TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Star, Issue 12094, 15 January 1904, Page 7

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

[FfcOll Op-B SrECIAL COPJSESrONDEOT.]

LONDON, December 4. A TELL-TALE FINGER-PRINT.

A finger-print on a window-frame—-it doesn't seem very incriminating evidence at first glahce, yet it has proved sufficient to send two men to gaol for twelve months' hard labor. ' This finger-print system of identification, which is now in use in the colonies as well as in England, was vindicated in striking fashion at the Marlborough Police Court this week. Four prisoners were charged on suspicion of stealing £5,000 worth of'jewellery from, the auction galleries of Messrs Knight, Frank, and Rutley, 'in Conduit street, London. Against two of the men no evidence was offered, and they were accordingly discharged. Nor was there a case u.pon which to commit the other two for trial on the,charge of burglary. The stolen jewellery had completely disappeared; even the "magistrate was moved to\express his admiration of,the ingenuity with which the jewels had been spirited away. The accused might have got off altogether 1 hut for that unlucky finger-print. It was discovered by the detectives on a window-pane in the roof through an'entry to the auction galleries had been effected. There were four marks on the glass. Three, pf them were blurred, but the fourth was an- impression of the middle finger of the left hand. This was identified from the 'police records as the print of the middle finger of Elliott, who. had been convicted on a previous occasion, when the print of his fingers was taken. The pane of glass was produced in court, and the magistrate-had before him the whole process of identification on which the prosecution relied. This was the only proof that Elliott had had anything to do with the burglary, and though it convinced the magistrate that Elliott had been on the roof on the night of the burglary, still it was not'in itself sufficient evidence that he stole the jewels. It was decided, however, to deal with both Elliott and Smith under the Prevention of Crimes as persons who had been convicted within seven veal's previously and were believed to be gaining' a dishonest living. Evidence on this charge was forthcoming,, and the magistrate sentenced both men to twelve months' imprisonment. Tins is of many cases in which finger-prints have led to the identification •pf criminals and the detection of crime. This year alone Scotland Yard has been> able to make over 3,000 identifications by this process. Up till 1901 the system was used in conjunction with the Bertillon system of lueasurenients, but the latter has now been dropped by the English authorities, and the finger-print system is used exclusively. Detective-sergeant. Collins, who identified Elliott's impression on the window-pane, is probably the greatest expert in the world in the use of the process. In his time he has dealt with something like half a million finger-prints. No mistake in identification has ever beeu known to occur, because no two persons have ever been found to possess the same marking on their fingers.. LADIES AND THE LAW. Portia pleadipg in the laWcourts is doubtless a picturesque figure, but the average man or woman will feel inclined to agree that under present conditions the lady barrister'is impossible. So think the Benchers of Gray's Inn, and a bevy of Judges) presided over by the Lord Chancellor, this week endorsed that opinion. Miss Bertha, Cave, an enterprising lady with a taste for the law, applied to be entered on the books of Gray's Inn, and the Benchers had the temerity to refuse the application. So the lady hied her to the Judges, and besought their ruling. '• She has not yet gone up for any of tha law exams.,' nor even for matriculation ; but she was quite prepared, she told the Judges, to eat the dinners and wear the wig and gown! This touching admission seemed to amuse their lordships considerably, but it failed to win their acquiescence. The proceedings, which were private, lasted only a few minutes. Miss Cave briefly stated her case, urging the example set by other countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, and Holland, and arguing that there was no legal Obstacle in the way of her becoming a student. Then their lordships briefly conferred together, and the Lord Chancellor informed the aspirant, with an expression of regret, that they could not interfere with the discretion of Gray's Inn. There was no precedent, and they saw no reason to create one. There will "therefore be no lady barristers justiyet. Miss Cave did not seem to be at all dismayed by the decision, although she eipressed her indignation to the reporters She was particularly severe on the |ienchers. "Extremely mean" was her comment on their action "They get only soup, meat, end fruit tarts, so I shan't toiss much," she added, in contemptuous j allusion to the "dinners." "If there is ajiy loophole," she continued resolutely, " I shall try to get in. I am now going to try to) get on the rolls as a solicitor." Meantime j she will resume her studies, begun under a barrister friend, preparaiory-to going up ibr the LL.B. degree, j . The Press comments on the incident are not encouraging to the champion of the fair sex. The 'St. James's Gazette,' in particular, heaves a great sighj of relief. " Con-* sternation (it says) would have been let loose in the Trms of Court'had the decision been otherwise. What chance would any man have in competition [with the persuasive sex in a profession where persuasion spells success? The only way to bring things level again, if ladits became barristers, would be to empannel them in juries also; then the male counsel might once more have a chance of occasionally winning a verdict for his client. And when the fair practitioners attained, as of course they quickly would, to serfs- on the. judicial bench, the pungent conuients on Jhe proceedings of :my learned sster' would beat anything that now falls jfrom the lips cf those who are so ' deeply conscious < f each other's shortcomings.' The full-bottomed wigs would often be on thjs green."? -

THE DREYFUS CASE. The ripening of the Dteyfns ease, -which ha? been decided upon by the Keeper of the Seals, after fie belawd discovery that what are euphemistically] termed " sophisticated documents" wena communicated to the Rennes Conrt-martiU, and that other documents tending to proye Dreyfus's innocence were withheld, will not be popular in France. For several years the long and painful controversy divided families and friends, but of late it seemed to /be fading out of men's memories. J Now, it| seems, the whole business is to i be "gone through again—old animosities will bb revived, and old sores reopened, Geperal Andre' the Minister of War, however, has rightly decided that the cause of truth and justice must jbe pursued at any'cost, and a consultative commission has been appointed to mauire into tie question of revision. If revision bei. decided upon; the matter will go before a Cabinet Councfl, the Minister of Justice remaining' responsible for subvdtiajui the case to 3us*Courtof Cassation.

The Judges of the Criminal Chamber of that court would then deliberate on athd case drawn up. by one of -■ their counsellors, and after examination of all docnments and hearing of evidence would give a decisions. In this decision, which wcrald declare- thatlthere wag reason for revision,' a court-martial would be designated for' the whole rehearinjT of the Dreyfns casei ' M. Dreyfus and his.backers do not, however, want another court-martial. . Tliey desire a purely judicial decision-on the whole case, and expect to see the Court of Cassation quash the Rennes verdict once and. for all. Dreyfiis himsetf, in-his application for revision last April to the War Minister, based it on two. facts:—First", -on. the use made of a forged document—namely, the bordereau annotated by the Gterman , Emperor; secondly, on the mendacious and' fraudulent testimony of-the witness Czernuski before the court-martial. PS 1899.

The Rennes court-martial in English eyes was a. judicial farce, pure and simple/ settling nothing, and the verdict of a majority against Dreyfus, followed- by the pardoning of the prisoner,., suggested .to many of us that the trial was arranged so as to conciliate the army, placate the Dreyfusards, and bring the affair to an end. -These suspicions appear to have been justified.