THE TREASURY PROSECUTION. Proceedings at the Police Court. (From Our London Correspondent.) London September 10.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 125, 24 October 1885, Page 4

THE TREASURY PROSECUTION. Proceedings at the Police Court. (From Our London Correspondent.) London September 10.

I Since writing the foregoing the Armstrong i case , has been made the, subject of a Treasury prosecution, and Mr Stead (editor | of the "Pull Mall"), Mr Jacques (sub[editor), Rebecca JTurrett. M ado mo Mousey (the midwife who examined Lliza Arm strong), Bramwell Booth, »nd Madame Combe (a Salvation *' lass,") are now undergoing examination before Mr Vaugban, at B tw-Ktreet, charged wiih conspiiacy, ab duction, indecent) aesuult, and other criminal offences. j Great public intere e t has from the first lean marnferted in the cafe The newspapers publish virbdtiin repoits seven columns long, the pros and cons of the cvi dence are the topic of the hour, and the greatest curiosity 13 everywheie expressed with regard to tho nature of Mr ateadV defence At Bow-street, on Monday morning, long before tho hour appointed for th commencement of mumsuiiul business, a laige crowd assembled uuttide the .court, and ou the doors boing opefled the police had s> -mo difficulty iv dealing with the hundreds of eager applicants tor admia ion When Mr Vuughun took his seat on the bench, shortly before eleven o'clock, all avuiiable « pace in the juh ioe-i oom waa occu pied. One of the six persons charged with conspiring to deprive Aimstrong's patent* of the pos-eB*ion oi thtir child was in custody, having been appiehended on a wan ant. Tin.- was Rebecca Jarrett, and t*he, when the cuj-o wus culled on, was biought.fi ouj tho cells aud piacod in the dock. Ihe other defendants iVir Steud, editor of the •- Pall Mali Gazette," Mr Jacques, ot the fame paper, Mr Biamweil Booth and Mis Cum be, both of the Salvu tiofi Army, and Madame Mouiey, a bretich inidwiie answered to their names upon buiuuioiis. Ihey were not subjected to the indignity of having to enter the dock, but were allowed to siund, and s-übsequeutly to tit in front of it. Jariett, the ugent iu in duoing the child to leave its home, la a woman of somewhat lurgo ttutuie, and apparently ol middle uge. tier antecedents ait admittedly bad, though ot late the is said to have been a lefoimed character, en gaged as such in aiding philanthropic outerprii-es. At the commencement of the examination she sec-mtd to treat the, matter iigh'ly, but larer on, when the chief witness was prwduotd. bhe became evidently c 'iicerntd, and tor some time loaned on the dock rail wi h her handkerchief to her face. Mi 8 Combe, a diminutive woman, at tned in the conventional drets of the Salvation Army, maintained a cheerful demeanour throughout, but, unlike her, Madame Moutey uppeared to feel her portion acutely the mure i-o as, bem^ a fuieign* r, she clearly did not understand the exuet pnipi>rt of ul that was going on. Mr 13 ram wt 11 booth wore tho unifoim of an officer ot the Salvation Aimy. Owing to seveie deafness, he hud to use an ear tiumphet. He had, further, the assistance of a secretary, who was constantly by his side. Mr tetead, who wat< apparently regarded as the chief of the accuted parties, foJlowed the procet dings with close atten tion, and took cop'oua notes, whilst his "fidus Achates,"a^ the pro-ecuting counsel termed Mr Jacques, a^uined tho asptct of a man amused rather than alarmed. All ,the defendants weie lepuscnteu by counsel with the exception of Mr Stead, who elected to conduct hi& own defence, though he hud a solicitor near him to advise on Itgal points Mr Poland opened the case for the pro-e-cution, going over the story as aliea^y known in a guarded but most damaging manner. His speech lasted two hours, and when he pat down, atter protecting against the ouuageous conduct of everyone con . nected with the cas-e, theie was loud j applause, "infctautly suppresstd" of I course. Referring to a letter from Mr Stead to Mrs Arm?*t»on<, r , eigned "The Chief Director," Mr Poland ewrcasticsilly observed he believed the pignature related to "some commipsion or other." This belittlement was too much for Mr Jacques. Popping up like a parchtd pea in a frying pan, be interjected, "Everybody knows about it." Mr Poland, however, ignored the remonstrance, merely proceeding to designate the notorious commi-tiun as "some people associated together to rake up matteis which they had better have ieft alone." I nttr on Mr Pobmd roused Mr Jacquet-'s ire. 