The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1874-02-18

| eiI!H :, itS HsiS 4i!S LiCHICoOtS Oil! J.,
in wbieh-he has-recorded every
thing that has occurred since the
adoption of the Federal 4Constitu-
! tion."
TElE JURY SYsTEM IN IT
ALY.
It is one thing for 4. people to
be proud Of its political institu-
tions, but quite another thing to
imagine that those same institu-
tlons would be equally valuable if
adopted in the case of other na-
tions. 4. remarkable illustration
Of this comes to Us from Italy in
the instance Of a trial by jury
1t would be extremely hazardous
10 say whether the jury system is
q discovery peculiar to civilization.
As something very much like it
was adopted with success in ages
past, Whcn society was less per-
feet than it is now, perhaps some
people would be disposed, to re-
gard it as a relic Of barharism.-
But, on the other hand, when un-
der Tammany influence it failed
to secure justice to the people, the
impression began to grow that q
demoralAed condition of society
needed something more strictly
to be depended on; and perhaps,
this consideration brings 1S. some.
where near the truth; for it would
seem, from all experience, g, that
the jury system can only be sue
cessfuI where society is not thor
oughly corrupt, and where the
people have some measures Of
practical education. ';~.~. ".E
In Italy it has produced some
remarkable results, and the Minis
ter OF Justice despairs of being able
to retain it in the Italian courts
for long time to come. An
Italian paper reports several re-
cent cases which if they were not
we'll authenticated, would seem
hardly credible. But there is no
doubt Of their truth. The Ouch
css of Vastogirardi, residing in
Naples, lost some valuable. dia-
| nnonds. Suspicion fcllupon her Ia
dy's maid who was forthwith ar
rested and tried. The evidence
was quite conclusive against the
woman, but the Jury acquitted her,
and blamed only the Duchess, who
t they: declared ought not. to have
exposed her diamonds, which chad
exercised such a terrible fascina-
tion on the poor maid that she
I had been driEen to commit the
theft by an irresistible force" and
therefore was not gnilCy. This
was not unlike the vcrdictdclivered
by q Welsh jury, who found the
prisoner mot guilty" but accom-
panied the finding with a~rccom-
mendation that the judge should
caution the prisoner not to yield
to temptation again. a....
Ignorance or stupidity on the
part Of the Italian 'juryman may
have led to the decision, but in ano-
thcr instance the violent prejudice
of the people is ludicrousIy display
| ed. 4 man fired a gun at random
into church and hit the legofa gen
tleman who was kneeling at his
devotions. The ofe nder was
brought to trial, but the jury de-
cidcd that if the gentleman had
not been at church his leg g.would
not have been in the way. Of the
bullet. The fault, therefore, was
not with the man who fired the
gun and who was acquitted accord
ingly, but it was with the man
who yielded to a big2ted supersti-
ton, and went to the place where
the shot happen to reach him.-
A tax-collcctor at Naples abscond-
ed with somerublic cmoney amount
ing to about fifteen million francs.
Hc was caught, brought back and
tried; but the jury acquitted him
! because the money be had stolen
was the peoples money and as he
was one Of the people he was
part owner of that money and of
course it would be monstrous to
convict q man Of stealing what is
his own. It may seem strange
that such al ingenious argument
has never occurred to the legal Ge-
tenders Of some of our own pub ic
thieves but they are very welcome
to the suggestion. It is at least as
good an argument as many that
have been urged. ..
But it would appear that, absurd
as they may be in the minds
of sensible people, parallel cases
are by no means uncommon in It,
ally. It is, therefore with very
substantial reason that the Minis-
ters Of Justice propose some sub
stitute for the system Of trial by
jury. But the fundamental cause
Of it's failure is clearly the igno-
rance Of the people. Men who ar
rive at Judicial decisions through
such arguments are plainly unfit
to be vested with any important
responsibility, and valuable insti-
tuition is made not only worthless
but dangerous, because the nation
is too degraded to profit by it, or
even to use it with common intel
ligence.-Erthange. .. ..
4 correspondent of neighboring