Arizona citizen., 1876-03-04
HE CITIZEN.
L OCAL MA TIERS.
Trouble.

Trouble.
 | Affairs are progressing evenly and
 smoothly in the district court, under the
 new regime. With one exception. The bar is showing the effects Of too severe .argumentative repression. The members iof the bar OfTucsOn have long been famed
 for their oratory and logical subtlety. The delicate hneness to which they could
 work down the edge ofan argument has ! frequently had a disastrous effect on jury
 men whose mental faculties were not per ifectly balanced. We had the iueStimable privilege Of sitting on a jury couple of lyears ago, upon case in which the respec-
 tive attorneys let themselves out, just to
 show what they could do. IL took them a
 week, and during the intervening nights the jury was kept in close confinement.
 We recolIect, with startling clearness, the | ieffect Of this argumentative tension on
 the mind or one Ofthe jurors. The contag lion Of argument got such complete hold lofhim by degrees, that during the astthree nights not juror closed his eyes and by ] the sixth night the Inspirations juror had proven excessively that full" beats i''four Of kind," that man can't sue IcesSfuuy "draw to flush" nlnety-nine times out Of every hundred without laying himself open to grave suspicion, and thai iwhen George Washington said be could not tell a lie, the assertionitselfwas prima ' facie proof that he could. The introdue- | ton of this last subject made some Of the ijury fighting mad, and In the confusion lone innocent gentleman oi the jury, who ihad been lying on his back and afording Ihimselfa harmless titillauon by working
 his toes, got one Of his little toes fast, over
 the one next Co it, and this so enraged
 him that he arose and whipped the argu-
 meRtatlve juror. But these are things of
 the past, and the alkali has been piled
 over the grave Of many poor fellow since
 then.
 As We were saying, under the new dis lpensatlon in our district court, the legal
 fraternity are showing marked signs oftoo
 rigid repression. They can't even rise 10 ieugage in little personal dIsputation for ionIy a few hours, without being immedi- lately put down by the court. The first day
 that this pressure was brought to bear, the
 effect was truly interesting, not only to the lordinary observer, but to the closer stu
 dent Of natural and physical phenomena. lone by one the members Of the bar would
 rise 10 relieve their overcharged faculties; lone by one they would be astonlshed to Hrnh fharr1 GnafarT m hax ling said anyting but "yeroner,"-o "may 1t pl,"--Or "if yer on,r-All over the bar lcould be heard an ominous sound as Of steam escaping from too great pressure. lone promising young lawyer who had larisen a second time, with the intention Of putting legal sky light Into the head lOfa fellow lawyer, was closed down upon so suddenly by the court that he couldn't get his mouth shut again and was carried iout amid a profound sensation. We are pained to learn that al the latest tidings he had not yet succeeded in shutting his mouth, and Is probably blighted for life Another legal gentleman, Of a spirited temper. upon being summarily silenced, on that first field day, got his back up so high that he can't get 1t down again, and has had to have all his clothes altered, and wears bis pants strapped down tight. jstul another gifted lawyer, through that sudden repression, was shattered in hIs mind to such an extent that his whole past has become blank to him. He has for gotten everything. This Is not only an adiic;ion in Itself, but an inconvenience to others.
 We could cite other and even more touching instances Of the effects Of this sudden and tremendous restraint on legal debate. But time forbids. Unfortunately we know ofno remedy for the state olaf fairs. We cannot even hold out hope of a relaxation Of this restraint. We would like tO help the members ofthe bar, but we can think Of nothing easy, except t might be to engage hall outside Of court, improvise a bar, hire a Papago to sit on the bench and talk him into state Of howl Ing idiocy.