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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1929-12-06, Page 3LEif: Pvinv of as.sj c��li pID cls betexeitt' h + + C c'SradNaagland s the crime 44404 Ord Corbett, who Act his esisithee4Peallee she was dy!- 'iaag oz•ogoz r. E:+ r w s charged with emeesioe, ib t the jury refused to feed TAU 4144,74, Oad raow the, gnostical is vslettherehle will not estabbishen =teem* m* dangerous precedeet. That ua :doubt die was in the mind of the p oseentor. He saki that he did not demand the maximum penalty' hut merely five years' imprisonment and added that already the prisoner had Ibsen judged more harshly in England than in 'France. "Dare you proclaim to the world," he asked the jurymen, "that men have the right to kill? You would not so degrade French justice." Apparently the jury came to the con- clusion that while the right to kill might be questionable and that if everybody felt empowered to do what Corbett had done, grave abuses might oecur, what Corbett did was right in the circumstances. The prisoner was greatly molved by the speech of the counsel for the defence who asserted that in killing his mother he had given proof of supreme courage. His mother was more or less under the influence of morphine all the time, since her pain from a cancer wad al- most unendurable, and medical men had hinted that Corbett might take a chance and give her an overdose. His lawyer said that this would have been only a form of slow poisoning, and that the bullet was really more merci- ful. As a matter of fact, before Cor- bett slew her he had given her a large dose of morphine so that she died unconscious of the extraordinary act of her son. After the jury had retired for a short time a message was sent to the judge asking that if it was found that Corbett has actually killed his mother, would he pron•.ise to impose no penalty. He replied that :she had not this power. Then it was announced that the jury stood six against six on the main question as to whether the prisoner had killed his mother. Under French law this amounts to an acquittal since it re- quires a majority to convict. There was a great outburst of cheering When the verdict was announced, and it seems plain that Corbett had gen- eral sympathy in France. How he would have fared in England is a question which probably Mr. Corbett is lucky not to have answered. It seems likely enough that a ver- dict of guilty while insane might have ibeen returned. 'In any event, Corbett is a highly emotional person end it was proved that he was driven al- most out of his mind by_the suffer- ings of his mother to whom he was devoted. His previous history indi- cated mental instability. He is a descendant of an old Shropshire fam- ily. Indeed, he traces his descent to Roger Corbeau, who founded the shire in the time of William the Con- queror. His grandfather was Capt. R. J. Corbett, who settled in Hyeres, France, and made many friends, be- ing appointed vice-consul. He estab- lished an English bank and an Eng- lish library. His son fell in love with a French maid who worked in the father's home but the parental objec- tions to the marriage were strong and vehemently expressed. Finally, the lovers were secretly married in Lon- don. But the Corbetts did not forgive the daughter-in-law, if they did for- give the son, and he and his wife had to return to France, where their child Richard, was born. In 1912 the fa- ther died and then began a struggle for the boy between his English grandmother and his French mother. It involved an attempt to kidnap him and get him back to England. This failed but he did fall into the hands of his father's people and for some time was educated at their ex- pense in Switzerland. He seems to have had considerable affection for his grandmother despite the fact that she disliked his mother and refused to accept her. He was legally a Frenchman and was conscripted for the Moroccan campaign, having been too young to serve in the great war. All this time her dread malady was developing and the young man knew that she suffered and that recovery was impossible. In this period of ex- citement and anguish it is said that he formed the habit of reading occult literature until his highly nervous system became weakened and mental stability was lost. On a visit to his grandmother he learned of a turn for the worse in his mother's illness and hastened at once to her side. There he was told by the physicians that it was impossible she could re- cover. Then last May her sufferings, according to his story, which was con- firmed by medical experts, became ex- cruciating. He saicLthat she had nev- er asked him in so many words to kill her but had frequently moaned: "I want to die -I .suffer too much." Af- ter killing his mother, Corbett made an attempt upon his own life, which indicated that he was out of his mind. He lay a long time between life and death but when he recovered he as- serted that what he had done was right and sought to justify his course. His attempted suicide, he said, was not an effort to escape from the con- sequences of his act but merely caus- ed by his overwhelming grief over his mother's death. He said at the trial that he 'believed be had done wrong, although in his appeal to the jury he said: ".Science did all that it could to deliver my mother from her agony. 