The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-12-22
& ESTABLISHED IN
I MARCH, 1s45.

trial. The slack conduct of the bench
leaves the ignorant and feeble minded
jurors all abroad to be confused by
the practice of inscriptions attorneys,
who regard the acquittal of a muir
derer Of greater achievement than to
clear the innocent.
The verdict is seen at last to depend
upon the mind of any one Of twelve
men, who have been selected not for
their special intelligence or good
Judgment, but for conditions which
imply the contrary. In addition to
all these elements of uncertainty is
the common abuse of the plea of
insanity, and the loose practice in the
evidence, which allows pretended med
ical experts to come in and testify
whether if person does thus and thus
he is insane, and upon this hypothesis
assumes that he is irresponsible. Ig-
norant jurors are allowed to believe
that these quacks can testify upon
such a question as the murderer's san
itv upon such suppositions, and to
believe that if such quack says he was
insane they must acquit him.
All this makes the execution of
justice on murderer remote and
unlikely in the mind Of the commu-
nifty. This impression is not alone on
those Of impulsive and violent habit;
it pervades the whole. The public
ear is often assailed with news of
atrocious murder. A wholesome pub
lie sentiment demands justice, and
demands it now; but who feels any
certainty that justice will be done?
All know that in the first place there
will be long delay, which itself out
RACES justice, and that this is solely
for the chances that forgetfulness in
the community and the disappearance
of witnesses will favor the escape.
All feel that the ultimate chances are
in favor Of the murderer.
Thus the prevailing feeling of soci-
ETY. is that the regular tribunals have
become failures in their Office Of ad-
ministering justice. Where this is the
case, the going back to the primitive
method is natural. The primitive
method was the law of its time, and
was good enough for its time. When
the regular tribunals have failed as
Of justice, then the
primitive method becomes the better,
for that did not fail. 1t was super
seded by more careful forms for pro-
tecting the innocent, but when these
become perverted to provisions for
clearing the guilty, it becomes neces-
sary to go back to a mode which has
not been corrupted.
The so called lynch law was we'll
enough for new settlements, into
which by some special attraction great
numbers Of migratory persons had
been brought, including rough and
characters, and which had
not become settled enough in COM
to have fixed tribunals, or to
enforce respect for their authority.
In some of these instances lynch law
has worked benefcially. In the
nature Of things it would not be
resorted to in settled society if it had
confidence in the regular tribunals.
Instances of lynch law executions in
Ohio are because. the people have not
confidence in the courts. Each one of
uHeul ID d UeSIlluOuy W Glle ldllllle OI
justice in the constituted tribunals.
Something more is needed than de-
Of mob law when these
summary executions are done. Mobs
do not rescue murderers from certain
execution to do it themselves. There
would be no mob executions if it were
generally believed that he who is
surely guilty will surely be hanged.
The courts are in general responsible
for the mob law executions. But that
weak class of persons who
make heroes and pious saints Of con-
demned murderers, and who having
fitted the sainted manslayer with a
halo around his head, ready to be sent
into glory, call on the Governor to
commute his sentence, and so put an
end to his piety, are not free from
nor is the Governor
who yields to such misplaced SYM
pathy. The laws failure is that
which causes mob law.