The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-01-17
QUICK JUSTICE FOR VALIANT.
A Bold Front Mainta.ned By HI1n Dur
ing the Short Trial.

ing the Short Trial.
PARIS, Jan. 10.-Auguste Valiant
the anarchist who threw the bomb in
the Chamber of Deputies on December
9 last, was tried before President Judge
Case and a;jury in the Assize Court to-
day, convicted and sentenced to death.
Policemen, in couples and threeS, were
stationed every ten yards around the
immense block occupied by the Palace
of Justice in which the court sits.
Every door in the palace was shut and
guarded by sentinels with fixed bayo-
nets. Nobody was admitted unless
they had a special card of identity.
The exposure Of al eyes was the pris-
oner who stood in the dock with an Of
licer on each side Of him. He was,
like RaVachol, entirely self-possessed
aad gazed about the court room as
though he gloried in the interest he
was creating. Throughout the day,
be never lost his attitude Of defiance
and self-justifcation.
Baron Rothschlld was not a member
of the jury, contrary to pu.,ic expecta.
tion.- In reviewing the details Of the
5omb-threWing Judge Case said the
people who had been hurt the most
were not the members CT the Chamber
of Deputies, but spectators OF the pro.
ceedings. THAT was not NY fault
retor5ed Valiant. "The deputies are
in the highest degree responsible for
the social misery prevailing. It was
they meant should feel the response
bility." When questioned as to his es.
cape during the confusion following
the explosion, Valiant denied the
story that a sentinel had stopped him
at the door by threatening to pierce
him with mis- bayonet if he advanced a
step. The prisoner declared energeti-
cally that he did not wish to fee and
even il h had i would have been Ut
terly impUg5:5ls ior him to have done
so, because he |s.s 20 n led in the leg.
He gave the lie TO III 1esses against
him and held steadily to his pose Of
martyr in the cause of humanity. The
only regret be had was that he had
been obliged to iDjure Irresponsible
persons in the crusade.
Describing the manufacture of the
bomb, Valiant declared that owing 10
the dimensions of his apparatus, he
had the alternative of putting in a
large number of projectiIeS, which
would wound many persons slightly,
or small number tha5 would do more
effective work. lie chose the former
plan, 50 that the p7ojectiles would kill
a few people outright. Valiant ad-
mItted thai he had been condemned
FIVE times for petty thefts, but he ad-
ded, mendicancy and theft were tae
necessary results of the present social
condition of the poor.
The prisoner asked permission to i'd.
dress the court on his mode Of life.
This being granted, he said that he
had endeavored to lead an honest eXis-
tence. Employers had proGsed by his
poverty to pay him starvation wages.
Finally, without money or work, he
determined instead Of famishing sub
mlsslyely to voice the feeling of revolt
that was fomenting discomfort every
where among the poor. He read a
written anarchist spsecn that he had
held in nis hand ever since the opening
of the court. ln this speech, he ex-
pressed the grievances Of the poor
against society, busmade no reference
t-te bofs5s. ~
He was fluent and declau atory, and
read his speech in a clear Snd pleasant
voice as he leaned over the rail Of the
dock. Valiant was emphatic n his
denial of the statement TIA. ne had
taken Marchand's property as well as
his wife, evidently considering the
former charge to be dishonorable
one. He said be desired to clear him
self of this reproach.
Judge Case read extracts from the
prisoners declarations to the etfect
that he had become convinced by stu.
dying philosophical works, including
those of Herbert Spencer, that anarch-
ism was the logical outcome Of the op-
preston of the poor by modern society.
In regard to the outrage, the prisoner
explained that he had chosen the
Chamber Of Deputies as the place to
throw the bomb in order not to hurt
innocent persons. Unfortunately be
did not succeed.
TWO shcrt receSses were taken, one
at the conclusion Of the hearing OF wit
nesses and another at the conclusion OF
the address OF the public prosecutor,
Bertrand. The latter closed by de-
manding the capital penalty. Vail.
lant's advocate, Labori, made no de-
fense Of anarchist theories. Valiant,
he said, had given him absolute liberty
as to the line of defense to be followed
His first point was that the bomb had
killed nobody. Valiant, he declared,
was not a monster Of criminal vanity.
He simply wanted to remind the depu-
ties of the miserable poor whose claims
the legislature eternally shelves. He
could not forget that crime, which is
closely. allied to the universal social
movement, is increasing daily.
He appealed to the sympathIes of the
jury in behalf of Valiant, who was an
illegitimate child, abandoned in infan-
cy by his mother and grew up to be-
come mendicant and yagabond, not
from vicious inclinations, but from
force Of circumstances. When he
heard the sentence Valiant shouted
"Welcome death"
Ranking Wounds.