Los Angeles herald., 1891-05-21
A vAGARY RUN MAD--AMERICAN CHIv-
AIRY.

AIRY.
The other day the HERALD published
biographical sketch Of Mrs. Wakeman,
an amiable and charming woman who
has done great deal for her sex and for
mankind. But, in the course of this ar
ticle, there was statement which we
regard as worthy of some attention.
The admiring historiographer of Mrs.
Wakemans career says that, amongst
her other exploits worthy of mention, is
the fact that she hires women to be on
hand in court when any women are be-
ing tried, in order that the accused may
have one sympathizing person present.
This, we take it, Is perhaps uninten-
tional but al the same undeserved slur
on the chivalry of Americans. We
think that there can be no question of
the fact that male juries are twenty
times as lenient to women as women
Juries would be.
For good or i'll, rightly or wrongly,
the American juryman always arrays
himself on the side OF the accused
woman. 1t makes no difference what
the circumstances are, the verdict of an
American:jury will always be in favor of
an arraigned person of the female gen.
der. From murder to larceny this is the
case. The only conceivable instance in
which woman in the United States is
ever deprived of her personal liberty for
any length of time is when she is liable
to do something publicly indecent,
which will disturb the high ideal which
Americans delight to entertain of the
SEX. If her offense simply consists of
shooting a man down in cold blood,
often on some trumped up story which
nobody really believes, after brief i'm
prisonment, she is always turned loose.
1t is true that there are rare cases,
like that of the notorious Mrs. Grinder
for instance, in which the peculiar ex-
ploits of Lucrezia Borgia were repeated,
when even an American jury has been
found to convict woman and bring her
to the gallows. But in that case there
was an excited public sentiment which
was based on the belief-almost the
knowledge-that this woman had poi
soned number of people. The proof
that she had murdered the man, for
whose death she wassafterwards hanged,
by deadly drugs, was irrefragable. When
she found that she had at last reached
the end of her rope Mrs. Grinder made
full and voluntary confession of the
murder by poison of forty-two persons
during here baleful career, giving the
names and details Of the victims. Her
first effort in imitation OF the Borgia
was in the case of young and particu
larly healthy appearing farm hand. She
avowed that she would like to see what
sort of looking corpse he would make.
The conviction and execution of this
woman was certainly no arraignment of
the chivalry of American juries. They
stand in with woman in every in
stance in which even so much as color
of justification for a verdict OF acquittal
can be found. This is particularly the
case in California, and from Laura d.
Fair down the record OF favorable ver-
diets in the arraignments OF women has
been uniform. In that case all the cir
cumstances were highly sensational.
Mrs. Fair killed Judge Crittenden be-
cause he showed disposition to ac-
knowledge the claims of his wife and
family. She shot him down in the
presence OF his wife. The American
jury came 'gallantly up to the scratch /
and acquitted Mrs. Fair. The American
people. however, could not carry their
complaisance any further, and when she
tried to utilize her notoriety as lectur-
ess she talked to empty benches.
In all the states of the American union
the. laws are singularlys favorable to-
women, forming remarkable exception
to the old English precedent. In this
state the testamentary statutes are par
ticularly chivalrous. Everything favors
the woman, and in this case we have no
hesitation in expressing our agreement
with them. A woman may murder
man, then lie about him, and 60 unwhipt
of justice, for aught we care, but the
bold pretence ought not to be put for
ward that the sex is not safe from the
perhaps too generous male jury.
OF course, Mrs. Wakeman desires that
woman should vote. 1t may be said,
without shadow of fear, that, just as
soon as she desires to vote, she will be
accorded that privilege. Up TO the
present day of grace she prefers to rule
the voters. rather than exercise the pro-
sale and vulgar electoral right herself.
The limited number of ladies who figure
on public rostrums do not really repre-
sent the mass of their fellow country
women. But the attempt to create the
impression that chivalry in America is
dead, as Edmund Burke said it was in
France after the first French revolution,
is to give currency to an untruth of
most fragrant character. To employ an
euphemism of Benjamin Harrison, in