PARADISE OF WIFE-BEATERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 51, 28 February 1880, Page 1

PARADISE OF WIFE-BEATERS.

Wife-beaters in England, on leaving fche uncongenial atmosphere of the

treadmill to which they have been condemned by a sentimental jury who consider that hob-nail boots and sticks should not be freely used in asserting the husband's authority, may find consolation in the. iacfc . thafc there are juries who view this matter in a different light, and who possess a jusfc appreciation of the obedience to be shown by the " weaker vessel " to her lord and master. The Government of Volhynia, in the Empire of Eussia, appears to afford peculiar advantages fco those individuals whose wives occasionally require a little wholesome correction, it we are to believe the account jusfc published in the Russian press of a sage decision on this subject arrived afc by a District Court. The wife of a well-to-do peasant in the district of Kremenefcz addressed herself to the Court; of the Volosfc, or district, with a complaint against her husband, charging him with beating and torturing her and with keeping her in the cold without food until she had nearly died of starvation. He had bound her stark naked to a post in the street and requested the passers-by fco strike her, which he did himself each time they refused to do so. The inhuman brute had even fastened her down to the ground, and in such a position had heaped stones and heavy, weights upon her body, until one of her arms had been broken. "When fche wife's accusation was brought before the local tribunal, this specimen of domestic authority took fright, and did not appear to answer the charge, bufc neither his absence nor contempt of court pre* vented the learned judge from coming to an immediate decision. The wifebeater was found " not guilty/' on the plea fchafc a husband has fche perfect right to beat his wife if he so chooses, for, said the wise conclusion of the court, it eannot be permitted to a wife fco ignore the authority of her husband. But the affair did nofc end there. On the following day the husband, emboldened through fche generous acquittal by his peers, turned the tables on his ■'better half" by bringing a counter complaint against her in fche same court, and this excellent authority actually declared against the unfortunate woman, and by his salutary government, she was actually flogged publicly there and then on the spot in the most shameful manner. Of such extraordinary distribution of justice as this we have lately had more than one ejaaiple, and it shows plainly enough fchat the new judicial tribunals of Russia from which so much was expected afc the beginning of the pfesentTtjign^are in a vastTiuiiiber of cases quite incapable of appreciating the duties wh)ch they are called on to perform. — St. Petersburg Correspondent London Times. «—*■■'■■ 'I'M" .'_ MM.—IIMII