The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-03-26
College Franks and Crime.

The turning into tragedy of riotous
farce, though the killing of the cook of
Freshman banquet" at Cornell, from
a noxious gas administered by Sopho-
mores, was in the wav to be forgotten.
Public interest in it, however. has been
revived and rendered acute by an ex-
traordinary charge delivered at Ithaca
by judge Forbes, of the Supreme Court,
to the Grand Jury before which the case
was to be brought
The charge is long and not clear, but
the impression that has been derived
from it, and that careful reading of
it fully justifies, is that, in the opinion
of the judge, the killing of peaceable
person by an agency that was not intend
ed to injure her, or to kill anybody, but
only to inflict annoyance and pain upon
party of Freshmen, is not an incident
that calls for judicial investigation. A
refusal to indict. the judge thinks,
would be popular.
II apprehend,n he says, that such Il
renderingn-to wit, that the students did
not mean to kill any body" would meet
with entire satisfaction, SO far as the
people are concerned"
This is extraordinary language for a
Judge. That woman has been killed
by the act OF the Cornell Sophomores
is not disputed, nor that they did not
mean to kill her. But that an offense
has been committed is quite as clear,
and it seems to be the function of petit
Jury to find what the offence was, and
what excuses the perpetrators of it had.
Yet the Judge whose business it is to
enforce the law in effect tells the Grand
Jury that it should not, by finding an
Indictment, allow the questions in
volyed to be legally tried.
This is much more serious case than
the ordinary cases of hazing, even when
thew have serious results. The students
who meant to make their fellow students
i'll. and TO drive them out of the place
in which they had lawfully assem- bled.
became fugitives from justice as soon as
it appeared that a death had resulted
from their performance. They had in
tended to do piece of malicious mis-
chief, and college honor" required them
to protect each other. But as soon as
it appeared that they had committed
homicide, every sentiment of manliness
and honor called upon them to give
themselves up for trial, protesting the
comparative innocence of their inten-
lions. Yet they have remained in hid
ing. as if they had really intended to
commit the homicide they did commit
The civil authorities, as represented by
Judge Forbes, declare that boys will be
boys-which not accepted as legal
maxim-and mat it would be inexpedi-
emit to indict rowdy students because of
the great intelligence which has come
from these institutions of learning for
more than two hundred years"
If a party of common unlettered young
rowdies were to assault with noxious
| fumes a meeting of peaceable persons,
the general verdict would be that they
deserved punishment, whether death en-
sued or not, and that a sojourn in the
common Jail would mend their man
ners. Is the case better or worse when
the Young rowdy is lettered person
| who is presumed to know better how to
behave himself, being a Student in one
of the institutions that have been diffus-
| ing intelligence for more than two hun
bred years? Above all, what is the nature
| of the college honor that leads a student
| TO skulk from detection when he dis
covers that fatal result has followed
| from his brutal and reckless fun? Youth
| and high spirits are excuses for many
| things, but not for behaviour that
might be expected of sneaking criminals.
| but never of honest men or scholars OF
gentlemen. -Harper's Weekly.