Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-01-29
Jury TRIAL,


By the laws of this State, freeholders only are
made competent to serve on Juries. The County
Courts are required. from time to time
to review lists of freeholders and cast out sll not
we'll qualified to serve, and to draw Juries for all
our Courts out of the lists, after being thus purged
The law does not lin.it the drawing of white men;
but negroes, not being regarded as citizens, are
never drawn as jurors. Gen. sickles, by his order
No. 80, dated May 50, 1867, ordained that " all
citizens assessed for taxes, and who shall have
paid taxes for the current year are qualified to
serve as Jurors" The Courts were ordered to
carry this order into execution without delay
No power was allowed the Court to cast out any
taxpayer, white Or black, however ignorant or
debased his character might be. Our sherifts
and taX-cOllectors are required to collect the
taxes and make their returns by the LIST day Of
October. and consequently our Courts could not
knor till after the 1st OF October, who paid tax
the current gear. In the early part Of August
was informed that two Courts had been broken
up by subordinates of Gen. sickles, because
Juries had not been drawn as prescribed in order
No. 80. The Fall Term of our Superior Courts
was just about to commerce and I understood
Post Commanders were ordered II t to allow any
jury trial where juries had not been drawn con-
formally to Order SO. Upon my satisfying Gen.
Sickles, by telegram, that it was impracticabe to
execute his order till after the 1st Of October, lie
issued orders suspending it's execution till it was
practicable for the Courts to carry it out. re-
monstrated to General Sickles against
this order as being worse than We Id be
our edict abolishing jury trial, and being
unnecessary to the fulhllment of the legislation
Of Congress. He would neither revoke nor mod.
ify it. Soon after Gen. Candy assumed command
annexed, marked i in which insisted that he
should at least modify it 10 conformity with Chief
Justice Chase's order to the Marshal at the open
ing Of the U. s. Court here. He ordered the
a hol Tn SI1n1 nonn Tn ha
ing otherwise qualified by law. This made all
negroes competent who owned q freehold in
other words, put them on the same footing aoah
aCfaife men. Soon afterwards, about September
13h,, 1867, Gen. Candy modified the order as fol-
lows "Au citizens assessed for taxes, and
who shall have paid taxes the current year, and
1cO are qualified and hare been mag he regis-
tered as roters are hereby declared qualified to
serve as jurors, making the matter far tcoyse
than Gen. Sickles had left it. By disqualifylng
our citizens not allowed to vote, who comprise
the chief intelligence Of the country as truthfuy
aud manfully admitted by Gen Siekles in his let
ter to Senator Trumbull, be would have made
trial by jury ridiculous caricature upon this
time honored institution. Upon my representing
to him that the Courts could not execute this or,
der until registration completed, and they
were furnished with copies of the registration
books, he finally allowed men to be drawn, but
provided that either party might put them off by
challenge. This innovation upon our jury laws
is generally regarded as an unnecessary and Of
fensiFe display of power, calculated to foster and
engender natreo against tne government, instead
of bringing about the reconciliation and fraterni-
ty which every good man should encourage.
One of the lamentable effects of The military
edcts abrogating our laws and dec~eeing new
ones, is the resignation of Judges Merrimon and
Fowle. See copies of their resignation marked J.
and X explaining the reasons constraining them
to resign, and a number of our conscientious and
intelligent Justices of the Peace part of the
oath of Office Of every Judge and Justice of the
Peace. prescribed by statute, is in these words:
81 will not delay any person of common right BY
reason of any letter or command from any person
other course whatsoever and in case any letter
or order come to me. contrary to law will pro.
coed to enfore the law, such letters or orders not
withstanding." These gentlemen held that they
could not obey many of the military mandates of
Gems. Sickles and Candy, having due regard to
their oath of Office The vacancies cannot be
suitably filed by men who will take the iron. clad
oath:
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