The Kansas herald of freedom., 1857-10-31
Trial By JmT.

We believe the nrSt court ever held IN
Lawrence is now In session. S. Il. WooD,
Esq, Justice of the Peace for Lecomp-
ton township, is hearing the preliminary
examination of the horse thieves. It is
aquestion now discussed by the country,
whether criminal is as liable to get JUS
tice done him by a jury as by court with
out jury. It is known to the public,
that Jury is sometimes bribed and Grim
inals escape. Judges also have been
bribed; and it is this general knowledge
OF corruption and connivance at crime by
men holding stations of honor or trust,
that causes the present panic.
Aswe are to have new Legislature,
aud new laws, it is best to examine both
sides of question, so we give below an
article from the Washington Star, advo-
eating the one man power-the taking of
power from the many and giving it to the
| few
Trial by Jury has, as all the world
knows, become, in important criminal
cases at the North, but little more than a
| farce, owing, we think, to the prevailing
laxity there concerning the obligations of
the juIor's duty to society, if not imme-
diately and directly to his oath. In New
York city, especially, is the jury trial in
murder nought but a prostitution of the
law for the benefit of the criminal. The
New York Times attributes this state OF
things to the existence of the law or Gus
tom in that State that accords to the pris-
oner the right to challenge and set aside
all offered as jurymen who have formed
any opinion upon the case; it being i'm
possible in these days of general news
paper reading and the publication of facts
in such cases to find men fit to be iurymen
who have failed to receive impressions as
to the guilt or innocence of the party tC
be tried. The consequence, according tc
the Times, is, that persons incapable Of
reasons incapable of reasoning out of court
or drawing correct impressions from fact:
appearing in testimony are invariably
found on juries in such cases to bang
them, or to bring in verdicts as utterly
absurd as that rendered len the recent tria
of Cangemi, the murderer of the police
man Anderson.
While the explanation of the Time
is to considerable extent a sound anC
correct one; we attribute the now proven
bal immunity of the murderer at the
North, in great part, to the influence o
that sickly philanthropy which so many
newspapers and political and other dema
gogues have been intoxicating there 1t j!
the legitimate result of the teachings o
the perfectionist's theory, for the mos
part. The rights of individuals are mag
nified in the minds of the Northern pub
lie out of all reasonable proportion Will,
those and the interests of society arr
whistled down the wind, and men arr
taught to believe that they may lawfully
and properly crafty a mawkish senti
mentality at the cost of the peace, gooc
order and well-being of society.
THE utter failure of trial by jury il
such quarters as manifested so soon in on
mind, raises grave misgivings of the ca.
pacity of society, as organized at the Nortl
for prudent and successful self-govern
ment. The trial by jnry is generally
styled the bulwark of our liberties l
was so, intended to be and was. so Ions
as the jurors function was honestly, con
scicentiously, and fearlessly administered
Since it has become there but the bacl
door through which the notorious crimina
invariably escapes due punishment, in ou
humble opinion it is next to nuisance as
administered.