New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-21
ACOTTTT4L OF LIZZIE BORDEN.

The NewBcdrord jury have done what they
coull TO restore Lizzie Borden to her flsnliui
Mace in world Of hope and happiness lheS
have acquitted her, net without delioerauo"'
hit still with remarkable promptnesS ahu III 'no
face of n mastery argument tor her convlc-
tin, If Ex-Governor Robinson disappointed
,,7blc cypcctation in his address for the prs
oner District Attorney KnowltOn summed up
ito evidence against her with extraordinary
lucidity and power. The advantage was
markedly on the side of the State in the final
argument. If the prisoners counsel hau ho'
made the best use of very strong case inc
District Attorney availed himself OF every TACT
and inference that bore against her. ana great
" distinguished himself by his performance.
If impassioned orat1ry, logical subtleties ana
sustained argumentativc power could have Sc
curel Inc conviction Of the prisoner she would
have been condemned; but when the worst
that could be urged against her had been said
in the best possible way, she was acquitted
After ten months Of imprisonment and agNliz-
ing suspense she is free, and in tho Judgment
Of twelve good men and true' is innocent and
void of offence.
We have no hesitation in pronouncing this
4 righteous verdict. Mysterious as were the
murders in the Borden house, the State failed
absolutely in connecting her with them, or IN
supplying any ineligible motive for them. A
successful application of the theory OF exclusive
opportunity to a case in which direct PROOF
WAS lacking, and in which the circumstanta
evidence was Of the fimsieSt nature. would bavc
given wrong and dangerous trend to criminal
nractice 1t would have done violence to the
hest traditions of the science Of law and have
stimulated loose thinking and pernicous ac'iv-
inv among police officials and public prose-
cutors. The verdict in the Borden case enpha-
sizes the fact that guilt must be proved, and
not lightly assumed because there is only one
person suspected and the police have no Other
theory The security of human life would not
have been promoted by conviction OF Lizzie
Borden upon such evidence as was brought
into court. Such a conviction would have been
q most vicious precedent for stupid, over
jealous police officers and heartlcss prosecutors.
The Judgment of the Borden jury will BIO in
telpreted by some cynical people as equivalent
10 the Scotch verdict Of Not proven" 1t viii
be said that the jury were not necessarily con
WINGED Of tho prisoners innocence, but that
they were impressed with the fact that the
state had not completely demonstrated her
guilt Under tho instructions from the Court
the Jury were certainly under moral obligation
to allow her the benefit of every reasonable
doubt and to acquit her. \ suspicion that the
unhappy woman may have been guilty, al
though it was impossible to prove it legally, will
undoubtedly be more or less prevalent. II is a
blight which must inevitably follow and cling
to her and srly her fair fame to her LIES end.
The jury did what they could when ther.ac-
quilted her, but much Of the wrong which has
been wrought by ten months Of suspicion and
roprcach is ineparable. Life can never again
be to this innocent and greatly Nronged woman
what it was before The iron has entered into
her soul and left cruel scars never to be eifaccd
She must always be regarded in some sense as
a suspected murderer
But is this justice? Over the prison door
which has been opened for her release there
is no such legend as equity, but not proven"
The law assumes innocence until guilt is
| proved When acquttal follows trial, in
which all the resources of the police and the
| State have been employed in order to secure
| conviction, innocence is established. If Lizzie
Borden under mercifrl law has had the right
for ten months to be considered innocent so
she has now the inestimablc privilege of return
ing to her home, holding up her head proudly,
and pr0claiming to a world that has been
deeply touched by the pathos Of her lot: 81
am not guilty, twelve just men being my wit
nesscs"