New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-01-11
DOGBERRYS IN JUDGMENT.

Tweed. Recalling the circumstances OF their
examinations and the frequent admission OF
the candidates for jurorship that they read
only papers which left no impression on what,
with nsuspected facetiOusness, they compla-
Gently called their minds; remembering that
the tryers repeatedly betrayed utter ignorances
of what they were about, and could not
tell whether they meant when they pro-
nounced "the challenge true" that the
Juror was competent or incompetent,
and knowing the importance and mag
nitude of the issue, both to the common
wealth and the prisoner, we cannot congratu-
late the people on the prospects OF this case.
Nor, for that matter, the prisoner either MI
Tweed is, doubtless, not over-eager to trust his
case to single Judge who knows the law and
has sufficient knowledge and power of logic to
come to Just judgment without being lnflu-
enced by the last word he hears; yet III escap-
ing such q Charybdis to be wrecked upon
such a Scylla as this of an ignorant, and con-
seduently prejudiced jury, is fate which we
can imagine he looks forward to with some
trepidation. The impaneling of this jury Is
simply a glariDg illustration of the utter
absurdity of a system which each trial
of any Importance serves to make at
once more ridiculously and disgustingly
apparent We cannot conceive of any greater
inconsistency in human laws than the au-
thorizatiOn to take hap-hazard from the
streets, for the trial of a case involving intri-
cate questions of law and fact dozen men
confessedly ignorant of the law as well as the
facts. Perhaps we ought to except from this
wholesale denunciation that other legal alb
surdity of permitting appeals in murder cases
on the errors of the learned judge and allow
ing none for blunders of the Ignorant jury.
OF all human institutions and enactments we
believe it is the law alone-this "epitOme of
common sense" as it has been called
which lets the errors of the apprentice go I'M
corrected, and remedies only the blunders Of
the expert trained to commit no mistakes. IL
from Jury chosen under q law so absurd
equal justice to people and prisoner is OBJ
tanned, we shall set it down as a miracle to
rejoice over
A remarkable incident which occurred in
this Court on Thursday shows that the people
have about as much to dread from the cOun-
sci in the case as from the jury. 1t was an
incident so striking that We are surprised it
has not before received notice and public
comment. 1t revealed instantly the superiority,
for the present duties, of the counsel for the
defendant over the counsel for the people; and
showed how unequal was the legal contest
upon which they are about entering. A ques-
ton arose upon the qualification of
Juror who did not know positively
whether or not ne was an actual
citizen through the naturalization of his
father. Mr.. Tremain, who seems to suspect
the inferiority Of his support and therefore
watches this case with as great care as he did
that of Stokes, if not greater, raised the point
that there was no evidence that the man was
citizen. Instantly, on the other side, from
the half dozen prominent lawyers who defend
Tweed, Burrill, Fullerton, Field, Graham,
were on their feet with references to law
of 1870, of which Mr.. Tremain had doubtless
never heard-One of the multitude of minor
laws framed for the benefit of the Ring, and
which remanded TO the Commissioner of Jurors
the powers Of the court to judge of the quail
fcations of jurors. Mr.. Tremain, unfamiliar
with the lesser laws Of the county, was, of
coarse, unprepared to reply, and was
compelled to study this particular act
while the court waited; and his associ-
ates, Mr. Wheeler H. Peckham and
the new Assistant District Attorney (the latter
fresh from practice in the United States Courts
only, sat dumb as oysters, and apparently as
unfamiliar with the law as the senior counsel
himself In short, this alarming incident re-
vealed that Mr.. Tweed is defended by men
peculiarly fitted by their thorough knowledge
of our local laws and institutions; while the
people are represented by one man whose
knowledge Of law seems limited to drawing
imperfect indictments; q second who has had
no experience in our State Courts, and one
prominent and powerful pleader who has had
no previous occasion to study the complications
of Ring law and Ring government With such
an ignorant jury aud such an unprepared
counsel, it seems to us the case of the people
does not look any too promising, and we would
suggest to Mr.. Phelps or the Attorney General
the pressing need of reenforcements
The jury being now obtained, we may ex-
pect the opening speech of the prosecution on |
Monday. The jury was secured only after |
sharp and at times bitter contests over the |
candidates, which indicate desperate and de- !
termined fight. We have lately passed through |
long and exciting murder trial, during which
counsel on both Sides as web as the prisoner.
betrayed such intense interest in the conclu-
sion that malicious personalities were too fire.
quently INDUCED in. We are witnessing in the
United States Court a civil suit as prolonged
and even more tedious, for the possession of
the immense Jumel estates, in the conduct Of
which counsel are lust as yituperatiye. as if