Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-04-13

for whom the letter and Enclosure, as sub
! sequent events proved, was undoubtedly
| intended? 1t is curious to note the deep
rooted aversion that the average English
man entertains to paying his Queens
taxes. In the main, honest and conscien-
tious in his dealings with his fellow men,
any subterfuge or evasion by which he
may escape her Maiesty's dues is resorted
to, rather than pay them. This trait is
peculiar to the Englishman, and admits of
only one explanation, and that is, that in
paying taxes he does not consider he is
receiving value for his money. Judged
by this standard the Englishman is clearly
an anarchist, employing this term in its
proper and restricted sense, as applied to
one who does not believe in system of
rulers. Viewed in this light, it becomes
easy to understand the growing unpopu-
larity in England of the police system,
part of the cdiue receiced which Govern
ment gives in exchange for its taxes. Dis
like of police, runs hand in hand with a
growing intolerance of Government con-
troll in other directions, the signs of which
take less humorous and more forcible ex-
preston than the quaint superscription on
the letters intended for Sir Charles Du
Cane
The trial at Durham of three policemen,
charged with manufacturing evidence for
the conviction of the original Edlingham
burglars, has given rise to good deal of
speculation. For this crime, committed
ten years ago under circumstances of unu-
sual audacity, two men, Brannigan and
Murphy, were found guilty and sentenced
to penal servitude for life. Though both
prisoners protested their innocence at the
time, the case for the prosecution was fully
made out, and no doubt seems to have
arisen either in the minds of Judge or
jury of the righteousness of the sentence.
Nine years after the passing of it, and
while the defendants were still in the
course of expiating their term, two men.
Richardson and Edgell, are moved by
their conscience to come forward with a
confession exculpating Brannigan and
Murphy, and fastening the guilt on them
selves. In the face of this confession, made
as it was with much circumstantiality and
knowledge of detail, the Home Secretary
had no other alternative open to him than
to release Brannigan and Murphy and in
stitute proceedings against Richardson and
Edgell. On their own admission the latter
were guilty, and having nothing to say
why sentence should not be pronounced
against them, the Judge gave them five
years apiece. 1t then became necessary to
commence proceedings against the police,
who, if Richardson and Edgell were to be
believed, had manufactured the testimony
against Brannigan and Murphy, by which
the latter were convicted. In the course
of this third trial, not only was there no
evidence against the police to show that
they had trumped up case, but, strangest
of all, an analysis of the facts more than
ever associated the original defendants
with the commission of the burglary and
entirely discredited the confession of Rich
ardson and Edgell. In the course of his
charge to the jury, charge which resulted
in the police being acquitted, Lord Den
man characterized the crime as the most
remarkable one that had happened in five
centuries. Though the guilt of the first
pair of prisoners seems more conclusive
than ever, neither Richardson or Edgell
will take word of that confession back. to
which they adhere in every particular.
Curiously enough all four prisoners belong
to the criminal classes, and have served
sentences in Penitentiaries before.
March %, 1889. ATLAS.