River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-03-26

women than in men. Whatever fall
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 or
almost so, If at all. 1t is psycholog-
ical impulse.
Have Fear of the Law.
"Again, woman 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 &C.
count It 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-
ent. It is all too much part of our
social existence. To some extent we
may say it is enforced by conditions,
but it is also all too much due to
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.
believe that good, sound spanking,
administered intelligently, 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
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, attorney-at-
law, gives an emphatic negative to the
assertion that women are more than
men inclined to evadeA the truth on
the witness stand.
Il have been a close student of
this matter" said Miss Beatty, land
it is my positive judgment that wom-
en- are quite as dependable as men
when testifying before a law court.
When I 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 1 had
in me the latent germ of the pursuit
of the law as profession, for all that
pertained to the courts was Of the
deepest interest to me. / 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 man. Even in those childish
days the remark from one who was
so deeply venerated by me 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.
II want to say, and to put it as
strongly as words can make it, that
I have found women witnesses. to say