The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-07-06
VIEWS OF EDITORS.
Time to Act.

has been talking right out in the open,
Inc 1t is to be hoped that the right peo-
pie will take note of what he says. He de-
clares that the feeling between the Japan
csc and the people In the islands is
friendly. and there Is no reason there for
hostility. But he says, too. that the feel
ing in San Francisco is obviously and
disagreeably hostile and that it is bound
to be resented by the Japanese. Should
there be an outbreak Of war, the United
States has done nothing to protect the
| Hawaiian Islands In the way of fortifica-
ton; it gives them the protection of one
old-fashioned gunboat cruising about
there. The Governor suggests that 1t IS
over time already for this government to
do something like establishing protection
for It's own territory. In this he Is dead
right, too.-Hartford Courant.
Fair Play In Georgia.
The action Of the Georgia Legislature In
declining to GUST its solitary negro member
| upon the protest Of his white opponent Is
the most encouraging sign OF Southern
fair-mindedness that We have noted for a
long time. The contest was based upon
dimsy technical grounds, but any grounds
have too often proved sufficient when a
white man hrs been the contestant against
a negro. The Georgia lawmakers, however,
oPPCdA W AdNO nOfC0 aOtddAJ ~ q
sense of fairness, and the negro was not
ousted. In such an action as this there is
no danger to white supremacy" 1t mere
ly shows that all sense Of fair play has not
been lost In the South, and that a negro,
who is able to surmoUnt the barriers which
have been devised to circumscribe his citi-
zenship, will actually be allowed to enjoy
the honor which he has earned with such
difficulty.-Cleveland Plain Dealer.
n Third Degree.
In police practise the third degree Is any
method of cross-examination. coercion or
harassment, short of physical torture,
drives a prisoner accused of homicide to
confess. It is usually applied Immediately
after arrest, and. In most cases, before
the preliminary investigation which COM
mits the accused for the action of the
Grand Jury. On May % a girl of is years
was murdered under peculiarly shocking
circumstances near her home at Elmhurst,
in Queens County. A young man named
Becker was arrested on suspicion. He
was subjected to the third degree, part of
which process consisted in suddenly con
fronting him with the corpse of his al
legged victim.
He broke down and confessed. He con-
fessed many times. and nc two of his con-
f~essions were alike. Moreover, he ac-
knowledged crimes not charged against
him, nor against anyone else. for the good
inc sufficient reason that they had never
been perpetrated at ALL
This particular incident illustrates the
peril that lies In the custom of the third
degree. When over-zealous detectives put
extreme pressure upon weak-minded pris-
oners, such as this man has proved to be,
they may quite easily compel the telling
of precisely those stories they desire to
have told. Becker's concluding statement
to the police magistrate who held him
for the grand jury, That's what they
(the police) told me to tell" has a peculiar
and startling significance. 1t argues per-
sistent suggestion. 1T indicates a degree
Of compulsion resorted to less in the in
terest of justice than to support a police
theory of crime.-Brooklyn Eagle.
Turned Out a boomerang.
The Prudential Insurance Company has
decided to withdraw from Texas IN conse-