New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-23
LAW AND MYSTERIES.

Tho decision of the Court Of Appeals granting
n now trial to Maria Barberi must come WIN
something of q shock to certain nystericai asi
totors. who found In her conviction OF Hluruei
an Incentive to exploit the grievances OF sex.
When in last July the jury In the Court OF Ten
oral Sessions declared the girl guilty or the
murder OF Cataldo great shouting arose. "oou'
the hard laws Of the country, the haruhe"i 'eu-
ness of Judges and jurors, the lnJusuce vi HIM
ing n woman responsible to man-made anu nian-
administered laws and the tyranny oi h''S'"-
line government in general Inc newspaNs
wore deluged with frantic denuncatiohs o
everybody connected with the case ana DEMANDS
that the Governor should ar once interfere "
grant the woman full pardon Inc deniahus
could not have been more insistent, indignant
and impatient Of delay II 1t had been the ihteh-
ton Of the jaers to drag her from the court
room and execute summary vengeance upon nei'
All those who pleaded that the law was quite
competent to settle the fate OF Maria barperl'
and that the orderly procedure OF cNii%cu So'
cicty could be trusted To bring to her justice
without recourse to revolution. even though she
wore woman wronsed by man, were imiheii-
atcly classed among the opponents OF purity
and progress The strenuous sentineh'aiiS's
were in need OF a martyr and they fouhd one
by anticipation in Maria Barberi
I'm, now comes the Court of Appeals ana
transforms this prosecuted victim into most
COMMONPLACE person. whose rights II carciuiV
guards II decides that the Judge erred III soihc
of his rulings, and that the woman snail nave
n now trial Notwithstanding the fact mat lew
dovs ago II refused new trials 10 several men
convicted of murder The court reached It's de-
cision. rs courts should do. from study or the
law utterly un,nfiuenced by the clamor when
f,Ilowed the trial and the same decision doubt
LOGS would have been reached had the case never
heon mentioned outside OF courtroom Even
,hose who were most exercised over this perse-
cu,jon Of poor girl because she hnd had inc
sn,r,t 10 take vengeance on the man VINO hau
wronred her must now see that their ebnllltions
were uncaIled for and utterly out OF place. "S
WAS pointcd out to them AT the time, there was
no disposition on the part Of courts or lawyers
70 deal uniustly with the woman. and win the
conviction open 10 review by higher courts no
reason existed for making her the preteAt Tor
any kind Of a crusade.
These reflections have no bearing upon Mar'a
Rarberi's life or her provocnton Tor kliiihS
Catallo That women arc far too much the we
tins II mems trcachcry and mems brutality
nobody will deny. That they ana me "h''
race have suffered because man for centuries
has sci for himself a lower standard OF He IMAM
he has set for them Is not open 10 controversy
But none ~ these things touch the point Inc
polnt is whether the courts and the law IN thiS
STATE should bc left In quiet 10 mete out criminal
Justice alike to men and women or the Vcrli'tS
should be- determined by Popular demands
Now that Maria Rarbcri appears n a person
whose mnutest rights have the careful consid'
Grafton II our highest court. perhaps instead 81
being looked On as n martyr she my serve 10
polnr the moral Of the foollShncsS 81 supcrSedlnG
law with hystcrla