The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-09-14
The System"


Al recent t.ial in Massachusetts, of
Mr.. Samuel Bowles. for damaging the
character Of Mr.. Willis Phelps in
"The Springfield Republican" to an
amount represented by a large expression
in American currency, the litigants
agreed to dispense with the jury altogeth.
er, as, by law Of the State, they had
the privilege Of doing. 1t was an ex-
ceedingly sensible proceeding, and ought to
have attracted more attention than it did
attract, and wider following than it has
yet secured, For, OF all the halucina.
tions which. from generation TO genera.
ton, possess and pervert the minds Of
men, that which attaches a sort of sacred.
ness to a jury trial, and holds the "jury
system as half divine, is the most fatu.
Gus. To be tried by ones "peers," those
"peers' reaching the exact number Of
twelve, is regarded, bya very large num-
Der Of the community, as privilege to
be surrendered under no circumstance
a privilege to be defended al any cost Of
OipON "hu tICdsulc
The word peer" as it is used here, is
a cheat. All that it means is, that the
jury has the same political power and
privileges as the man whom he helps to
try, yet the women of America have
never been tried by their peers. "lnfants'
are never tried by their peers. Those
who were formely slaves were never
tried by their peers. In the recent
trial of Mr.. Beecher, it would be very
silly to say that he was tried by his
peers. Indeed, it would have been very
difficult to find enough of his peers in
America to try him. If such jury
could have had charge of his case, il
certainly would not have disagreed.
But to come down upon the solid
fact let us confess that the ordinary
jury is utterly incompetent to perform
the duties of its office. Men who are
taken from the different walks Of life
men whose minds rnn in the narrow chan
nels Of specialized industries, are brought
into courtroom under circumstances ut
terly strange to them, without habits O.
mental application, without practice il
sitting evidence, easily imposed upon by
the pladsibiitles of counsel easily acted
upon through their sympathies. easily
impressible by eloquence, and are expect
, ed the first time, and every time to rcn
, der justice The thing is absurd on the
, face of it and so notorious now is thu
uncertainty of jury trial, that men re
, gard verdict very much as they do the
drawing of lottery. A verdict is :
matter of jury and not of justice at all
: So we'll understood is the fact, on the par
} Of corporations, that, before jury, they
r stand DO chance in any case against al
/ individual, that many Of them have ceas
ed to expect justice from q jury, and ST
are constantly compromising suits il
which they know their opponents have nj
case. The average juror makes common
r cause with any individual against cor
+; narstjQ,n "a the '"r""''''"" N'' '"""" y
:. AS men average, there is one man il
, twelve, at least. of exceptional min'
+ and characteristics There was a devi
e among the twelve Apostles and in near
! " every jury there is "crooked stick.
e He may be without common honesty; h
may be without common sense. Tie ma,
, be man who has a genius for differing
d with everybody on every possible subject
: One man in twelve, at least, has SOM
y kind of eccentricity, and, as he has n
). special education to help him, his opin
d ion on any subject is without the slight
est value. Now, this twelfth man is tn
f man on whom hangs the fate of all VIII
;. trust themselves to a jury trial. He ca
# hinder justice, and he usually does il
The good sense Of eleven men hav
decided given case in the given way
II but the bad sense, or the bad disposition
b of the twelfth man, is enough to thwar
|. their will and make all the labor bestow
;. ed upon the case of no avail We de
r eide all other questions by a majorit
}, vote but this. Here alone we requir
8 unanimity, and no chance whatever
J. afforded to realize tho results Of prepon
II deratint opinion. If a jury trial coul
0 be decided by majority even if it shoul
S, be 6ve.sixths or eleven.twelfihs, justic
e would have better chance. AS + il
e we have always to count in the chance 0
e getting the crooked stick, the dishones
$, man, the corruptible man, and to ADM
t. his power to spoil any verdict that eleve
70 men may freely decide upon. The la7
It does its best to make every juror incom
y petent, by insisting that he shall be 5
Il little intelligent in current affairs as
h. have no opinion concerning them, as the
Ig may relate to cases in hand.
OF But there is something further tha
ID this to be said against juries. The fax
?. that their service is compulsory is a
le outrage upon the rights of the citizel
70 Therc is no civil or judicial service in'
r which men are compelled but this.
Il, time of war, the state can compel tt
s. service Of her rs for her defense,
ID /, ey do not volunteer but state {
I'd war is altogether an exceptional cond
g. ton. In a condition Of peace, any con
10 7 Ilsory service in the making or admit
r. istration of law is essentially hardsh
he and an outrage. To be for,ed to cor
pei this service is to acknowledge slayel
nd to precedent, and confess to scantiness
r. resources. To force men unpaid, or on
de inadequately paid, into the service
1, tho courts, to drag them away fro
their business or their families, impris
as them under charge Of officers, and q
nd noy them for days, or weeks, or m0ntt