The morning call., 1892-12-30
BALM FOR THE WOUNDED.

Nerdicts in breach of promise cases are
always OF Interest to the-ladies and VIII ole
some reading foT men. They occur less fre-
qCently in this country than in England,
seemingly because the American girl is not
so apt as her English sister 10 regard her
hand or heart as & piece of property which
can be. appraised in dollars. Bat the Ar
buckle case and tie Hopkins case are proof
that under proYoeati0n the American beauty
will turn upon him who has trfied with her
affect ons, and will stab him in the most
sensitive part of his frame--his pocket. 1t
IS noticeable. likewise. that the growing
tendency of juries is 10 set a higher value
upon broken hearts than was usual in
former times. All welI-appointed law
libraries contain several volumes of cases of
breach of promise which were tried in Eng
land by Erskine Brougham and their COM
peers. In these cases the damages were
generally from $500 to $1,000. and rarely
reached $500. At the present day verdicts
for fen or twenty thousand dollars are not
unfrequent.
A case has just been brought to a close
in New ork which has attracted general
comment. a man named Henry Sire paid
attention TO one Esther Jacobs and showed
her such marks of devotion that She was
He did not conceal from her that he had
other entanglemenis which would have to
be broken of before he could marry her {;
but, as he presented her with articles of
clothing, money and jewels, which her fam
lily allowed her to accept, she consented to
wait. Time passed and the expected rup-
ture with the old 'entan clements" was still
postponed. At last the fair ESiher's pa
thence was exhausted she demanded that
he fulfill his promise. and. when he still
demurred. she sued him for breach nf prom
ise and got verdict for SIS 600. The jury
was the more liberal in its estimate of her
wrongs in consequence of the nature of his
defense. He testified that he was regular
Don Juan, that Esther should have known
his reputation and should not have expected
him to cnt short his career as Love!aee by
so prosaie denOuement as matrimony
Ii hardly seems likely that Miss Esther's
case will form a precedent. A girl who
accepts money and clothing from an ad-
mirer does not go into court with clean
hands She is on the face of 1t lacking n
the delCacy which goes to the equipment of
modern Ariadne. There are presents
which a gentleman may bestow upon the
girl of his heart-bookS, picture-papers,
flowers and candy. Or these the accept
anee involves no obligation, does not even
call for gratitude. and certainly does not in
the least imply a reciprocatiOn of the
donors tenderness. But when il comes 10
money. or a wrap. or a hat. or pair Of
boots. their acceptance is not in the New
York slang of the day, the correct eaper."
A girl who takes from her admireT such
things as these places herself out of court
when she asks him TO supplement his pres
ents by that of his hand. She renouuces
her normal right TO proceed by measures of
coercion, and elects TO rely upon measures
Of attraction only. 1t is pretty certain th at
San Francisco jury would have told Miss
Esther she ought to be sati SIZED with what
she had got out Of her man.
On the other hand, the New York Jury
get good precedent when it made Mr.
Henry Sire pay roundly for triling with a
young girl whose character, from the evil
dence, seems to have been irreproachabe
He pleaded his own nfamy in bar of SEN
tence. This was as if a thief should de-
mand an acquittal on the ground that he
was inc0rrigble. The law does not admit
that a man is less guilty because he has
been guilty before. On the contrary, in all
well-ordered courts previous sentence tells
against the prisoner. a ibertine cannot be
suffered to 80 rampagiug through society in
the delusion that his bad record ought TO
put people on their guard against him. The
habits of the wildcat or the rattlesnake are
warning TO people to look out when they
approach. But men are no. wildcats or
rattlesnakes. In their sweet inexperienee
girls are apt to think well of those who pay
them attention and to cOndone previous in
discretions on the ground that "he would
never have acted go if he had known me-"
This philosophy, unsound as it is. appeals
to the considerate feelings of an honorable
man. and when the confidence is abused the
| penalty should be exemplary. A few more
| S25000 verdicts would purify the air and
teach men that if they cannot control their
passions society is no place for them.