Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-06-28

That the man who was taken out OF
Jail and put to death BY . mob at She
Michigan, a few days ago, was
not guilty of the crime for which he was
Tiled. is the firm belief of the citizen
who arrested him in the country on sus'
picion and took him into town. Eye
witnesses Of the lynching assert that the
victim met his death with calm, quiet
dignity. and the impression is becom-
ing general that he told the truth
when, with his last breath-and after
he had been horribly tortured IN order
TO extort . confession-he mildly but
firmly said II an innocent" 1t ap-
pears that the jail-keeper readily per-
mitted himself to be held fast while the
mob took the prisoner out. making no
decent show Of resistance. The State OF
Michigan, or the people OF the county
especially disgraced by this affair. ought
TO arrest the ringleaders Of the mob and
try them for murder, but nothing will
be done. Exchange.
II would not be difficult to find a
fresh text like this for q leading arti-
Gle every day in the year. But in the
words quoted from our Eastern con-
temporary, "nothing will be DONE"
why seek for a remedy in that which
is essentially the cause of the disease !
The mob took the place Of the jury and
judged guilty the S~heboygan man
whom the community believe to be in
nocent. A most frightful killing GER
tainly.
But do those who advise strictly
lawful procedure realize that lynching is
resorted to generally by men who know
the rule to be that justice is delayed
and thwarted?
A gentleman Of tho legal profession
in Eureka remarked to the editor Of the
SENTINEL yesterday that when the sys-
tenn of trial by jury is done away with
the millennium will be at hand.
This paper has nothing to say in re-
buttal of that assertion. Nor, as was
intimated, has this paper argued for the
expediency Of abolishing trial by jury.
But we most certainly think that accord
ing to the present system. a unanimous
verdict being required and the trial jury
men being taken Unfortunately from
the poll list, that jury trials in this
State are a mockery Of justice and a lugu-
brious farce.
Public opinion and the apprehension OF
public rage is a powerful regulator, but
the Jury is above this. As a body the
jury falls under censure when it
bilks the people in the Courthouse,
but the individual juror feels no re-
sponsibility. His vote in the formation
Of a verdict is rarely known, and if it
should be suspected. public displeasure
is distributed among the IL peers"
who are cursed in a lump. The MEM
bers of a trial jury are removed beyond
responsibility and all fear Of reckoning.
OF course. they take an oath. But
what Of that! Are there not nearly
every time one or more jurors whom
their neighbors can point to with all
moral certainty as men who are fixed"
beforehand in some way or other? There
are a thousand ways Of changing" a jury
that are not as good as the old-fashioned
method of ROPE and halter.
It is idle and a waste of words to talk
about abolishing the trial jury system,
but does it not seem necessary to re-
model it'll
At present we can get no convictions
for capital crime. This is mainly owing
to the evil of the system as it now is.
Such convictions are essential to the
preservation and well-being of society.
They must be had. Either this or there
is justice in mob law and lynching.
What is tho objection to giving the
power Of passing a verdict for felony
into the hands Of a majority of the IL
''peers |"
We may never expect for a long time,
if ever, in this country to see . man
charged with a capital offense tried with
out a jury and before q Judge alone. But
if this should come to pass and the pres
emit spirit for swift and irregular retri-
button prevails then also as now, a lynch
ing or two with the victim from the
bench would bring justice about with q
vengeance. As it is now, the Judge ia
irresponsible. because the jury find any
verdict they please or do not please,
while the jurymen are not responsible
because they never appear to the public
to have any individual existence, but to
live j~udicially only as inseparable units
of the "revered" IL.