The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1919-07-18
TRIAL OF KAISER,

TRIAL OF KAISER. AZ +
II, is reported that Holland will re-
fuse to surrender the German ex-
kaiser, who just before the end OF the
war took refuge on her soil. IT Is
hardly likely that the a1iies wilIgo to
war to- obtain possession of thetsfor-
mel. German, war lord, infamous ais
his crimes are alleged tosbe. In refus
ipgs to- surrender the ex-emperol
Holland will have the almost unbrok,
xen pfecedents of the English SPEAK.
ing people to sustain it's POSITION Ii
hRs long been the boast 81 England
and also of America that political rel
ugees were welcome, to their shores
AS a result many. ,agitators,, anarchs
ists, nihilists and other undesrables
have been harboredl both. in England
and America They have been wei
scyo2mned because they claimed to have
fled from oppression. England gave
refuge to; Napoleon the third after
his ,dethronement during the Franco
Prussiap, war, 1t has been the abid
ing place of numbers of kings anG
princes who have fed their realms tt
avoid the wrath of their subjects. TIL,
Bourbons took refuge in England
when Louis XVI was beheaded.
William of Germany, is, under al
former conception Of internationa
law, whatever the world in the future
may hold,a political refugee. Neve,
before have nations formally tried ant
punished the authors of wars agains,
them. The great Napoleon was helt
q prisoner by England, but he was
political prisoner and was never for
mally arraigned or tried. Had he sue
ceeded in getting to America as Ne
once planned after the overthrow al
Waterloo no one now believes thai
this country would have surrendered
him to his enemies. ~
However, should Holland surrende;
the ex-kaiser his trial would be the
first OF the kind recorded in history
It would attract even more interest
than the proceedings OF the peace
conference. There would be absolute
ly no. presidents, no law to guide it,
deliberations. England has tried one
king and punished him with death
but the fate of Charles j was known
from the time he was seized by the,
soldiers Of Cromwell and parliament
was purged by Col. Pride of one hun
dred and forty of it's members sc
thatAa ~subservient minority would dc
what the army demanded. Before a
special commission of $50 members
over, which John Bradshaw, an emf
nent lawyer, presided, Charles was
formally. brought to trial. He was
charged with treason, murder and a
number of other crimes against the
realm. In order to bring him to trial
not only was it necessary to purge
the parliament and reduce it to the
famous trump" but it was necessary
to abolish the house of peers because
it had rejected the bin for the trial
of the king.
The trial was of short duration
Charles declined to plead and chal,
lenged the jurisdiction of the court
Technically he was right. He stood
on the solid foundations Of British
law and tradition. "T'he kingscan do
no wrong was one of the fiKedl AK
IONS of the British constitution. More
over, as stated. all pre-existing forms
were ruthlessly' set aside to bring
him to- trial. = At the end of three days
he3was condemned. on every charge
and sentenced to the scaffold. How.
ever tgrievous his faults in life he
died like a man. His execution
shock the kingdom, from end 10, end
III Mortified ali the civilized world. 1t
fastened The restoration to power of
the Stuarts. In life Charles was a.
'bloody despot,. heartlessa tyrant. an
scoundrel' In death he
was martyr. 49,