The trial of Voigt, the "sham Captain" of the famous
ICOpenick raid, ended on Saturday last in the conviction of the prisoner, who was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for unlawfully wearing uniform, depriving subjects of their liberty, fraud and forgery. A great deal of sympathy, natural and sentimental, was shown towards the prisoner throughout the proceedings, the prison officials testified to his exemplary conduct in gaol, and the Court was evidently impressed by his contention—fully confirmed by his last employer, a master shoemaker at Wismar—that it was only because be was harried by the police while endeavouring to earn an honest living that he was driven back to irregular courses. He' told his story with perfect frankness, and explained his knowledge of military etiquette by the fact that when a boy he had lived opposite a barracks and spent all his leisure with the soldiers. Justice is more than satisfied by his sentence, which, however, is less severe than that demanded by the Public Prosecutor, while the incident can hardly fail to lead to improvements, alike in police methods and military discipline, throughout the German Empire. Where pamphlets and novels with a purpose have had little effect, the practical satire of a convict bids fair to work solid and lasting reform.
