TORTURE BY TALK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 175, 28 August 1909, Page 3

TORTURE BY TALK.

Many people were doubtless miUy puzzled when they read iu their newspapers recently of "the terrible third degree," in connection with the po'lce 1 'rationing of a Chinaman supposed to 1)' implicated in the murder of a white

a:i in New York (says a Home pam v). J f •• Englishmen happily know nothing of ' iii« atrocious system uf "torture by talk," as it has not inap'-iy been termed. : nor would it, or anything remotely approaching it, be tolerated here. NOT'A .MOMENT'S RESPITE. It consists in bombarding a suspect with questions for hoars, and even days, it a stretch. Relays of burly detectives, each skilled in the art of cross-examina-tion, of bullying, and of inspiring terror by menaces and innuendo, relieve one another at intervals, but the wretcned victim is given not a moment's respite. Not infrequently he is even deprived of sleep for long intervals—the torture th°ft partaking of the nature of the terrible mediaeval one known to our an. eestors as "waking"—and all the while vl-e stream of talk flows remorselessly 011. This is not done in open court, of course, but in the solitude of the prisoner's cell, or in one of the waitingrooms of the gaol where he is confined. He is cajoled and intimidated by turn, shouted at until his brain recle and his ears are deafened, frightened by fearful threats of what will happen to him if he does not confess, stuffed with lying promises regarding his future provided he will only speak out and "own up." CONFESSIONS OFTEN WORTHLESS. Few men can stand this 6ort of thing for any great length of time. For an hour or two it is all right, but then, toy degrees, the will begins to weaken and waver, until after a while the victim breaks down and confesses.

The worst of it is, from the point of view of the police, that such confessions, like those extorted in the olden days by means of the r ack,and the thumbscrew, are as often as not quite worthless. The poor, harassed wretch, driven half-insane by the ceaseless cross-questioning, is glad at last to admit anything in order to obtain a little peace and quietness.