New-York tribune., 1921-05-30
Elaborate Judicial Proce-
dure Fails TO Impress as
Applied TO Least Culpa-
bile of German Criminals
Weakness Shown
I'm Prosecution
Citing of a Bowery Pick
pocket Before Supreme
Court Called a Parallel
By Joseph Shaplen
Bn WireIeas to The Trtbnne


BERLIN, May 29.-The Tribune cor
respondent has just returned from Leip-
sic, where he witnessed the trials Of
Sergeant Heyne and Captain MILLER. A
Few hours presence in the Supreme
Court room there convinces one that
the proceedings are farce. There is
a general lack of interest that has
arisen from the realization that the
small fry are being tried for brutali-
ties that are trivial in comparisoY TO
the great crimes, worse in their results
than the actual horrors of war, which
apparently are likely to go unpublished.
Most of the newspaper corresr ondents
who went to Leipsic left there in disgust
soon after the opening Of the session.
The appearance of Heyne, for example,
before the German Supreme Court, in
the presence of the British Solicitor
Genera! and n great array of distin-
guished counsel and experts, for trial
on charges which are insgnlfcant in
comparison with those of the higher
ups, seemed as ridiculous as would the
appearance of a Bowery pickpocket be-
fora the United States Supreme Court
for stealing taG of peanuts at a bale-
hall game.
Schmidt's Attitude Impartial
Chief Justice Schmidt, whose correct
| ness and impartiality were repeatedly
attested by Sir Ernest Pollock, British
Solicitor General, and his colleagues,
is trying hard to lend to the proceed
ings an appearance of grave Importance
and dignity. When the foreign cor
respondents asked a British official at
the court why Keynes case was taken
up first, he ra4a.ied:
at is because the case against him is
complete and is bound to result in con-
viction That is necessary in order to
| make good initial impression, but
the order in which the accused are
brought to trial is really fixed by the
Germans"
Captain MILLER is to be sentenced to-
morrow. The German encouragement
asked that the punishment should not
exceed imprisonment for fifteen
tence will be only twelve months, with
considerable time deducted on techni-
calities.
Those who listened to the testimony
of British Tommies against Muller and
looked into the latter's unmistakably
brutal face, so typical of those widely
portrayed war cartoons of the Prussian
officer. realized that brutality could
easily have beeG this mans business.
Prosecution Weak Effort
Heyne, who is the father of nine
children, presented most miserable
with which he was charged could have
vicissitudes of his own life. A GER
tain Allied official present at the trial
said to the Tribune correspondent
that New York policeman in a
| domestic relations court would have
been better able to handle Heyne's
case than was the legal representative
of the British crown in the German
Imperial Supreme Court.
/ The comparatively unimportant
charges against Heyne and Muller
could not make much impression even
though men in judicial ermine, sitting
in a court room decorated with the
dOnenZOlleFH coat OF arms, QSVOCeQ
their attention to it and meted out
sentence.
The German public evinces no spe-
cial interest in the proceedings. al
though the extreme Nationalist, press
is seeking to make the most Of the
matter to arouse sympathy for the
accused as men who served the Father
land and tried to do their duty.
To Offset the effect of the trials, the
Nationalists are now scattering broad
cast Counter lists" of crimes said to
have been committed by Allied army
officers in Germany. Apparently,
however, these are fzzie.
The consensus among observers at
Leipsic is that unless the Allies can
bring the higher-ups to trial and make
good cases against them it will be
another instance of the rumbling
mountain and the mouse.