The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1882-02-02
THE JURY SYSTEM.

There seems to be q kind OF one
horse effort now being made by
the enemies Of the jury system to
do away with it and thusleaVe us
with the national fabric tottering
TO it's very foundation. There can
be nothing in the whole mecban-
ism Of a free republic more i'm
poltant and necessary to the sue
cess of national security than the
| Jury system, system'which not
only gives every American citizen
the right to submit his grievances
to a panel ofotwelve enlightened
peers, but which assures to each
Juror 10 two dollars a day and
board; With a period of mental
calm and inteheetuairest which is
priceless as soother and tran
quilizer to the III valid who gene
rally sits on jury by advice OF
his physician instead of filling his
system full of opiates. Sea air
and a change of scene Of course
are good, but give us the sweet,
unrufied sleep of'the juryman as
a health promoter by all means in
place Of the expensive sea voyage
and the high.priced foreign hotel
William II. Root was giving US
his experience this morning on.
Chicago Jury showing how the
free, untet;ered love Of, even,
handed justice ~ ever. burning in
I the breast Of the true American
juror even in Chicago. =. |.~5
4 wasempanefed, said William,
sadly, 'in u damage case there one
time. T. most always fixed i, SO
as to be drawn on the jury " hen
other. avenues to. employment
seemed closed, and sometimes |
would make S35 TO $40 q day, &C.
cordiug to the nature of the case,
People have widely different, no
tions in regard to the market val.
ue Of substantial justice. Some
are willing to pay a fair com.
mission - 10 the poor juror, while
others are. timid and reserved
about putting up. .....
This Was a. case where little
kid had stuck, bis foot through a
defective sidewalk and injured the
sciatic nerve. so that the leg Was
paralyzed and. the 10y u sure
enough cripple for life.
Suit Was brought for, $4,000,
and it was proved up ak right and
a good case, but we, had the blank:
ETY. blankedest jury. you ever
saw. ...., ..,.. -, r.,
We had a Poiander that couldn t
speak a word of English, q deaf
man from Oshkosh and q half-wit-
ted cuss from Blue Island. Tbea
there was q one-eyed, man, from
the rhubards, who had to be
walked up with a chair for meals.
There was also a Norwegian, on
the jury who hadn't been in this
country very long, and didn't
know q verdict from a porus
plaster. s'','''.':.' Ii. ''..:..."
- The whole mob was about the
most onery and triAing aggrega-
ton of unprejudiced intellect you
ever saw. The first thing we did
was to disagree. =
1t was the afternoon before
Christmas that we wero locked in
with two overworked spittoons, q
volume. Of Greenieaf on evidence,
and a work on medical jurispru-
dence. We looked at the pictures
in the medical work, read aloud a
few pages on the rule regulating
the verdict in, cases Of manslaugh
ter and malicious tape-worm, and
then took a ballot. 90. =
1T stood all The way from $50
up, to $4,000. We voted till
about three o'clock Christmas
morning, and then l got mad. We
had exhausted all the stories we
knew, and argued and cussed, anc
swore, but the vote stood just the
same every pop. Finally took
the Colonel to one side and made
a proposition to him. The Colone
was the only man on the jury
except me-that seemed to know
what the jury was for. Most o
the outfit seemed To think th'
jury was empaoeled mostly: to
disagree, and draw their PEI
diem. ,s. ...:.. ......
The Colonel nodded and sait
that was ak right when l con
ferred with him, and l arose K