The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-01
cANNor TWIST our OF nv.

The Minneapolis Tribune, referring
to the contrast drawn by the G l o b e
between the Lowering case and the
case which the prison investigating
committee is now considering, says:
"Is it not possible that what might
be considered unnecessarily rough
treatment of a subordinate private
might be justified when applied to a
desperate convict regardless of human
life and ready to take advantage of
every sign of relaxation of prison dis
Cipline? The Globes case is, in
deed, hopeless when such far-fetched
conclusions are necessary to brace it
up"
This is a fair sample of the twisting
and squirming which the friends of
the state prison management are doing
nowadays. They know that the case
against them is completely established
in th2 public opinion. The testimony
each day has been more and more
[ lnvincing, and the witnesses who
were examined yesterday only added
a lot more to the mountain of evi-
dence that has been accumulated to
prove that inhuman cruelty has been
exercised at the state prison. The
simple question, as the Tribune we'll
understands, if it cared to admit it,
is not whether treatment that would
be rough when applied to private
soldier is justified when applied to the
inmate of a prison, but whether or
not either a military officer or deputy
warden or prison guard has a right to
commit an assault.
The penalties provided in the army
for the maintenance of discipline are
arrest and imprisonment, dismissal
from the service and death. Accord
ing to the gravity of the crime, one
or the other of these may be inflicted.
There is TO place within the regula-
tiOns for physical violence 1t was
the resort to this, dishonorable to the
man who was guilty of it as we'll as
cruel to the victim which brought
about the court martiaPs verdict of
guilty. The government of the Still
water prison, also, provides a system
of strict discipline and proper and
necessary penalties. These include
degrading from one rank to another,
the less of good conduct marks, loss
of comfortable food and quarters and,
solitary on a diet barely sufficient to
sustain life. Neither is there found in
this list anywhere the right to COM
init an assault, unless to repel actual
violence offered. The verdict, there
fore, is the same. The state, as we'll
as the army, has wisely abolished
the right of one man to beat or club
another under any circumstances. If
we are going to restore corporal pun
ishment. let us by all means re-es-
tabIsh the whipping post and have
it administered with some regard to
the execution of the law. When it
comes to physical assault upon a non
resisting man, the case is all one
whether he has been guilty of an Of
Tense or not. The crime of his assail-
ant is established regardless of the
personal qualities of the victim
The argument of the Tribune is of a
piece with the defense set up thus far
before the commission by the Still
water peoples counsel. This reminds
US of the case already famous in his
tory in which, after a witness had
sworn positively that he saw the ac-
cused steal a horse, twelve other men
were brought in who swore that they
did not see him steal it. The judge.
after deliberation, decided solemnly
that, since there were twelve men
who did not see the prisoner
commit the crime and only one
who did, the weight of evidence
was on the side of the defendant.
and discharged him That appears to
be the plea of the prison people. They
have not been able to break down or
damage in the slightest the damning
evidence of a host of witnesses. but
they ere bringing in some paroleG
prisoners, who are claimants for prison