
convenient formalities, Mrs. Maybrick would
be free. All this is undoubtedly within the
province of a free press, and there have been
and again may be occasions when the exer-
else of its powers is demanded by considera-
ton, not only for an individual prisoner, but
for the entire community. There is not
much chance for either Judges
or juries in England being de-
tered from doing what they believe
to be their duty by dread Of newspaper crit
cism, and while that is the case no one need
object TO the independent court of investiga-
ton which tho press has now opened. / am
obliged In candor to state that here in par
lament the current Of opinion runs very
slowly against Mrs. Maybrick. This may
have Its effect upon her fate, for there can
be no doubt that a general be-
lief In her innocence would nave a
moral influence and would not be long
In making itself manifest to the home secre-
tary. As for the assertions that nave APP
peared, to the effect that the chief law off.
GERS of the crown disapprove of the verdict,
you may take my word for 1t that there is
no word of truth in them. Even if they en-
tertained any such opinions they would take
good care not to express them at such a time
as the present. The fact Is, however, that it
is held impossible to reconcile the admitted
facts with the innocence Of the pris-
oner. 1t is instructive as bearing
upon the so-called privilege of allowing
accused persons to make statements, indie
pendently of their counsel, that one of the
things which is held to condemn Mrs. May
brick the most Is her own narrative, given
In court, in that she admitted that she gave
her husband arsenic, but without knowing
what 1t was, and at his request, so that we
have the picture before US Of a man being
made violently ill by everything he swal-
lowed, suffering agonles, and continually
asking for more of the white powder which
he must have known was killing
him, for it Is not alleged
that the dead man was ignorant Of the fatal
properties of arsenic. The contraction of
his throat and distressing vomiting only in
duced him to keep on entreating his wife to
put more asenic in his beef tea. That is con-
sidered by some people TO be utterly incred-
ible. If Mrs. Maybrick herself had not
solemnly detailed it to the jury no one would
have ventured to put forward such a theory.
She saw that the presence Of so much
arsenic in the house had to be &C
counted for, and this was her
explanation. She did not know
what the stuff was, but her husband did. He
was greedy to have it, and she gave it to
him. Considering her previous relations
with other persons, this remarkable story IS
unparalleled in romance or real life. 1t is
doomed to tell as much against Mrs, May
brick as any evidence offered ON the part of
the prosecution.
AS you are well aware, the prerogative of
mercy lies with the crown, which means
with the home secretary. Is he
likely to exercise itl The gen.
eral opinion In here that he
is not. Of course If the judge communicated
to him his belief that the verdict Of the Jury
was not justified, Mr.. Matthews would have
the alternative to order the uncondi-
tional release of the prisoner. But there is
nothing in the summing up of Justice Ste
phen to warrant the impression that he takes
the view that tho prisoner is guiltless. II is
only in n very extreme case that u Judge Is
willing TO incur the responsibility of setting
aside the verdict Of a jury. In this Instance
the jury did not find a verdict III opposition to
the summing up, The judge led them TO their
conclusion. Unlike them, however, he has
now the power to go over all the evidence
again, and he can consider whether there is
anything in it which tells in favor of the
prisoner and TO which he omitted to call due
attention IN court. If there is anything of
the sort he can cause the prisoner to be set
free. We shall know all about that in the
course of a few days, or even hours,
but, pending some such event, the
home secretary, Matthews. stands
firm. The truth is, he has
had some very singular experience In refer.
10 the alleged wrongful verdicts of a jury.
He would be strangely constituted if they
had not left a deep impression upon his
mind. 1t was he who had to run the gaunt-
let IN the Lipski case. The man was &C.
cused OF a horrible murder, tried and found
guilty forthwith. The tribunals were re-
opened and the case was retired under cir
cumstances very favorable to the prisoner,
for everything that told against him was
eliminated from the process. There
was q tremendous cutlery. The Pail
Mall Gazette was In a frenzy.
II gave up page after page, day after day,
proving that Lipski was innocent, and that
Matthews was about To become his deliberate
murderer. An innocent mar was about to
be straugled to death By the will OF the home
secretary. Justice Stephens, who tried this
case, was declared TO have been confirmed
10 the belief in the prisoners innocence.
Lipski was so gentle, ana had so much nat
ural refinement that he could no; possibly