The National tribune., 1909-11-11
FRENCH JUSTICE.

The published reports of the trial of
Madame SteinheiI at Paris have shocked
the world, or at least the English and
German speaking portions Of it, which
are accustomed to an entirely different
method of arriving at the ends of JUS
tice. The Latin theory of trials is alb
|solutely opposed to that of the English
speaking race. 1t is a method handed
down from old Roman times as part
of the Roman or Civil law by which
the Latin countries are governed and
was seen in its most intense form in
the trials by the Inquisition. The Latin
theory is that when q crime is COM
mitted to locate at once on those who
may be reasonably assumed to have
either committed it or have been COM
plicated with it and to discover the
really guilty one. Therefore every
one in any degree connected with il
is under suspicion and must prove his
or her innocence
We go at things in an absolutely
different way, and one which they claim
is illogical. That is. we assume that
every man Is innocent until he is proven
guilty, and the burden is upon the
community or State to demonstrate his
guilt. The principle is strenuously
maintained that every reasonable doubt
must be resolved in his favor and he
given the benefit of it. Our Judges
are inflexible in maintaining this spirit
of the law, and the principle that it is
much better that 80 guilty men shall
go unpunished rather than one inno-
cent man shall unjustly suffer the con-
sequences of q crime.
The Judges in the Latin countries
have absolutely none Of this carefully
maintained spirit OF fairness and i'm
partially. They are regarded as the
agents of the Government In maintain
ing order, and they must exert them
selves to the uttermost to discover the
criminal and fasten upon him the evi-
dence which will convict him. They
are trained in all the arts Of the de-
tective and the prosecutor, and their
success as Judges depends upon the re-
lentless skill with which they will en-
trap the guilty party and convict him
Of the crime. Therefore. we have had
an astonishing exhibition of the pre-
siding Judge in the court bullying,
badgering and grossly insulting the
woman who was the defendant in the
case, telling her every moment that
she had lied grossly, that she was con-
|cealing the truth, cunningly trying to
trap her into contradictions and bring
ing all his training and ability into play
to catch her In mesh of contradic-
'tions and falsehoods and wiring from
her admissions that would prove her
guilt. The English speaking world
using all the arts developed by his
training and experience to browbeat
and overwhelm a woman. It was SIM
ply a matching of inteilects between
the trained and sl1illful detective and
prosecutor Of the highest judicial rank
and weak. unskilied woman. The ex-
hibition was so grossly unfair as to
excite the resentment of even those who
are accustomed to the Latin law and
its methods OF procedure. Some years
ago the French became so dissatisfied
with the results obtained by their
method that they modified 1t by intro
ducing our jury system. This leaves
the decision no longer in the hands of
courts organized to convict, but some
what in the control OF outside citizens
who are supposed to have no prejudices
or prepossessions. Probably the Stein
he'll trial will make q still further i'm
provement in the judicial processes in
France, but II leaves the rest Of the
Latin world still subject to the same
judicial ideas and methods that OBJ
tanned such horrible nOtoriety in the So
called trials by the Inquisition, where
they did not stop at badsering a man
into admitting his guilt, but applied
torture to wiring from him q confess