________________
8
Terana Thakur Jagannath Singh, Inge tor of Police, Bahrich: Wazis Alt Jad Mohammad Sub-Inspectors: Wal Hussain, cortable clerk to the late A dul Hasham, Luchinan, Najaf Khan And Ram Kubir, constables: Ishor Nat Balrampur Estat Thekdar and Pench and sentenced them to rigorous impris ment for seven, fire and four years les pectively, Wajid Houssain to eighte to rigorous
they denounced the forring of prison unflagging pursuit of these nullitati ment for one year while Rany Sarah Bhat
was acquitted. The facts of the rase w that on the 12th October, Jagannath Singh made special reports to M (hamier, the Joint. Magistrate, that a number of dacoits had assembled in the heuse of one Saligram with an intention to commit a dacoity that night in Jokal pur. Inspectors Jagannath Singh and Abdual Hakim Khan with the other accused started at about 11 p.m. for Kuti near Jokalpur where the dacoita Irel assembled and succeeded in efecting the capture of 13 men, while others about 15 or 20 in number made good their escape On 31st March. 1000, Inspector, Allul Hakim Khan made a remarkable state. ment to Mr. Williainson Asat, Supdt of Police, that the affair of Kuti was pre arranged and that the story about the dacoits was a pure invention with the result that Mr. Williamson communica ted with the District Magistrate which led to the arrest of all those concerned in this game. Hakim Khan ahot himself the same evening. Fifty-seven witnesses were examined for the defence. After disen ssing the oral and documentary exi dence for the prosecution and defen the learned Judge held that the evidence defence witnesses appeared to him to show a strong contrast with that the side of the prosecution. Important prosecution witnesses had complicated story to tell and all had been examine! once before and some of them twice Even with these advantages litle result was obtained from the cross-examination Defence witnesses, on the other hand, had broken down under cross-examination. although they had fewer opportunities A number of entries in the police diaries had been found, which corroborated the prosecution witnesses and there was n such entries, contradicting them except those which appeared to have been made with the definite object in view.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES."
Sir, You allowed one of us a few weeks Ago to cite in your coluinns pages from speeches by Mr. W E. Gladstone and Mr. John Morley which defined the attitude of the older Liberalism towards political "base offenders They held that only and deagiding crimes" could properly 'be Visite with humil.ating punishments,
KARMAYOGIN.
וילי
nate the prime Minister. Its Parli
amentary correspondent has announced that on learning of the sufferings of these women in prison. Liberal metubers (who seem to have laughed at Mr. Har die's honourable protest) and no
room
for any
Pave one of
sympathy for their "great leader in his "peril." Bat the clearest evidence of this vindictive spirit is the Home Secretary's
ad
1,
versaries. Three of the Liverpool demou strators who have just emerged from gaol after the misery and exhaustion of their fast are now about to be prosecuted for damage done to the prison furniture to the extent respectively of l 6d., and 3. For this they have already been punished in prison. We must say nothing that might prejudice their trial but is legitimate to note that when the Home Secretery determined to ignore the traditional maxima De minimis non
dress and other similar indignities on Irish agitators, and produced a formid-trate able list of precedents to show that for many generations it had been the prac tive of both parties to accord the honours Mr. Herof war to political prisoners. bert Gladstone, in dealing with the in his unsuffragist prisoners, persists lial reading Liberalism. He insists lassing women who are fighting for idea with ordinary criminals, and to the hunger strike he has
mal readin
5611
replied with the loathsome expedient f the stomach-tube. The women protested against humiliating punishments: he proceeds to make the infliction of these humiliations possible by a method which, besides being certainly nauseating and probably dangerous, is an unpardon able outrage on human dignity.
To say that the alternative is to alandon all thought of punishing these prisonto reason loosely. Two courses are wn to Mr. Gladstone. He may release the women after five or six days of total which WAR starvation, a
thought adequate until they happened to In the Prime Minister as the object. of their demonstrations. He may also transfer them to the first division. The stomach tube is not required in order to ender imprisonment possible.
It
quted in order to make possible trality will fall on the
panchment in
in the second and third divisions. We observe that some Liberals are now discovering that persons who have been guilty of violence are not political offenders But most of our note worthy political prisoners, from Smith O'Brien to Dr. Jameson, were the leaders. in violence incomparably more formidalle than anything which these women have vet attempted.
curat
at ler, he can hardly have failed to formee the consequences. uences. These women. (if found guilty) will again be sentenced, need, will again reply by a hunger strike and will then be tortured by the stomach-tube. There can be no of this explanation pursuit
embarra.
a determination to break the spirit and degrade the self-respect of women whose real crime is that have they saed the Government, injured it at bye. elections and exposed its chiefs to the just ridicule of the country.
The train of cause and effect is only too The train clear. At the outlet the Government. clear. AV treated the movement grew under persecution. Exasperation beget vinence, and with suffering came a bravery and at spirit of self-sacrifice which no penalty. can crush. The weeks as they ass ate can crush bringing us nearer the phase of moral To our minds the graver res members of a nominally democratic party who have turned their backs upon a gallant more. ment of emancipation, and, above all, on the "great leader" whose obstinate refusal to listen to the appeals even of the constitutional women has made at each repetition a multitude of converts to violence.
OLL
Lest we should seem in our strictures Liberalism and its organs in the Press to be guilty of an inconsistency, we wish to take this opportunity of stating that. despite our warm approval of the Budget, we have resigned our positions as leaderwriters on the Daily News. We cannot denounce torture in Russia and support
writers on
England, nor can we advocate demo: cratic principles in the name of a party which confines them to a single sex. We are, Sir, your obedient servants, H. N. BRAILSFORD. HENRY W. NEVINSON.
There are, we take it, two main reason for discriminating in favour of Political prisoners. In the first place they are commonly persons of high character who poses (to use the words which Mr W. E. Cadatons quoted from Burke) that noble sensitiveness which "feels a stain
like a wound In the second place no Gernment part or class can be trusted, without the check of some such such tradition radition is to deal fairly with its opponents. After the alternate and Tory pros Whig an emptions of the seventeenth century, pur forefathers had seen enough of the libertine malice of ignominious punishments. There is evidence for those who THE BAHRAICH POLICE CASE.
read the Liberal paity Press, that in present instance the corrosive of party resentment is at work. The oldest of the Liberal dailies bas circulated the Inaelens legend that at Birmingham a deliberate attempt was made to "assassi
AN IMPORTANT JUDGMENT.
Mr. T. K. Johnston, I. C. S. Aditional Sessions Judge of Bahraich. delivered judgment in the case of King Emperor
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