'Mr Stead," he said, u must be a very credulous man it he believes that there is an English mother iv the country who would sell her child for prostitution and give a receipt for it." "Oh, oh!" cmd Jacques, deiifcively, but the Treasury coun>el persisted "1 am quite sine," quoth he, seriously, "such unnatural crimes do not prevail amongHt the rich I have also had some experience of the vines of this great city, and I believe it to be a foul hbel to t-ay and to print that. English mothers — poor people — would sell the r cluldien for such a purpo-e (cheert) " The learned counsel wound up thus: — "I have gone through the whole Ptoiy f om beginning to end, and I ank you to ptctu.ro { to youree'f, if you can, a young child just over thirteen, taken from her parents, and then submitted to such tieatiiient as thic child suflviied, on the night in question, and carried away amongst strange people ü broad. Of the.-<e i will say nothing, a>they were kind, and no one imputes any m sconduct alter she was sent from this country. But as to the treatment before, you will find that the law deal.-* with «uch conduct in a way which th»charge sheet in the case of Jarrett and the putnmonB i»> the ca&e of the other tie fondants prove Mi Stead pays, 'I am alone responsible.' I thiuk, if he will take my adv cc, he will answer only for for hunt-elf, and 1 think he will find he has quite enough to answer for. According to thr law of this country a man cannot take upon himself the responsibility ot criminal actß done by others. I will ttfk you, sir, when you have heard the evidence which 1 shall call, , whether this is not a case in. which you will' think it your duty to send, all these persons to the Central Giiminal Couttto take their trial upon the charges brought against, them. (Cheers.) Eliza Armstrong is an iutelligent-lookiDg girl of 13 not beautiful, or even comely, but a fair speoimen of the *' little slavey , claes. She gave her evidence frankly and, honeftly, creating distiucily favourable mv prespionsu After the prpceedinga were over,, the attitude of the crowd became so ominous fchat the police had to sneak out General Booth and, the" editor by a back door, t Mr Jacques* however, drove, off in a cab Boundly.ibiesed, ,aDd the, editor Qf:" Lloyd's Week ly , V b.einp mistaken for another^ , commidßioner, got disagreeably hußtled, Vi! ,j I . .-v ■ rr,s << ••> .-• »•< .•, r "

Toe first part otsk* evfrfencfi 'given c tfy ' .the girtiicmafcrong^elttted- to , het engaged lneut by Jarrett, as t>h« .believtd, as « ler vunt. Sti<i <vaV tiftket/Jfirst' to the house 01 > midwife.aqqif.lvappenci^r evidence fr-Oiit; the point where she wa«* introduced into t he > presence- of ' the French* -mid wife* Muur«y till , Jarrett <her away ih/tn the br»thel to a Salvation Army home. v " Jairett'an'd i," the cays, ''went uito the bou?>e (tVloujey'cJ.aseivaot opening the, door for us. VNhen we; went to the door Jarrett asked for 'Madame' - Afijer, wards we saw 'JVladam'e' Th'e'cleiendant Mourey is the person. 'She came into, W room. ; I could teli-she w'as'Fiehph, be> cause she could hardly ejopaViutg-Ushj a little bit " - What took place,?— Madame took me into another little room. -Previously had they - said 'anything I—Tfcjej1 — Tfcjej wore talking, but 1 1 could not make Out what, tney were saying. When Madame t >ok me into the other little 'room 'Jarrett O named in the outerroom. ' VVhen iv the i 'om i Uith Madame what took place? — & t he ex mined me indecently,— Wheie were you .uhen *he did this? . 1 ; was standing up b> the side of her. — What did you do when she did thi&'to you ? I tried to get away.. — Did you fsiy anything ?' JSO. What cj'd *he do when you tried to get away?— She 'efc me go — t>»ic( the say anything to you befoteshedid ihi*?— No. — Was thudoor oi the room open or Bhut ? Op^n. -Did you call out at all?— No. — Uid the hurt you? No. She then t'»ok me out of the room into the next room wheie Jarret wa*. — VVhat did she say?- She pat theie fill the gentleman came in. Did you cay anything to Jarrett aa to what had hap pened? — Yes; I said to Jatrett, "She is adiity woman " Jdirett made no rep y. When you got outside did ydu find a fourwheel cab wuitiug lor you? -Yes, I wan carrying h. pat eel containing my old clothes. — We were driven to Polauct-tureot, and stopped opposite a ham-and-beef shop. I heard Jurrett suy she would get aome change, and she atterwards came out and paid the cabman.— dt that time did you t>ee *ome men ther ?