The evening times., 1900-01-29

AttIBNSA1N ufSSuStS anu INFUSED y Nttil4-'~
man than the exploitation of wife-beatins
cases. the majority of which show that.
after patiently submitting to almost every
form of brutality and abuse, the woman IS
compelled by fear fer her life u appeal
to the lower criminal courts for protec-
ton Only last week the news dispatches
contained a case in point. \ New Haven,
Connecticut. woman, the wife of cabinet
maker, died in local hospftal, having
been brutally beaten with chair. She
left four small children. Upon being urged
TO make an ante mortem statement, so
that the rufiian who caused her fatal in
juries might De prosecuted. she refused.
she was only one of hundreds OF her sex
Who have becn faithful TO the tyrant 20
the last and whose devotion even in 'ha
hour of death and despite eNcruciating
suffering has been absolutely pathetic
II is fortunate for this New Haven brute
that Magistrate Pool is rot in position
TO put in force his system of penalties for
the wife-heater. Were the Harlem police
magistrate the Mikado OF Japan. and had
the Kew Haven offence been committed ia
/, Toxic. there would doubtless be conspic-
uous illustration of summary Justice and
Of making the punishment Ii the crime.
And there are times when the most con
servative individual in the mos. conserva-
tive community has his ire aroused by
such fragrant impcsitions On the weak that
the stereoiyped penalties seem to be dis
tressingly mild and unfit.
-.
the past few years ia the vicious practice
OF physically nl-treating wives by those
who have sworn to honor and protect them
from the buiietiEgs OF the world. but sta
t.stics concerning this kind Of crime are
not easily chtainable. Judging from the
frequency with which accounts OF such
brutal conduct appear IN the newspapers
there has not been 2 decrease commen-
surate with the progress Of eniishJen-
:nent and the activity Of the law.
II a man should step up 20 a strange
woman on The public thorcughfare md
strike her in the face with his sl"n he'd
fist there is little room FOR pc, a on q
to v hat would happen to him, perhaps be-
fore a blueccat could take hid IL t. cgatl-
dy Yet men Who have TO more proyoCa-
tion for beating heir wives app a eie'.-
edly IN thc lCaer criminal courts of the
cities and doSgedly listen to tales of long-
continued ard aggravated bIu-ai.y Jcli by
their victims. while the general pGbic
takes the matter calmly and phicSophi-
! CalIy, sometimes with a haf-helItei pIo-
/ test and ofjcntimes without a word o. crit
icism This may be due TO the survival CT
that unfit heritage OF dark and barb 70 Is
ages when the woman WAS regarded as the
| ehattel Of her lord and master, without
rights and not one-tenth as dear or ya.ua-
! bic as his horse or any one OF his otter
| good cattle. Whether il is to be atsrib-te1
! TO the influence of heredity or not, the
| equanimity with which communities proud
OF their high civilization tolerate .uch
! things is Incompatible with their profess
sions
| OF course. Magistrate PCoi knows that
in this day wife beaters cannot be covered
with boiling oil or hanged, or .reated in
! any other purely brutal fashion but Re
merely intended to illustrate. we take it,
! that more persistent prosecution. if rot
| more drastic measures, are needed TO rem
/ der obsolete such inhumsn and utterly in
| defensible practices as beating women with
chairs or otherwise msltrelting them. Bru-
/ tality in individuals can never be checked
| by brutality dealt out by the State under
the forms of law. but there is always an
| opportunity for the adoption OF haIsher
corrective measures. When the penalties
/ in vogue are discovered 20 be inadequate.
which is the only inference when the spe-
! cial variety Of crime under consideration
! fails to become less conspicuous. some
| thing must be done to reach the offenders
| in a fashion that Will act as res raint
! upon would be imitators. The integrity of
| the community depends upon the suppress
! sion of all ferns of iniquity, ard nothing
/ impedes the progress OF race more than
that indifference TO offences which inevita-
| bly, results in the increase Of offenders.