The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-02-11
.Au,eu-roSEp JuaY..

An item under the above heading az
peired in our telegraphic reports couple Of
days since detailing the fact that GENERAL
GRAsr, jar GoULD, Ex-MAYoRs CoorrR
aud HALL. and two or three other gentle
men of equal prominence and repute in TIE
great metropolis OF the country, had been
summoned as u coroner's jury In the cas
of msn who had been killed by u lunatic
in Bellevue hospital. Yesterday II was
stated that the attempt 10 gather such
"hlgh.toned fury" had failed, as they all
made some excuse that dispensed with
their attendance. The fact has its lessons
and they are OF importance. In the frat
place the summoniDg Of such
jury Of noted men Is such an extra
ordinary proceeding that the matter was
telegraphed over the country as a fine news
item. Even in the large cities, where there
are hundreds OF prominent aud able men,
II is rare that one OF them is ever put
upon jury. Throughout tho country at
large the fact is OF still more infrequent oc-
currence, Juries for the most part ARC
composed Of the court loaiers and hangers
on. Omen they are made up OF the most
ignorant and prcjudccd men In the COM
munity. 1t isthls circumstance that he's
contributed chiefly to the singular verdiots
about which we hear daily aud at the same
time thrown the jury system into such dis
repute. Instead of submitting the qucs.
tions ofliIe and liberty and property to the
determination of the successful, prominent
and thinking men in the community,
they. depend principally Tor settlement
upon the unthinking, prcudicod or indif.
ferent consideration OF crowd OF profess
ional jurors. We could not, under such
circumstances, anticipate other results than
those We constantly see. There are in every
p1puous section or tom numbers of men,
those, indeed who virtually control all the
business and finances and give tone to H.
social and moral status of the,city and sur.
rounding country, who never see inside
courthouse from one year end to another.
They are left alone by the officers of the law
when summoning Jurors, aud only those
are taken who happen at tho time TO ho in
convenient reach, Il ever summoned, they
fail TO respond otherwise than as GRANT,
GoULp aud others did in New York tho
Jther day, by sending in u variety OF OK.
cuses, which the courts receive
without questioning, and the admins.
tratlon Of Justice proceeds in the hands of
those who half the time do not know what
they are trying. The solid aud intelligent
farmers, the intelligent business men, IN
TACT, the prominent characters OF the COM
mnnity who have made success out OF life
and who have been taught TO reason and
Judge with cloarness and despatch between
man and man, are those WHO should com.
pose our luries, and they should be mndo
to attend, A man has no right TO deny tho
public few hours Of his time on the plea OF
private business, when, by serving the pub
lie, ho will improve the administration oil
justice and the moral and social tone of the
community. True regard for the
public and true citizenship are
ness aud selfshness A year or 80 ago In
Chicago, after the criminal classes had been
enjoying practical immunity through the
worthlessness Ignorance aud viciousness of
the iuries that had been for so long dgrac-
Ing tue System in that modern Sodom,
jury was npannelled in the criminal court
from the reputable business firms and
houses ia the vicinity of the temple Of
Justice. The results aud the improvement
were wonderful. Cases were tried and
business despatched with rapidly not
known In the court for years previ.
ously, conviction was tho order of
the hour old Offenders by the
score were sent to prison, and
the lawbrcakers were terror-strcken. IL
would be well, almost throughout tho en-.
tire country, TO repeat tho experiment for
once, nj least. Ii the results should prove
as beneficial aud satisfactory as they did In
Chicago ii is beyond dispute that what
would be inaugurated ~ an cxperi mcut
would BIO continued ~ policy. We can.
not say what tho object was In summoninc
the jury before referred 10, comnoscd of
such nationally prominent men, whether il
was n Joke, an experiment or matter of
seriousness, but the fact ought to arouse
reflection on the subject. Nothing would
80 thoroughly and rapidly improve the ad-
ministration of justice and raise CORES,
pondngly the social and moral tone of the
people Of the United Statcs, as raising tho
standard OF intelligence, worth and personal
all uence In the selections for Jurors.