The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-11-28
CRIMINAL LAW OF ENGLAND


sion that the laws OF England, as well
as their administration, offer the highest
idea of the en- bodimert of justice in the
world. The English love of fair play is
quoted among the accepted truisms. 1t
is not until one has bad personal expert
enoe, added to intelligent observation
that these claims are found TO be laid in
sand.
1t Is true that in England rights are
more jealousy guarded than in Amer.
lea. 1t is also true that there Is less cor
ruption in municipal affairs and legisla.
ton is less Influenced by money. But
IN criminal procedure the United States
is far and away in advance Of the old
country. For instance, England has no
court Of criminal appeal. One Judge and
one jury settle all criminal cases beyond
possibility vi review under judicial form,
no mattor what new testimony is OBJ
tanned after the conviction, no matter
what new facts are brought to light tend
ing to mitigate the circumstances OF the
case. On the other hand, civil suit in
volving only a few shillings can be APP
pealed from court to court, even to the
house of lords. So much greater seems
to be the value put on property than on
human life. The only possibility Of es-
Gaping from a miscarriage of justice III
England from paying the full penalty OF
conviction lies IN the sweet will of the
home secretary.
TINS off cial is privileged to review any
case, and If he thinks proper he can re.
commend the prisoner to the mercy OF
the queen.
Another abuse in the system of Eng
lish Jurisprudence is the unequal penal
ties awarded by different judges to the
same crime. One ldge will give three
years for the same crime that Judge in
an adjoining district will give three
months for. A TT of indigestion, a piece
OF bad fortune falling upon the judge the
day for pronouncing sentence upon some
poor fellow, or torpid liver or a fit OF
temper may make the difference Of ten
years in the sentence pronounced.
The custom VI rewardIns the police for
the detection of crime is most pernicinus,
the incentive to find guilt being made tv
this means very great and police con.
spiracy Is very mmon in consequence.
Ihs divinity that doth hedge the office
OF Judge in England has taken the place
of the old dogma of the divine right Of
kings. The steady growth of this feel
ing has come SO pronounced that the
opinion and will OF the Judge, il made
known to the jury, is law, and it is no
uncon mon thing to read In the police re-
ports that the Judge summed up for the
the defense, and it has come to be recoE-
nized that trial ny jury IL a trial by
judge and prosecu counsel.
One o! the fragrant instances OF the
inadeauacy of English Jurisprudence to
protect the rights Of the citizen is that
Of Mrs. Florence May brick, an American
lad, of good birth, fine education, re-
n al and uonf1o cp I'm giy
ago was charged, tried and convicted of
the willful murder of her husband, James
May prick, cotton merchant Of Liver
pool. by poisoning. and this lady is be-
lieved by hundreds Of intelligent per-
sons. lawyers. doctors: clergymen, IN:
England, to be entirely innocent Of the
crime. There Ia not scintilla of evil
dence t. connect her with the poison
claimed to have been administered to him.
Two circumstances alone relieve this
painful case from the blackness of dark-
veloped in the Judge SO soon after the
trial that it was popularity said TO have
been caused by his bronding over the
trial. This increased so rapidly and
powerfully THAI his resignation was de-
msndsd and secured S On the ground OF
most cred tia BILE to the Enslsh character,
was the spontaneous uprising of the peo-
pie against the verdict. BY prayer, pro-
test and petition the home offic- was
rom barded. More than 3O0U petitions,
bearing over /, 100000 names, were sent
testing against the unjust verdict and the
unfair trial. The press was earnest in
its condemnation OF the verdict as unsus.
tanned by the evidence. Tho Lonion
Times declared that at best it was only
a case of suspicion. The entire bar OF
of the trial and condemned the verdict
to the no pe Office. Sir Charles Russell,
one of the ablest of English jurists and
now lord chief justice of England, pro-
testing to the home office against the
verdict, said: at fell with surprise on
the trained minds of the bar OF the north
ern district" and he characterize the
Judges charge as "a violent plea for the
prosecution which took captive the minds
OF the Jury"
The meager result OF all this effort was
4 reluctant Communication Of the death
sentence to penal servitude Tor life-a
penalty whose distinguishing if not sole
it is not reversible. THIS was conceded
in the home secretary words, because
after the fullest consideration and after
TAXI the best medical and legal advice
that could be obtained 1t was acknowl-
% sdsed That the evidence does o1 not
whether his death was in fact caused bv
the administration OF arsenic.' THIS
rigid punishment Mrs. Maybrlck is suf-
fsring for tho crime OF muruer, while the
home secretary maintains that there is
reasonable doubt whether the m urder was
ever committed. Could greater injustice
BIZ wrought in the name of the law?
For six long years this fragile, sensitive
young creature (shs was only "a years of
age when committed to her living tomb)
has suffered the rigDrs OF English penal
Hervitude, obi xed to associate with the
lowest criminals, doomed to a life of
mental servitude, without books to read
or human compsnionship. and permitted
to see her mother only for twUnty minutes
once in three months in the presence of
a warder. A faithful band OF workers
has, during these wears, used every effort
with the English home office to get re-
view OF the evidence New evidence OBJ
tanned since the trial, which, if it had
been offered at the trial, would have rem
dsred conviction impossible, has been
rendered and refused. Her friends have
not been asking for mercy, not once
pleaded for pardon, but simply for JUS
tice for review OF the trial by unpre.
JUDGED minds.
Another case is that OF . DIR. Bynoe,
who is now serving q term of penal ssrvi-
tude, of which theirs Is still SIX years to
run, for forgery. The person who COM
mitted the fOreeries for which he is being
punished has coa fessed; all the clues to
establish his innocence have been fol-
lowed, and o pathetic statement OF the
facts of the case has been published by
MT: w. I. Stead in pamphlet entitled,
AL Il IL II. -