The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-01-17
A DEADLY BULLET IS
TOKEN OF W|FE'S LOVE
DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL IS DE-
TENSE OF FRENCH WOMAN
ON TRIAL FOR LIFE.

( I'M D wv ltilS < dA 10, diu al "a
France for that matter, is debating
the justice or injustice Of condemning
that dear Bluebeard" Landru to the
guillotine, there is but one view Of the
action OF Paris court in sentencing
Nine. Juqulier to FIVE years imprison-
ment merely for killing her husband.
st is the outraged"
Nothing that has happened in re-
cent years is so likely to stir up fem
mist sentiment in France.
The verve, the sentiment, the inter-
lest of these French trials will never
end. In this case the judge was deaf to
Ial appeals for clemency on behalf of
the unfortunate woman, and not only
refused to suspend sentence, but with
held the customary option of fine.
Indignation is running high and it
will not be surprising if the event leads
to the formation of women's rights so
cieties throughout the republic.
Blow to Women
A woman, who until now has been
strongly opposed to suffrage, told this
correspondent:
1T is disgraceful It's getting so in
married women, have no rights at all.
Nine. Juqulier has been treated like
Ia common criminal-the word is not
robbed bank or cheated at cards, the
way she has been treated.
You may depend upon it, the
country is going to hear about this
and the parliament is going to hear
= ( Al.
dent is established the next thing we
know we shall have law passed max
ing the shooting OF ones husband a
criminal offense. It's no wonder mar
riage is on the decline and the popu-
lation of France is decreasing at an
alarming rate. No self respecting wo-
man is going to marry when she does
mot know from one day to the next
what her rights are"
Bullet Carried Love.
Reviewing the facts and the evil
dence in the case, it is difficult to see
on what grounds the judge took such
la severe view of the offense. Nine
Juqulier's testimony was the principal
feature of the trial.
From the very first she made it
plain that in shooting her husband she
was only proving the depth OF her
love for him. Il loved him too much,
II loved him too much she kept re-
lpeating. Even at the moment she hre-
led she intended only to caress him.
Il fired, but | did not mean to kill.
Unluckily the ball took effect in vital
lspot," she explained.
The jury accepted this explanation.
lit returned a verdict to that effect.
Il tried to embrace him. He was in
sensible to my caresses. He repulsed
me. Happening to have d revolver III
my hand, | fired, absentmindedly.
Who wouldn't have done the same
thing? For example, if you happen to
have a cornet in your hand and are
thinking of something else you all
dramatically finger the pistons. II you
have. a pair OF dice in your hand, you
rattle them. If you have a pencil IN
your hand you scribble, without think
ing about it. 1t just CHANGED that
Nine. Juqulier had revolver IN her
| hand, and what more natural that at
such a moment she should unthinking-
l1y attempt to caress her husband with
Iii? .
Husband Too Careless.
A moment OF thoughtlessness, of
distraction, and she lands in jail. And
ali because She loved him and wanted
to embrace him. That is what makes
the judges severity so hard to under
stand It makes one think that M
| Juqulier must have been most in
considerable and inprudent husband. A
husband who was at all careful OF
/ his health. when he saw his wife I'm
no ~
his wav. one would think, to be pleas
ant and conciliatory. When you are
going home late along deserted street
and a man asks you for match, or
wants to know what time it is, and
YOU notice that he has a Smith & Wes-
son in his hand, do you coarsely and
lboorishlv repulse him? Why, then,
should a man be less considerable OF
| his wife than of total stranger?
| Such are the questions that the
aroused women of France are asking
today, and that the men who make the
laws must answer tomorrow, if they
lexpect marriage to be popular instl-
tuition.
There is another angle to the matter
also. 1t is pointed out that if the wo-
men are no longer to be permitted to
get rid of incompatible husbands
and there are many such husbands in
France, as in some other countries
in a normal, quiet, domestic manner,
the result is apt to be an alarming in
crease in divorces, with all the attend
ant scandal and mess.
The fear is expressed that divorces
may become as common in France as
they are in America, a thought that
makes Frenchmen, with their tradi-
tons of family life, shudder.
Irr~00rAAY rOuATTU To