The result of the great Anarchist trial in France is
not what any one, least of all the authorities, can call satis- factory. The jury, unconvinced—and, as we think, rightly —that the prisoners all formed part of a great criminal organisation, acquitted twenty-two of the accused, and only convicted the three burglars, Ortiz, Chericotti, and Bertani. These three were respectively sentenced to fifteen, eight, and six years' imprisonment. The prisoners were not tried under the new law, but under that of last December, as members of an association of malefactors. The jury, it is said, were unanimous in regard to the convictions, but the acquittals were only carried by 7 votes to 6. Opinion in Paris seems to regard the trial as muddled by the authorities, and we see no reason to doubt that this view is the right one. Only acts, or incitements clearly connected with acts, not mere vague expressions of abstract opinions, ought to be made the sub- ject of prosecutions.
