The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
WHERE CRIME RUNS RIOT.
LLWL ESsNEss IN TIE GAP
FRENCH CAPITAL,


-
nCemparison or Paris with Chicago Provoked
-. Partisan Editor's Jeers at the Windy
ruy-A,onishinE DisreGard or Lilo and
p,s,.rty-where EpiGrams wis AcsuittaL
p,pIs. Doc. 2s.-To any one with . bent
..v.rd the law there could DO no moro inter
.,,,nO aeld for study than the codes under re-
.rhlican Franco. Tho peculiarities sven begin
,srIth the Constitution. They are not hoary
,,vs full of tho anomalies and Inconsistencies
Al long descent, like those Of England. for in
,,ance. but brand.new laws made for o pro-
nressiye and up.to-date country which calls
i,,elf the soul Of tho universe" and the
rareatest civilizer the world has ever SEEN"
The laws themselves may DO Of interest only
10 legal minds; 1t Is their working which affords
10 the ordinary Anglo.Saxon intelligence ono Of
the most startling exhibitions Of Justice, or at
tsmpts at justice, this century has witnessed
among an intelligent people. In France the
average person pays scant attention to those
matters; he shrugs his shoulders: he Is not In
volved; doubtless things will be Strengthened out
,ome time, II they are not right now. Ho pre-
fcrs to believe that they arc right now. because,
for one thing, that belief is less troublesome
than another might be. The thinkers of France,
however, are moro concerned, as tho voluminous
literature on the subject Of criminology proves.
As regards all French laws, but particularly
the criminal law. II is perhaps only just to say
thAtthe country is in q transition state. Proba-
bly, the authors OF the penal code and its supple
ments are really sincere in their efforts to learn,
through experience, exactly what Is best, not
only in the punishment of crime. but in its pre-
y~entIon. At the aame time It would seem. per-
haps to almost any one but q Latin, that they
have put the country to serious risk Of danger
ut the hands Of the criminal classes while gain
Ing this experience. Speaking broadly, under
the present code and the law passed in 1891,
commonly known as tho Beranger law, q
Frenchman may rob and murder almost at will.
II the Jury does not look out for his welfare, he
has any number Of tender laws Of mercy at his
disposal; failing all else. the President Of the
republic is there with his pardoninE or COM
mutlng power.
There is in France a very strong sentiment
against capital punishment. The advocates of
Its abolition say that criminals arc not deferred
BY the fear OF death. They point to the fact that
It has been abolished in Italy. in Portugal, and
In most Of the cantons Of Switzerland. Their
constant agitation of the question has resulted
In its practical adjustment in France also, as
there has not been ar execution, aside from
military executions, since that of Emile Henry,
the Anarchist bomb thrower. in 1894. In tho
three years since then there have been nearly
elk hundred murders. but all the oulprits have
escaped the death penalty. In the army, on the
other hand, and in Algeria, there have been
many executions. The military executions were,
without exception. those of soldiers sentenced
10 death for striking an officer.
Six hundred murders. without ono sentence to
death, will doubtless strike most people, out Of
France. as incredible. 1t may be explained that
some Of the murderers were really convicted
and sentenced, but that tho President inter
vened. A case of this kim IL upon the Paris
court records for this month. A man murdered
his wife under circumstances inconceivably
brutal. because bio had seen her speak to another
man on the street. When she got home no tor
tured her for three hours. then was another two
hours killing her. He broke every bone In her
body, as well ss her skull, and when she was
found 1t was impossible to tell that she had once
been human. Even o French Jury was revolted.
But the President said that the murderer was
clearly entitled to clemency, because he had
been moved by jealousy. The newspapers ap-
plauded the President.
This case is cited not because It is Inherently
remarkable in the way of French murders, but
because the French say that capital punishment
Is q brutality worthy only Of barbarous peoples;
that its infection is without the pale of ~civiliza-
ton. Notwithstanding the records of their
revolutions and OF their m they set
themselves up as being q hyper-humane people
-humaner than any nation the world has ever
seen. Lynchings In America are stock subiects
ir The Paris newspapers. One paper refers to
Us habitually, when discussing these matters,
as the hog'sticking and garroting Yankees"
Another occupies much space with boxing and
prize fighting In England and America, usually
denning such sports as "revolting beyond ex-
preston to any nationality oven half civilized"
A Few days ago another paper got this of:
zinc practice Of electrocution (sfc) in Amer
lea, which is the official way of carrying out tho
oeath sentence throughout tho States, is ono
mat b cannot be too severely reprimanded. 1t is
teeilhg Yankees, who have not yet had the
Senents OF even minor culture. that such a bar
PATTY sI,tHy can seem other than the height Of bru.
Finally. the six days bicycle race at Madison
S s Harden was the signal for q concerted
PROBABLY no nation has ever been subjected to
~ inc hands Of another, unless IL be the Ger
h,snsra attacked by the Same great :" civilizing
fasRrin OF the French at finding their own riders
S Seft sn III n ne race. the exhibition of bile was
two Of i the Paris 8, pa AZ wsi IN aissgE s;r rsy, for at Least Least
= OF epithets regarding Americans which, in
Nv tvW ,hho necency as we'll as to avoid q descent
IeMer and a dash.
These instances indicate the fact remarked,
tas, me French really pretend to be a little bet.
a. anah other nations, and that they hold them
t sS.'sS 70 have had all the original brutality OF
~ human animal refined out of them. Largely
SsI r regard their criminals as artistic, even re-
rnsd, criminals-not refined In cruelty, as they
ttSSsiiy are, but Of a wholly different clay from
n common criminal of other lands. II you tell
oiI,SnGhman that his laws are breeding a race
H. ,iminals he will not believe you; he thinks
ssaat you. q barbarian because a foreigner. know
~ efo.nihe about II. II you cite his own authori.
hvs; count d.Haussonvilie, NJ. d'Oliyecrona. M.
D : or M. Leyeille. he smiles incredulousIy
Sun denies. II you compare France with
SS. M ooqntries. he pooh-po0hs. In a word. he
s mmeves france to be rot only the greatest OF ali
SSuuhtrles, nut the most virtuuus. He excepts
MIR, PERHAPS. with an indulgent wink. because
~ 10 h5es 10 believe, and above all likes forelRners
hSeneye, thai Paris is wicked"
mi "ight perhaps be worth while to emphasize
An a Few days ago q Paris newspaper gave
in cShpfG a Or the recent doinRs OF hlghwaymen
An IFnssEo' The report, although coming through
esrstnsaiisI channel. was apparently not exag.
sSNualeu. IL recounted a number of details, then
io rts for one week there was a total OF
SSxEressiops. It was a great chance for com.
Sbnumly Dy the Paris paper. 1t squared its
<SSHms ana sailed in with q scathing rebuke OF
unJas9 lawlessness; attacked the police as q
CO. N ol worthless tramps: attacked the city
tobhcrhinent; attacked the city; finally, as was
10 y &c expect ted, saved its best Whacks Xor Amer.
~HA ~ Na N