The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-06
THE CoMMoNEST FELONY.
O OMMITTED DNILY ~ ALMOST
EYERr COURT ~ THE LAND.

M MITTEp DALI IN ALMOST
EYERr COURT ~ THE LAND.
Upreor,ciiable Testimony That Proves Tint
There Has Been PorjurJ. ir Ht Proves Moth.
inE Hncentives to This Crime.
Nom the Philadelphia Bulletin.
~ Disregard Tor the sanctity and obligation OF
oaths 10 SO common in our courts of justice that
hardly a day passes when the Judges of tho
Quarter Sessions do not motto some instance OF
what they know TO DO perjury. Tho Bibles ON
the witness stand are polluted by the lips OF q
multitude Of pcriuiers in tho course OF every
term. Some Judges believe that the evil is n
growing one. Judge ludlow oncc said that the
longer he remained on the bench the more he
saw Of the difficulty Of enforcing respect for IN
oath. Indeed, II Is certa IN that for every per-
son convicted OF the deliberate perjury which 10
n crime, and which Is susceptible OF legal proof,
there are q hundred who escape because OF tho
trouble OF proving tho offence to the ~satisfac-
ton OF the law. Not q few c-oss-cXaminers
conduct their examinations on this assumption
that no witness ever tells the exact truth IL he
con avoid II, and the assumption is believed to
hold good in one out Of every three instances.
There are many witnesses, too, who swear
falsely without intending 1t. Incxactnces OF
memory, confused ideas as to the meaning Of
words or the timidity into which the bull!cs
and brow.bcaters of tho bar throw them will
often account for conflicting testimony when
apparently perjury had entered II somewhere.
When the Prince of Wales was young and
''perjured himself like q gentleman in the
Mordaunt case, he gave to one species Of do
liberate perjury something of the semblnnco OF
honor. 1t is now. as 1t has long been, the fash.
ion to regard with contempt any man who goes
into court and swcars against the chastity ola
woman whose favor he has enjoyed. In such
,oa pnriury 10 1nokcd unOn na ypnin1- IL mt
indeed, creditablc. and is rarely punished.
The Beccher-Tilton case was probably one OF
the greatest exhibitions Of perjury that has
ever occupied the attention Of tho American
people in n court Of Justice. Such n mass Of
unrcconcilable testimony under the %solomnity
Of an oath has seldom been sent to n jury.
That trial had many injurious effects on tho
public mind, but none, perhaps, was so serious
az the disregard Of truth on the part Of persons
who. it might have been supposed, could not
bring themselves to the act of perjury. I,cli-
gion. character and confidence in vcracity all
suffered cruel blows as the long procession
IF liars and moral lepers passed in review. The
country was divided, as the jury was. in pick
ing out the perjurers. Yot many Of those who
believed that Mr.. Beecher had perjurcd himself
commended that. aside from any penal .conse.
II was his duty to shield Mrs. Tilton at all haz.
ards. Whoever the periurers were, there is no
TOOTH LOT uOuDU tlhJ III pCTluTy "HtCn "db
committed and the half.approving or ~fippant
manner in which 1t was treated set an example
American courts in after years.
There is also another form Of perjury which
is tolerated or ENCOURAGED outside Of courts
1hs ' so%Tts sn Of PHILADELPHIA BRHISd,,ii hi f hase f%s ao oHGrfyn
with it in the past ten years. The corporations
may exist n popular prejudice, as well as tho
city, government itself. have been the Victims Of
railroad companies, especially the traction
companies, have been mulcted OF several mil.
U {ipp peS IF SSllar ah lsr tSiSk 0s tSss e Of 9it che S SHlae on q
corporation is fair gane whenever It is possible
to cook W, against either. on any plausible pro-
Ieration, the meanest deceptions, the most bare
faced Of downright lying, all b~olstered up by
percentage of the fruits of perjury. arc unblush-
ingly resorted to in such cases and easily I'm
ego Judge WiitbanE, just after ho Went on tho
bench. d%eclaimed, vigorously against the per
jury which he had witnessed In a case for dam.
any ono has been punished, Perhaps the Judge
had not yet been seasoned to it like his older
The majority Of oaths are taken by swear:
impressiveness and the sense Of fear which may
be be. supposed W n,Ssa t1t accompany them in inI perimry 70 % night
the book" carries with it the. apprehension Of
future punishment more wildly to thousands
Nf minds d. than hama the p process tSs ns OF al af I'm HiS1o ~ y n nE.
minis;cring oeths TO witnessed Is often perfume;
tory, mechanical and hurried In tho iumblc Of
likely as not to be so dirty or dilapidatcd that it
even to touch it. In some of the public Offices
and the Magistrate courts 1t cannot be touched
r MiiRHm1 Character OF a Biblical oath is weak.
would be lost i II were dispensed VIII aiio::
tary gain. It used to be chiefly the Quakers
and persons who had no faith in the bible that
OF men and women now affirm simply because
they cannot bring themselves 10 handle tho
is administered in our temples Of justice.
Nearly seventy years ago William Morgan
YORK Yos e Of bearing ~ false snS Witness Witness an and T BREAKING sE his
oath. 1t was said that tho oath contained Tho
most searching penalties for those C. who a.oo w Tnlt
was found there was n tremendous cutlery. TINT
he had been slain for perjury, to his order il re:
York was convulsed. Dhe excitement spread
throughout the Middle States and New Erg:
Masonry might be suppressed. and thc Famous
William Writ was nominated for the Pr"ni:
MSf asSns on in 1h th isS rnite Io; stato shen and %Ft th n;no9 oaII''
b bound l. seicETeey tS as to their ] rif;M41 i S &C."
1t; tho Morgan case has been thra.hrd over
time and again. but whether there has been any
outside world. which ear be- neither %anirrrd
nor denied. No obligation is apparently 'tGrs
binding on the sons Of men than tho oath Thich
holds this. remarkable organization Together,
and none is better maintained, SO far Gs those
outside of the pale OF Masonry can judgr. IN.
loss it be the seal Of the confessional in H." ir
man Catholic Church. Doubtless many . man
In that faith who would periurc himself IN O
court of Justice would hesitate long GefGr" h,
would toll the same lie to his father cOnirssOr.
Doubtless many a Mason on tho witness stand
has easily yielded, to the temptation to perjury
who. perhaps. could not be tortured into II ' ON
ton OF tho oath no has given TO his b%rcrhrcr.
What a rotten mess of perjury there was in
tho Comptroller's Office, for example. ~ayn,nst
holders and contractors and the tribe Of petty
intriRuers with their nimblc pickcrs and stcal'
ers until Robert f. Pattison just twenty years
ago began to make II unsafe 10 swear falsely rs
a prelude to municipal robbery, And yet
many of them were men who would not think
of violating an oath 10 n secret order or lying
TO their church. or even to their fellows in tho
ordinary affairs OF life.
tho witn.ss hnx tb,y nr,st In mara IrOInut