The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-06-30
AnNIYERSAL YERn1cr

The verdict of the jury in the case Of
Lizzie Borden meets with almost univer-
cal approval Opinions as to the guilt
or Innocence of the accused viii continue
tO differ, but there seems to be but one
expression with regard 10 the righteous
ness of the verdict of acquittal upon the
evidence presented. After nearly ten
months of opportunity to establish her
guilt, or, at least, q reasonable presump-
ton of it, the prosecution has entirely
failed to satisfy the minds of a jury of,
at least, average Intelligence, or the
larger Audiences who have followed the
full reports. of the trial in the daily
papers, of either, the motive, exclusive
opportunity for, or even the probability
Of her connection with the murders =
So faI, therefore, as the administration
of human justice is concerned, Lizzie
Borden is MS innocent of the brutal and
revolving crimes that were enacted in
her home in Fall River, Mass, last Au-
the streets or lives thin the confines of
that or any other city in the world.
And vet it is hardly to bedOuIited that
to many minds the verdict will have the
significance only of mot proven,'' rather
I4du ITO Vi HuON guilty,
and that the shadow of an unjust suspi-
cion will darken all the remaining years
of her life. Unless, as in the case of
Marietta Ball, the murderer shall be dis
covered by confession or otherwise, she
will always be regarded. IN some minds,
as suspected murderer. This is cruel
ly unjust but it seems to be inevitable.
Because the result of the trial establish
es her innocence without affording the
slightest clue to the discovery of the real
criminal, she must carry through life
this heavy burden of injustice.
1t is undoubtedly true that public
opinion has largely turned in her favor
during the progress OF the trial, and
even in Fall River, whore in the opinion
of the counsel for lie defence it was i'm
possible to obtain an impartial jury,
there are evidences of returning sense
of justice. SO, too, some of the more
sensational papers that devoted much
time and energy and money in the en-
deavor to prove her guilt when she was
unable to defend herself. are now plead
ing for justice in her behalf. The wrong
that was committed by the delay in Civ
ing her an opportunity to establish her
innocence. the sensational, and utterly
unfounded reports that were scattered
broadcast all over the country, and the
stupid blunderings of the Fall River
police, all these and others circumstance
incident to the case, have borne their in
evitable fruit and the innocent girl must
pay the penalty of wrongs of which
others have been guilty. 1t is not
enough that she has endured, with rare
courage and still rarer patience, the ter
rible trial of the untimely death, of
her father and stepmother. the suffering
and ceaseless anxiety of long imprison-
ment, and the torture of three trials.
She is to sit in the pillory of suspicion
for all the balance OF her life because,
although she has been proven innocent,
no one else has been convicted of the
crime.
1t is not possible to contemplate the
future life of Lizzie Borden without be-
ing touched by the infinite pathos Of her
lot. Innocent in the judgment of the
law, innocent in the minds of a great
mojority of fair minded and intelligent.
men and women, she must stand beneath
the shadow of an awful crime until she
passes from the imperfections of human
justice to the righteous verdict of In
finite wisdom.
The question, who killed Andrew j.
Borden and his wife on the 4th of Au-