The Washington herald., 1907-03-24
SUNDAY. MARCH "a l907
The Administrntion OF IustIee.

The Washington Heralds London ca
blegram describing the one-day trial Of
Horace George Rayner for the murder of
William Whiteley drew an instructive
contrast between British administration
Of the criminal law and American admin
istration as illustrated in the Thaw case.
Perhaps neither of these cases should be
regarded as quite typical of the processes
of the criminal law in their respective
jurisdictions. but they are sufficiently so
10 point a moral that much needs to be
emphasized on this side of the Atlantic.
Both Thaw and Rayner took a human
life and insanity was pleaded in mitiga-
ton Of the killing in behalf of each. IN
the British court, however. the lord chief
justice brushed aside this plea as inap-
plicable to the case, and ordered the jury
To disregard il There was no expert
evidence, nor were there any confusing
and unintelligible hypothetical questions
The crime having been proved, and having
been shown to be willful and premedi-
tated, the jury quickly found a verdict
of guilty, from which there is no appeal
Thaw has been on trial for two months,
the major portion Of which time has been
taken up by the defense in an attempt to
show that the prisoner at the bar was
irresponsible At the time of killing White
but is now sane. and by the prosecution
in an effort to discredlt the alienist wit
nesses who have testified for the other
side. In other words. the time Of the
court has been occupied in hearing a
elsverly concocted technical defense. de-
signed 10 afford legal ground for ac-
quittaL II has not been an edifying
spectacle. Justice seems almost lost
sight of in maze of legal and psyche
logical subtleties of no value whatever
in enlightening the jury as to its duty
toward either the Commonwealth OF the
accused. There was nothing of that sort
in the British case, though there might
have been. if American methods of de-
Tense were tolerated by the British bench
or bar; for Rayner's crime presented op-
portunities for the expert alienist that
would not have been overlooked by an
American lawyer
Not long ago the judge of ii criminal
court at Birmingham. Ala rebuklng a
jury which had acquitted a man of mur-
der. declared statistics showed that less
crime was committed in England and Ire
land than in the single county in which
Birmingham is located Crime. he as
serted, is not punished, and criminals are
almost certain Of escaping at the hands
Of juries A similar assertion might be
made with truthfulness Of many another
jurisdiction throughout the country. The
machinery Of criminal justice seems to
operate in too many instances In favor
Of those accused of crime, and lax pub
hc sentiment condones our easy-gofng
juries where there is the smallest excuse
for sympathy with the central figure of
the trial
We have obviously much to learn re-
specting Anglo-Saxon justice. which. as
perverted by American criminal law and
practice, affords every possible safeguard
to the criminal and too little protection
Of the rights of the Commonwealth. A
sterner sense OF justice should animate
all our people. from the lowest to the
highest We are too lenient. too sympa-
theiic, and, perhaps. too emotional, and
IN so congenial an atmosphere wrong
doers OF All degrees tend to flourish
The President has been presented with
a baseball pass. Now. then. muck-rakers.