New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-27
HTPNOTIC NQCISITION.

| The announcement that the judicial author-
! tiea Of the Netherlands have decided to hyp-
notiZc the suspected murderer. De Yong with
| the object Of extracting from him information
with regard TO the whereabouts OF his ALLEGED
victims. both IN England and In Holland. will
surprise no one who has taken the trouble TO
| study the more than questionable methods
| Of criminal inquIsiion employed by the magis-
| trates and police OF the Old World. Here in the
! United States rledico-cgal opinion has scarcely
! vet advanced beyond the stage Of a cautious
admission that hypnotic phenomena are worthy
Of observation. and many years will certainly
capse before hypnotism is formally recognized
an orthodox and iustifiablc method IL detect
ing crime. The Dutch law. however. PERMITS
accused persons to De hypnotizcd in order that
evidence may DO obtiinel from them which they
decline To give in a normal condition, and. al
though it declares that tatements thus OBJ
tanned must not he used AZ evidence against
them. yet it Is obvious that this provision Is of
little practical value privilege to the pris-
oner. who If he can be compelled while subject
10 hypnotic influence to give a cew t. the ostab-
lishmcnt II his guilt. places the examining mag
istratc in position to convict him out of his
own Meth or rnimpeachable legal evidence, af.
ter awakening from his hypnotic sleep.
In the United States. also in England the
guiding principle Of criminal lecisn ;. IN seems
20 De- the preservation Of :he prisoner from
saying or doing anything that might tend 10
incIiminaic him. or to diminish his chances of
cxculpat:cn Every conceivable means is placed
at his disposal for the purpose Of establishing
his innocence, and until his conviction he Is
regarded as Innocent. On the Continent Of Etl-
rope. however from the moment Of Il mans ar
rest everything Is done to nvoigle him into
furnishing himself the evidence needed for his
conviction. For this purpose the most mon
strCus methods are freely cmployed-evcry-
thing indeed. short Of downright torture Only
a short time ago man and his wife were exc
cnlcd at Blos for the crime of parricide on
the evidence of their little six-ycar-old daughter
who had been taken to the magistrates pri
vatc room and by means of cakes candy and
toys cajolcd into making the replies needed to |
convict her parents. Belgian murd,re by |
the name OF Gamchut. persuaded by the |
authorities To confess. on being assured by them |
that his widowed mother was dying that 1t |
was her most I rdent wish he should do So and |
that it Was only by complying with her entrea;y |
he could obtain her pardon. II is needless to
add that the poor woman was I'm perfect
health. and had never opened her lips on the
subject. And only n short time ago one of the
10 st-lrown French magi.tratrs Judge Vigneau
was called to account in the Chamber Of Depu-
ties for having invited prisoner to Join him ut
lunch in his private room during the course of
the examination. and for then having piled him
with burgundy and champagne for the purpose
OF obtairing the information which had been
refused by the accused before he was subjected
to the influence Of the louor
Between the latter and hypnotism there is
little to choose. The one Is as unfair and as
unjustihablc as the other and i is to be hoped
that such questionable methods Of criminal in