Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-10-25

the whole number are able to read and
write, and very many of them have not in
teihgence enough to count one hundred
In Georgetown District there are 418 whites
and 3,413 colored voters registered. One
White man might perchance be drawn I'D,
on each jury, and in all probability not one
OF the remaining eleven colored men would
be able to read and write
70 sum up, there will Do in twenty three
Districts OF this State q majority of cOlored
Jurors for the trial Of al classes of cases.
civil and criminal, and only five per cent.
OF their number Will De able to read or
write. Does any country which has estab-
lshed the right OF trial by jury, fail by its
legislation, to secure proper degree of in
telllgence among the jurors These rules,
If applied to the State Courts, Will, I pre-
sumo, be likewise applied 10 the Federal
Courts; and the proportion upon such Fed
eral JurleS will be-in Charleston eight col
ored to four whites; in Columbia, nine
colored to three whites, and in Greenville,
eight white to four colored jurors. These
are the three points where the United
States Court sits in South Carolina.
Can these colOred people discharge the du-
ties CT Jurors either to the United States
or to the State, to the litigants or to public
justice With such instruments, will not
the efforts to administer justice be mock
cry? Now, if the order had provided that
no person shall be allowed to sit upon a
jury who is unable to read or write, or if a
property qualification had been annexed, or
if in case, civilor criminal, inwhich colored
persons may be interested, certain pro-
portion of the jury should consist of their
own color itmight not have been objected to
seriously; but in its present bearing, the
order is calculated to excite the gravest
apprehensions and to lead to results which
must be universally deplored by those who
desire to see even and exact ustice meted
out to all men. Nearly all of the litiga-
ton, certainly all of the important litiga-
ton, on the civil side Of the court is be-
tween white citizens, and involves intricate
issues of law and fact as we'll as sums great
aud small. What protection can the white
or even the colored man himself have, if
his case is to be decided by jury made up
of persons possessing SO little intelligence
that they are unable to read, write or cipher?
With what satisfaction would Northern
Claimant regard an adverse decision made
by jury, ma jority of whom were color
ored, when the same case measured
by Intelligence and submitted to the
education, would perhaps have been
is a patentee whose rights have been in.
fringed, and whose interests-involved to
the amount of half million Of dollars
are dependent upon the keen discrimina-
ton Of an intelligent jury called upon to
determine some material difference between
machinery or processes Of manufacture is
it not prepOsterOus to suppose that q col
ored jury, constituted as / have described,
possess the requisite qualifications to rem
der Just and intelligent verdict ? Yet
this is but one Of the many classes of cases,
which the Northern as well as the South
ern man will be compelled to submit to the
Judgment of the ignorant and unwise jurors
created by Order No. 80.
Under the present jury organization in
South Carolina, | have no reason to be-
lieve that since cOlOred persons have been
admitted to give evidence in all our courts,
any in Justice has been done to the cOlOred
people by white jurors. On the contrary,
[ think it will be established by the con-
current testimony of the various prosecu-
ting officers in the State, that in criminal
proceedings iuries have dealt more meroi
fully with the colored than with the white
persons tried before them. again, the ex-
clusion of the intelligent classes referred
to, is based solely upon their political an
GtCCtittLtON. IOtlb w LISAC 10 lliC l1CijI1CtS VI
making the politics of a citizen, especially
the politics which ruled his action years
ago, the standard of his eligibility to per
form jury duty ? 1t is very rare indeed
that a case, civil or criminal, is presented
for the decision OF a jury involving any po-
htical issue whatever and l am not aware
that anywhere else, it is attempted to eX-
clude intelligence from the jury box, be
cause OF any real or supposed obnoxious
political sentiments entertained by the
parties whose duty it is thus to serve.
The five fall circuits of the Superior
Court of this State, which Is charged with
the trial Of all civil cases involving amounts
above 500, and OF all criminal charges %
felony and some misdcmeanOrs, commence
their terms on the first Monday III Octo
Der. The letter of General Canhy cnclos
ing the order above referred to, requires
that it shall go into effect Immediately
that the jurors who were drawn and ALREADY J
summoned at the spring term of the Court
in conformity to State laws shall not as
semble, but that new jury lists shall be pre-
pared in accordance with the order. IL
most of the Districts the term IS limited tC
one week, and the drawing and summon
ing Of jurors uDdor the order Will consume
much of the time. This is one of the prac
tical difficulties i'll the way Of the execution
Of the order.
In view of all these circumstances, there
fore, beg leave most earnestly to protes
against its execution, and to ask that /
may be ordered to be entirely revoked, O.
at least suspended until after the close o
the fail terms of this State. Your early at
tention to this matter is respectfully III
voked, iuasmuch as [ desire to comnunl
cate the result OF this application to tn
Judges prior to the commencement OF thel
respective terms.
1 have the honor to be, your Excellency'
obedient servant,
JAMES L. ORR,
Governor of South Carolina.