The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-10
d snAMrrUL rRoCrnprNc. 1,

on a Q recent occurrence. "that the re- port of the treatment of woman suspected of murdcrrin Newark. New Jersey. wiik cause feeling of in- tense indignation throughout the coun- try. It has long been known in general way that the refinement of mental torture in the application of what Is known as the third degree far surpasses the physical torture of the dark ages. Tn the case at New ark the horrors of the third degree were carried to an extreme certainly never before surpassed, If they were ever equaled. The wife of the mur- dered man. who may be innocent of any crime. and who is entitled. under the law. to be assumed to be inno-
 cent until she has been convicted at trial conducted in regular man. ner was taken from her cell at mid- night. conducted. without explanation. to the morgue. and there suddenly confronted by the dead bSdy of her husband.
 Has civilization gone back to the days of the inauisition. or the more remote period Of savagery. or are we
 in this land of liberty trying to sur
 pass the internal crueIties and brutal ities of Russian This woman Is sus- pected of having been involved in the
 murder of her husband. if; not the actual murderess. There Is no posi-
 tive evidence of her guilt. and she
 has refused to confess or make a
 statement duplicating herself. Faii-
 ing to procure evidence that would
 De accepted by any court. her prose- l entors resortsd to the damnabie ex-
 pedient of working on her feelings by subjecting her to test that would
 shame band of savages. It was
 hoped that the .naturai horror which
 any woman would feel if forced to
 look. on dead body at midnight
 would force from her . confession
 which would give them clue to evi-
 dence that would convict.
 It is some satisfaction to all hu-
 mAnlty to know that her brutal tor
 mentors. although they prolonged her
 agony for an hour or mora. gained
 nothing by their savagery. It may be. and doubtless Is some satisfaction to
 them to know that she went back to
 her cell in a state of utter collapse.
 and we suppose they are feiicitating
 themselves on the fact that if they
 failed to extort confession they at
 least frightened her into insensibiiity.
 That would be source of satisfaction
 to, their kind. Should the laws and
 the courts of the country suffer this
 practice of what is known as "the
 third degree? We argue with The
 New Haven Register. which says:
 This third degree, g means which
 the police of New York and some
 up their lack of any real detective
 ability by the manner of the bully ; and the brute. Is the most hideous ] which our civiIization on allows. Ii very seldom commends itself; 1t hai been dtscredfted times without num- Der: II Is time that public ssnti, ,, ,h&nd In no uncertain terms demanded ), its discontinuance. }, We agree with The Register that such infamous proceedings should no, be allowed in 8 civilized country. Ii the laws and the courts cannot or will not put a stop to it then 1t is time for an enlightened public opinion to stop it. This Mrs. Wilhelm is an l innocent woman in the eyes of the law
 and should be so held until creditable evidence of her guilt is produced. Tc resort to such inhuman injustice as } was practical in her case under the ? hope that she could be frightened into ] convicting herself is a shame on hu. ! manity. a perversion of authority and 3 grievous travesty on justice. Bet. ! ter a thousand times that she should : go free. even if she is really guilty l than that she should be convicted or l evidence wrung from her by sucf horrible methods. If that is a speci- r men of third degree procedure it il t a shame on our civilization. The in. l cident, says The Kansas City Journal {. ''is a reproach to American manhood |, and gives the lie to our boast of hu. 8 manity and chivalry. And 1t is be- q ing duplicated all over the land. Nc t doubt in this instance the victim will e never fully recover from the shock 8 and the experience may even deprive !, her of her reason. How the people ]. of Newark can justify such a travesty . upon justice Is a mystery. Here is ( t point at which our lauded 'criminolo = gists' may begin in their program e for the reformation of justice as deal e out by our police departments"
 d Suppose, now, this tortured woman
 had died from the effects of the fright
 as might have happened. would thos who subjected her to the inhumal 2 test have been held for murder |. Morally at least they would have beei e guilty of that crime. but possibly tn d law would have looked at it differ