| Show ANOTHER ENGLISH CASE LAST nast august we tye publiA published hed particulars of two trials of persons charged with bigamy at the assize crown court in manchester england edgland Eo giand gland I 1 in a which the prisoners were each nominally sentenced to one days imprisonment the judge stating la in each case that they could noti not have ave been prosecuted each of bf the men charged with thu the offense offence had llad married a second wife while the first was wa living and and all the parties were aware of the facts neither the first or second wives were deceived nor non was wab any charge ladeby made mada by either the first or second wives alie the prosecutions were the work of officious officials and as noone no one mis was really in lured mr justice day nay considered the i cases so trivial that thai he virtually discharged the accused our attention has heer beer been i drawn to a big bigamy gamy case a at t the lincoln assizes before mr justice was reported in the tho manchester ff nardia elizabeth wann and chayes charles charies elsher eisher were jointly indicted the former formen ormen for i bigamy with the latter and alid fisher for aiding alding and abetting wann had bad been married for fon 20 years but the greater pant pann artof of the time hatt batt lived live capart da part apart from her hus husband band baad and sup bup supported portes portel herself for the last two lears years arfi the woman had bad been kyang living with elsher eisher a fact of which the husband was well aware minaz finally hey proposed to emigrate and wis wishing n to start respectably on their new now career went through the ceremony of marriage two months mouths af after affer ter ier the nalria marriage the prisoners were arrested at r cottage one evening and locked up for the night they mere were were next day taken akeli t before the miki magistrates strates and committed for trial without ball bali fisher pleaded eulley guilty and wann wahn was wag was convicted llis liis lordship in passing sentence said he thought thattie that the prison prisoners ershad had been heen very harshly treated under the circumstances cum stances he should sentence cb the prisoners to be imprisoned for two days only from the commencement of 61 the as assizes sties effect anat they were forthwith discharged f from rom nom custody d y the di gerence ference between the views ot of the be judges in england and in utah Is that while the former de deprecate prosecutions ecat ions lons from over zeal on ohp part of the them public prosecutor in cases where no one is injured or the parties parde s supposed to be injured make no complaint the latter aid and abet and ano foster berthat that over by which such puch prosecutions alel alei are instituted and I 1 attempt to compel plural wives and in A somo some instances ilist first wives to testify against their husbands the relative judicial lud iud iclal learning and ability of judges in the two countries we need say nothing i a about the ta talent ent and standing of ene english occupants of the bench iq in the higher courts are aret beyond question the essence of the offense of bigamy Is in the f mud fraud practised practiced upon one or both of the wives and the injury thus Inflicted Upon them the law is f framed mined in view of that injurious deception but put when the parties are all agreed and no one even claims to have suffered wrong although there may be an offense offence against the tha law the very essence of the crime is absent and a light penalty is 19 considered shift sufficient to vindicate the written enactment that was the position of the cheeng eng lideh judges es in th the cases cited but ahre hire it if tie the law would permit lt there is no doubt that the very vea consent of the wives yoves to the plural marriage would be made an of fence aggravating instead of mitigating the transaction andall andali and all ali the parties would be punished as criminisi cri minis all that can be done is done in that direction and all the machinery of tile the courts is set la in motion to effect that alch which euc euw lish judges have pronounced harsh hara needless and improper and this too when no element of religious faith entered into the body of the question A little good judgment and calm consideration of principle rinel I 1 e w would luid be quite as cOmmend commendable ade to lil lii just t a and nd thoughtful I 1 peoples peo pleas red hot zeal in one direction to the detriment of the public welfare in others |