'ut science failed. All that was left for her was to endure a terrible ag- ony. I wanted to spare her from suffering. I delivered her myself." CRIMINALS ARE REALLY BENEFACTORS OF HUMANITY Should a nation encourage crime and bonus its more intelligent crim- inals? At first blush it would appear rather a dubious policy to adopt. But in the Science News Letter Dr. Knight Dunlap. head of the department of psychology at the Johns ' aepk1ns uni- versity, calls attention to the fact that there is no human progress without crime, and that a great many off' the seen and women whom the world uow honors as martyrs and pioneers oil run- vnan thought committed crimes. It is ht0Via QVk tci raspy, PRS t • ]lot I olp 'mitt rice ge2394**404 is re tz seas. talo -la to the TS *Med lidth deilnu ion as as.ansae +thio n: lanZh (We 44 not 47amidat. alt tom„q of a l� that Were in force fear . QTq 4t e nsff ago, and heautijy app tad an one who de ;e ed diems. We suppose t een the most nock ribb eapitolist 4 ae ' us would give, three chem; and Pam - haps a couple a roubles to. dray' Rus. sian bre .n any of the communist laws establis i - .' 'by the Soviets. Anthropologists tell us that the most law-abiding people of all are these found in the most primitive tribes. Every law with them is sup- posed to balms ,a supernatural sanction and the dreadful penalties which they are told would follow a fracture of them reeked it certain th:Yt none will ever be violated. Among these tribes obedience to the laws has been for so long slavishly rendered that when they were asked what would happen to the individual who transgressed the answer has been "We do not know. No one ever transgresses." Obvious- ly there will be no progress in such tribes. If they are to be rescued from their intellectual and moral stag- nation some intrepid criminal must arise. He will smash the holy ikons and call upon his fellows to witness that no bolts from heaven descend up- on him or them. In the end, if he is lucky, he will bet set up as a god and it will be left for some future malefactor to show that he too was only a man and perhaps a mistaken one. Prof. Dunlap says that it is a cheap and easy explanation of the lack of progress of the African to say that he is low in intelligence. When it is borne in mind that African 'blacks discover- ed the smelting and working of iron and made iron articles of magnificent workmanship with the crudest sort of forges and bellows the suppositions that their intelligence would forbid further mechanical development be- comes untenable. The trouble with them is that they know nothing about progress. They are held to the cus- toms and beliefs of their forefathers and anyone who wishes to vary from them in the slightest degree becomes an object of suspicion and then perse- cution. He is killed, as a warning to others. Thus crime is suppressed and stagnation safeguarded. This calls at- tention to the common assumption that the life of the savage is the only free one. It is true that primitive tribes have no written laws but there is in Russia. They were bound at ev- ery step by a superstition which had greater force than law, and the pen- alty for breaking a tabu was gener- ally death. Undoubtedly the races lowest in intelligence and most back- ward in social development are of all peoples the most law-abiding. Quite recently there was an illustra- tion of the public benefit secured by breaking a law. In the most congested district in Chicago the police promul- gated an order that the pedestrians were to cross with the signals direct- ing the motor traffic. The attempt to enforce this law lasted for bout a week for the simple reason that the pedestrians refused to obey it. Had they been docile i.:.e b'w, which was a thoroughly bad one, would still he in force. But they rebelled and the police commissioners found that even eighteen policemen and a set of Lights at a corner could not enforce it. Now they have a regulation which is more convenient to pedes- trians, and has also the advantage of being workable. The same thing has happened in the matter of speed lim- its. Originally these limits were 15 or m miles an hour. But motorists insisted upon going faster and the lawmakers were gradually educated to an understanding that 25 or 30 miles an hour is not only a reason- able seed but it is one more suitable for modern traffic than the earlier re- stricti,rns. It is generally admitted that the greatest impetus the movement for prohibition in the United States ever received came from the hatchet cam- paign of Carrie Nation. Mrs. Nation was a flagrant law -breaker and spent some time in jail. But nevertheless she lighted a flame in the United States which led to the nation adopt- ing the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead act. Those who believe that these are wise enactments will have to salute the memory of the criminal Carrie. Similarly, if the prohibition laws are some day ex- punged from the statute books it will be the result of the persistent re- fusal of millions of Americans . to obey them. That is to say, criminals will have widened the liberties of the people. (We recall incidentally that John Bunyan spent considerable time in jail and that he wrote an immortal book which has done more for re- ligious belief perhaps than any other book except the Bible. The Boston tea party which later spread into the American revolution was a lawless, even a criminal, act. Are those who engaged in it now regarded as scoun- drels or are they national heroes ? The French mob which tore down the Bastille was a criminal gang, remem- bered in France, however, and ry lib- erty lovers everywhere as among the great emancipators of the eighteenth century. So one might proceed with many examples which suggest that the time has come when we ought to cease pampering our law -givers and give fair play to our selected crimin- als. As Frankie stood beside his mother, who was making some purchases, the grocer told him to help himself to a handful of nuts. But Frankie shook• his' head. "Why, what's the matter?" asked the merchant. "Don't you like nuts?" "Yes" replied Frankie. "Well, go ahead and take some." Frankie hesitated, whereupon the grocer put a generous handful in Frankie's pocket, Wlhem they had left the shop, his mother turned to her small son and asked: "Why didn't you take the amts when the kind man asked you?" "'Cause his Hamid was larger than mine]" ]Frankie replied, Nw ollmen'e CoEte, F©ir the ChTistmEo Come and see these new Coats we have bought spec- ially fog° Christmas trade. Lovely new Coats in all their attractiveness, offering themselves at very moder- ate prices. For in this high assembl- age is a splendid array of specially priced coats that will at once appeal to your idea of style and price. 4$9.75 to $35 Dzzeeee A Christmme St Re nevi ew Presenting the very latest styles, specially designed for the many happy functions of the Yuletide season. A fashion parade of the crea- tions that are the style hits for day time or evening wear. Soft, sheer goods in the most fashionable hues anis clever details. Prices: $7.50 to $25 CHRIISTMAS GWIFTS will be suitably box in a Fancy Christmas ox, which greatly adds to the appear- ance of your f_, ift. I:. 411 Sfte Special Advance ®wiig �f (Christmas Presents for those w® send ti ifs to a distance ce and for those Wise coppers Who /:guy Early. iniK i HERE is distinction in giving and receiving Christmas gifts from this store. !: eautiful thinks `-' from all parts of the world are assembled here - appropriate gifts of individuality and character. You may make your selection with unhurried and pleasant deliberations at Stewart's. FOT Women. End Girlie Purses and Hand Bags 25c to $8.00 Flowers 25c to $1.50 Silk ,1 1oomers..®8c to $2.00 Kid Gloves . , .$2.00 to $4.00 Suedette Gloves, 59c to $L50 Novelties 25c to $4,50 Handkerchiefs. ... 5c to 75c 1Hlandkerchiefs Boxed 25c to $11.50 Lunch Sets. .$3.25 'to $5.00 Lunch Cloths75c to $4,50 Centres and Runners 40c to $3.50 Bridge Sets ... $1.50 to $8.50 Pillow Cases, pair $L®® to $L25 Pillow Cases, embroidered, 98c to $3.75 Silk Hose 59c to $11.95 Silk and Wool Hose $L®® to $L50 Pyjamas, Silk and Flannelette, $L95 to $5.00 Kimonas $2.50 to $9,50 Rubber Aprons, 25c to 75c Night Gowns, Silk and Flannelette, $1119 to $4.50 Blankets, pair . ....$219 to $12.50 Baby Gifts, (various) ....25c to $2.50 Fancy !:, ed Covers. n . $7.75 to $110.50 Bed Spreads. . $2.95 to $Z.®® Linen Towels, pair 29c to $1.75 Bath Towels. .. 59c to $L50 Linen Table Cloths ... Linen Table Napkins . Table Linen Sets Women's Parasols Women's Sweaters Children's Sweaters , Baby Knit C;iats Chit;' Knit Shits $3.75 to $4.59 Fancy Cushions, 59c to $5.00 Cushion Tops...50c to $3,75 Dress Ends of Silk, Velvet, Crepe and Fine Dress Goods .$2.75 to $110.50 .$3.50 to $110.00 $10 to $25.00 .$L50 to $6.00 .. $2.69 to $6.75 .$1.2.9 to $3.50 $1.®® to $2.50 FM' Ken s,nd. Boyo Mufflers Ties $1.25 to $6.50 50c to $L50 Handkerchiefs .. We to 50c Handkerchiefs, Boxed' 50c to $11.04 Fancy Sox 50c to $L25 Umbrellas . $1.50 to $3.50 Shirts $11.50 to $5.00 Smoking .rackets ... $5.00 to $111.00 Lounging Robes $4M to $12.00 Braces 25c to 75 Garters 25c to 75c Arm Bands 25c to 50c Sweaters $L50 to $5.00 Belts 50c to $L75 Sweater Coats, $L50 to $5 Golf Sox 50c to $4.00 Boys' Stockings, 59c to $11.00 Fancy Caps. . . . 75c to $2.00 Men's Overcoats, $115.00 to $35.00 Boys' Overcoats, $5.00 to $113.00 Men's Suits, $]12.00 to $35.00 Boys' Suits, $5.95 to $112.00 Boys' Leather Coats Me 0 ere At ?Han Y01.8 S o Iles • Here is an opportunity to get a reliable Overcoat at prices that are real savings to you. Well tailored Chinchilla, Whitney, Melton or Tweed Coats, beautifully lined. The colors are Blue, Grey, Sand, rown. The new checks are also strongly represent- ed in a full range of colors. PRICES: ,1.5 to 35c. SJoSuite At; 'Tempting Pllicee Clever new designs in blue stripes, plain blues a n d fancy colored Worsteds in rowns, !:,lues, Greys. The points of difference in these suits are the style and the make. Every suit we sell has behind it the reputation of Canada's best manufac- turers, plus our personal guarantee. Prices : Z OOtt©,$35 SHOP EARLY En the Day En the Week En the month