Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1908-03-26

women than in men. Whatever fail
ing there may be is to be equally con-
demned in both sexes 1t is quite pos
sible and quite natural that where
the affections are involved the woman
may be more easily swayed than the
man. She is more the creature Of
sentiment and emotion. Her friend
ships and loves are deeper and dearer.
Therefore, on the witness stand, she
may the more readily, and surely
more unconsciously, depart from the
exact truth when the interests of
those whom she loves are involved.
But she does it unconsciously o.
almost so, if at all. 1t is a psychology
ical impulse.
Have Fear of the Law.
Again, a on the witness
stand is more apart from her sphere
than a man is. She is more liable to
the mistakes of embarrassment. For
that she should not be called to ac-
count. 1t is my conviction, however,
that women will, generally speaking,
be more likely than men to tell the
truth in court. She has a fear of the
weapon called the law, 1t is prac-
tically an unknown force to her. 1t
is with her, therefore, potential for
the truth.
THAT there is too much falsehood
in human life is distressingly appar-
| ont II lie oil ton much q mort IF o,tr
social existence. To some extent we
may say it is enforced by conditions.
but it is also all too much due to a
lack of proper moral training. 1t is
the natural bent of the child mind to
evade the truth when the act has
been naughty and by %concealing the
truth to evade reproof and possible
punishment. That is the basic work
of the lack of moral obligation in re-
gard to the truth in all society. l
believe that a good, sound spanking,
administered in~telligently, with proper
spirit, at the proper time, with kindly
and proper explanation, would vastly
lessen the evasions, lies and perjuries
of all phases of life. Proper discipline
in his early youth would probably
have had such effect upon MI. Taylor
that he would have never thought of
the statements so antipodal to truth
which he made in regard to women
as compared with men,"
Women Truthful Witnesses.
Miss Suzanne Beatty, a~ttorney-at-
law, gives an emphatic negative to the
assertion that women are more than
men inclined to evade the truth on
the witness stand.
Il have been a close student of
this matter" said Miss Beatty, "and
1t is my positive judgment that wom-
en- are quite as dependable as men
when t~estifying before a law court.
When | was at home, a mere child,
one of the dear friends of our family
was Judge Campbell, then the presid-
ing judge of the Clarion district. 1t Is
possible that even at that time | had
in me the latent germ of the pursuit
of the law as a profession, for all that
pertalned to the courts was OF the
deepest interest to me. I was much
impressed with the remarks Of Judge
Campbell, often ~iterated, that he
would as a general proposition believe
a woman witness sooner than he
would a man, Even in those childish
days the remark from one who was
so deeply venerated by ne aroused
my pride of sex and when came to
practice you can imagine that my at
tention was naturally directed to this
subject.
All Swayed by Sentiment.
IT want to say, and to put it as
strongly as words Ia make it, that
I have found witnesses, to say