THE CRIPPEN. CASE.—A PROTEST.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Six,—The man Crippen, accused of murder, is apparently prejudged as guilty by a section of the Press. Is this quite fair ? I read a sentence to-day in a morning paper which described some dinner-party at which the accused man was present "on the night of the murder." Surely such assumed certainty where most details are admittedly uncertain is unusual and not in exactly good taste.—I am, Sir, &c.,
G. H. R. D.
[Dr. Crippen must of course have a fair trial, and must be proved, not assumed, to be guilty. The Press, however, could not be expected not to give the widest publicity to the facts (1) that the accused was wanted by the police; (2) that he had fled; (3) that the authorities were doing their best to catch him. The rule that a man must be assumed to be
innocent till proved guilty is thoroughly sound,—indeed, the very foundation of all justice; but it must not be used as an instrument to prevent the detection of crime or the execution of the law.—ED. Spectator.]
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