-Yes, two Janett and I walked up the street, and these two mnn followed us We went into the house next door to the ham-and-beef t>hop. The men went in tiisf, and they went to a back room upftai'-a on the firet floor. Jairctt and I went, into the front room, wmch war>i bedroom. — Have you f-een the gentlemen fince? -1 know Mr Jacques tie i* one of the two gt ntlemen, arid was the same a* I saw at Mr Stead's house when my moihei Cime f<>r mo on Augu-t 24. 1 cud not look at the second gentlem*!), and I canuot desoibe him. — you were in the front bed room v\ir,h Jarrett, uin the two men come into that ro< m befoieyou weie undies>ed ?— Yes. The lady of the houre Was aL-o there >ompthing — w hi-ky, I think was brought fo dunk I hod some lemonade and water. The men touk their diink into the other room with them Jarrett had her drink in the b«.d-oom — i*id you sppak to Jairett as to the meaning nt all thi^?— No. She told me to look at a book —What happened next? She told me to go to bed. — VVhat was Jarrett doing *hile you were undreei-ing ? She «a- looking at a book. Jtirrett remained in the loom, and after a time, without uudrei-sing, hid herself beside roe on the bed - I id she do anything to jou?-Sht> put something on a hnndketchiif and put it up to my nose — Could you smell anything? What was it like at all ? It was a funny smell — Did she say anything when she gave it you ? She said it wan scent, and told me to give a good eniff up. vv hat did you do? I did pnitf, and then I threw the handkerchief to the side of the bed. — JUid you sniff it or not? — Yes, sir. Whilo tins to* k place did you hear anything? She £Ot up then, and 1 heard somebody at the door. The door was open — Did you .-cc any one come in ? There were curtain* all round the bed, and I could not see, but I heard some one come in —Was Jarrett in the bed at the time ? — No, she was outside. - VVhen you heard the ptr-on come in, what did you do? -I could hear his voice ; it was a man's voice, and I screamed out, "Theie is a man in the room." I then hoai'd the man go out. J.im.tt came in and paid, " W hat's the matter?" J said, lt '1 here is a man in the room." She pulled the curtains of the bed up, andsdd, "Theie is no man in the room " What did you .*ay to that? I t-a»d, "No, because he's gone out of the room." Jarrett then left the room. She was not away for long vVhen she came back she said, " Get up and dress yourself, became there are too many men in the hou-e." I got up and dressed, and she al.-o put on her hat and jacket. A cab was waiting outside and we were driven to the Salvation Army Home. Jarrett finally, in conjunciion with Mrs Combe, conveyed her to France and placed her in charge of the Salvation Aimy, as to whose treatment of her, it should be obseived, she made no complaint. The girl's mother was next brought for w r atd to prove that her daughter was ob tamed from her by fraudulent represents tion- on the part- of Jarrett, whose reputed al'egation that the child was sold to her by the parents for immoral purposes and for a monetary consideration was indignantly denit d She Sfated that she had not re- « eived any money for her daughter. Afier applying at the Marylebone Police Court, she went with two inspectors of police to the headquarters of the Salvation Army She then saw Mr Bramwell Booth. He I a^ked lnr what the wanted, and ■-he replied, " I want my child " I He said the could not have her Witness asked him why. He a?ktd her if she had £100 She replied, " No, I am only a poor woman." He said, '"That i» what it co.-t me to send her away." Wit ness a^ked him. " How did you come b\ the child, as you were not the person who engaged her ?" , He made no satinfactory answer. Witness then said, "Be kind enough to her back to England to prove before me and Mrs Brcugi.ton and other witnesses before the magistrate that I never sold her." JHe paid, "The girl would not know whether nhe was sold." Witness said she would know, that a girl of thirteen would know She fuither said, "J have got a scandal from the neighbour in the street that I sold my child for t5 for improper purposes." Mr Booth Paid " Before I sent the child a* ay I had her ex aniined by one of my physicians. I can fhow a certificate to prove that the child hacl not been tampered with." Mim Armt-trong cubeequently explained how by the aid ot the pul cc her daughter Mas found at Mr Steads.* hout*e at Wimbledon having been brought thence from the Paris headquarters of the Salvation Army after the Treasury prosecution had been set on foot.