Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1881-09-03
Our Jury System.

Much has been said of the difficulties attend
ing the .aclection of jurors; of tho limited
number of our foreign population from which
to draw, and tho consequent unequal burden
ing of these properly fitted to perform Jury
duty. Complaints and murmurs from those
who once were almost uniformly called to the
jury-box have been loud and reiterated that
the duty should have been divided between 80
few. until at length tho justice Of their claim
has been acknowledged in an almost total want
of discrimination in the formation of panels
Thus from one extreme we have gone to tho
other, until almost any man in the populations
regardless of age, experience, or natural capa-
bilitics, may DO called upon to perform duty
Tho results natural to want of discrimination
in regard to the status and competency Of
jurymcn have been such would indicate the
necessity of instituting n system of procedure
in the selection of jurors far different from that
now in vogue.
We believe it to be an entirely mistaken idea
that our forcigntpopulation is too limited in
numbers to allow of discrimination os to tho
quail iiications of jurors without so far reducing
tncir hunters an to make it unduiy burden-
some for those selected. We arc not hesitant
in an opinion that the number of able iurymen
in our midst il much larger than has been rep
resented, and certainly larger than it was few
years since with ous then smaller population.
Many newcomers are here who have already
established their rcputatils as good citizens
and intelligent men, while, of course, the MINI
bers of those able to compare with standard
has also been increased. But all the more for
this latter reason does tho necessity for better
discrimination force itself upon us.
Exempting all professional mon, such IA
lawyers, doctors and clcrgymcn, captains of
coasters" government officers (evcn to the
most menaD, all connected with the editorial
statis of newspapers, decrepit persons, and
those naturally untitled by reason of apparent
intellectual or moral defects, as we'll as uyc-
nifty, still we have a goodly number from
which to draw, sufficiently large we would say
to allow of u division of work at which rea-
sonable men (and it is only such we want in
Juries) would not complain. A very rapid
survey OF names by any intelligent person
toerably we'll acquainted with the foreipn
population of this Island will suggest at least
n hundred names of those well fitted to do in
tclligent jury duty, while perhaps double this
number might be found upon moro mature con-
There are many who have spent the best
portion of their lives among ns, who lack
neither intelligence nor honesty, but who have
never once had their names upon a Jury list.
wiiie Foreigners scarcely recovered from their
= sea legs, perhaps Intelligent and perhaps
not; honest, perhaps. or otherwise for all we
can tell are pushed forward, hap hazard, to
bill jury panel--men yet strange to the usares
'i Inc country. -stF'ngo To tho customs Of it's
people; and perhaps bred to regard law from
standpoint very different from that which is
Iraditiona. among US. Veterans of the iury-
box may perhaps bo pleased that their ,abors |
have been lishtened by an extended distribu-
ion, but that feeling of relief must bo some
hat dashed by the knowledge that it has been
obtained only at sacrifice; that the good is
u no wise commensurate with the evils which
AVE resulted iherefrom.
We have seen and hearl of cases of late
when the verdicts Of juries have been neither
accordance with the evidence, or the law as
learly set forth from the Bench and yet to
ne acquainted with the mental calibre of those
omet'mes chosen, it is matter of little surprise
nat such should have been the case. We hold
hat pie appointment, of jurymcn is an import
mt afia'r' as upon their intelligence, honesty,
"d hrmness, are largely dependent the social
nd moral well-beng Of the community, and
hat as a consequence, their selection should
carefully aud maturely considered; and
nat such patent bemishes in those parts of a
ANS intellectual or moral constitution a.
ould be likely tointerfere with concientious
nd capable rendering of justice in accordance
ith the law and evidence, should be consid-
ed as uniting him us juror equally as
ueh as such defects should disqualify ssala-
cd Judgf ~ no such view of the respon-
'oliisy = ~ positiqs occupied BY jury can u