Evening star., 1895-03-21
The Question of Bringing the Ac-
cused Here for Trial.
some VIEWS OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS
Right of Trial in he Community
Where the Injury Was Done.
NO RIGHTS IN JEOPARDY

From the Troy Telegram.
A good deal of noise is being made over
the arrest of Charles A. Dana of the New
York Sun with the intention of taking him
to Washington for trial for libel The
newspaper fraternity is generally agreed
that the act Is an outrage, and pretty
vcciferous in its condemnation. They in
sist that the trial should take place where
the offense was committed. meaning in the
county where the newspaper is published.
It will be very inconvenient for Mr.. Dana,
and quite expensive, to summon his wit
nesses to Washington. And the influence
of his newspaper there in Its effect upon
the minds of the judge and jury would
be less potential than at home In
his own balliwick. These are important
considerations.
Nevertheless, there is another side. 1t Is
a principle of the law of libel that the
offense is committed wherever the news
paper publishing it is circulated. To give
the case standing In court 1t would only
paper containing the offensive article had
been received in any county where the
prosecution was brought. We have known
of a case where the publisher Of news
paper printed an attack on citizen re-
siding in another county, sending a few
copies of it to his neighbors and friends at
home. and then removing the offensive
article from the rest Of the edition. This
may be an extreme case. but it illustrates
the principle at stake. If the prosecution
had been begun where the offense was
committed" i. e., where the printing was
done. the prosecutor would have been
thrown out of court, for he certainly could
not prove that he had suffered injury
there. But If the libel had been sent out
to the whole list of subscribers in other
counties and suppressed in the home edi-
tion, the plaintiff might have been able to
prove damages and collect them In dozen
different courts.
aggrieved party might be poor and unable
to gather his witnesses in a remote city,
perhaps hundreds of miles away. 1t Is
true that the presumption of innocence
should not be permitted to stand in the
way of securing ample justice. The prose-
cutors of Mr.. Dana are being treated by
the newspaper press. which is naturally in
sympathy with him. as if they were guilty
of crime in insisting upon their rights.
We are even told that the law must be
changed so as to permit the trial to take
place where the newspaper is printed and
nowhere else. Is it not plain that such a
law would in this case give Mr. Dana a
tremendous advantage? Not only would
he have his own witnesses right around
him and the witnesses for the prosecu-
ton hundreds of miles away, but he would
have the powerful influence of his newspa-
per and nearly every other home newspa7
per on his side. And in addition to this
he might be able to prove that a libel
which would inflict serious injury upon
the subject at his home In Washington
could do him no harm at all in New York.
where the public had no interest in him be-
cause he was not known there.
1t is a rule of law, we believe. that the
thief burglar is criminal subject to
arrest and prosecution in every county of
this state through which he carries his
spoil. The ibeler has a much wider range
than the escaped thief or burglar. for he
can. through our mail facilities, carry his
litel into every state before he can be de-
teCted and arrested. Let 1t not be under
stood that we are not in sympathy with
Mr. Dana or that we DO not regret the ar
rest. But the present law Is correct. If
the parties whom Mr.. Dana is charged
with libeling can prove. that their char
acters have suffered larger Injury in
Washington where they are known than
in New York where they are not known.
there is the place for them to engage in
the prosecution. 1t Is not Mr.. Dana's mis-
fortune that the case must go to a federal
court. Such a court is universally re-
garded as fair and unpurchasable.