Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-01-24
Can There Be Too Much Of q Good
Thing?

Ties, ana tue arguments used were,
to say the least, very exciting and
amusing, and it has been discussed
occasionally ever since, yet it has
not to my knowledge ever been an.
to me it should be for two reasons,
thoritatively decided ; but it appears
first, because the people appear to
be in favor of jury to decide their
disputes, not daring to trust the
Judge. Now if this question was
decided in the negative there would
be nothing to hinder having 60 or
80 jurymen in attendance upon each
session of the Court where we now
have only 80, it being decided that
the jury is good thing and that
there cannot be 100 much of a good
thing, it would follow that the more
jurymen were in attendance the bet
ter. But should it be decided in the
affirmative it would seem to be a
proper subject of inquiry, whether
the people are bound to pay thirty
men for attendance upon Court as
jurymen for an indefinite time 80
that the parties to suit may have O
chance to pick their men. Now the
question naturally raises several
others which cannot be decided till
they have been settled, such as this:
are the people bound to keep thirty
men under pay as jurymen in at
tendance upon Court, where only
twelve can be used as time Have
the people any rights that the par
ties to lawsuit are bound to re.
spect? If courts are good things
to settle disputes between men
ought not their judgment to be ex.
ecuted instead of offering the defeated
party reward if he will set it's iudp.
ment at defiance, by appealing to
another Court? This is substanti.
ally done in every case of appeal.
There are some self-evident truths
beside those contained in the decla-
ration of independence, one is that
the nearer to the time and place of
the cause of an action it is decided
the more likely will it be to be de.
cided right, yet our laws appear to
have been framed mainly with the
view of putting off, and continuing q
case from one term to another and
by appeal from one court to another
to keep it as long as possible in the
courts, then as the parties after
great battle, are sometimes obliged
to count their dead before they can
decide which is the victor, 80 the
parties to the suit must count up
their costs before they can decide
which one came off second best.
Another self evident truth is, that
no amount of what is called plead
ing can be of any use in determine
ing what the law is or what Justice
requires, for two reasons, first, be.
cause the pleaders are generally
pretty evenly matched. Each ones
plea neutralizing the others, and
second, did either know anything
that would be advantageous to the
other he would be sure to keep it to
himself. The most they can do is to
occasionally befog and lead sstray q
weak minded juryman and by so do
ing keep them from agreeing upon
verdict. This makes business, and
weak minded and stubborn jurymen
are highly priced by the members of
the bar, and they may be for they
are worth more to them than q doz-
en- farrow COWS, often causing their
pockets to be filed with L. o. Us.
and mortgages on their clients
property that they are often taken
for "bIoated bond-holders," when
in point of fact, most people look up
on them as Honorable Counsellors, :"
occupying the very highest places,
on the social and political scales, as
is proved from the fact that the peo-
pie almost invariably choose them
to fill all the most important offices
in their gift. When I was boy l |
heard the celebrated Lorenzo Dow
preach several times. On one occa-
sion, to illustrate some point 10 his
discourse, he selected stout looking
man sitting near, and shaking his
bony fingers in his face, said. "you
love good rum, but if you can't get
good rum, you will drink poor rum"
And it may be said now with equal
truth of too many men : "You love
good Office, one that will bring in
several thousands yearly, but if you
can't get that you will accept the
Presidency offs Savings Bank, and
make it your business to save it's
contents so that the depositors shall
have no more trouble about them"
But have seen it stated in some
paper lately that the world is actu.
ally growing better. If that is 90
what were the moral characters of
our grand fathers? Were they all
pirates ? | hope not.
LUTHER BRowN.
Patch Grove, Jan. ~, 1878.