The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-04-02
Tho .ynrv system.

the abolition OF the jury system. IL Wouiu
not be more unjustifiable to demand the
abolition OF courts and lawyers. Undoubt-
edly the Jury system has been perverted
from rs original purpose and functions,
and has become very different from what
IL was In The beginning. The most re-
msrkable change is in the qualifications Of
Jurors. At first the jury was "a jury
OF the vicinage" literally, men who
were supposed to know all the material
facts Of the case themselves; just as
IL Jury bad been made up In the BERNER
case OF men who either saw him commit
the homicide with which he was charged,
or were otherwise thoroughly fami-
liar with the facts. Now II has come to
pass that man is not allowed TO serve as
a Juror II he knows anything about the
case. Right here was committed the first
wrong in toe BERSEg case. II the jury
had been compose | Of intelligent men capa-
bic OF ferming correct opinions OF their
own, and not liable TO be flaltered, nor
cajoled, nor deceived by lawyers into
bringing in an erroneous verdict, BER-
NER would undoubtedly have been
convicted Of murder in the first degree,
and there would have been no mob in Gin
cinnatl on his account. II was, therefore,
an abuse OF the jury system. and not the
jury system in its purity working cut Just
results. that occasioned the excitement in
Cincinnati. The lesson taught by the Gin
cinnati riot is that iuries must be composed
OF good citizens-of men OF character. and
standing. and minds OF their own; and
that good citizens must be willing to serve
as jurors. and not try to evade that duty.
The New York Graphic has been moved
10 speak out as follows:
"rbe jury system is right. 1t must not
be abolished. IL l. the only safety against
legal injustice that The poor man has. 1t
is the law that abuses it, and the criminal
lawyer-always the criminal lawyer, the
respectable gentleman of large watch
chain. who gets his income from thieves
and murderers, and whom the bench smiles
upon and encourages II ought TO be easy
to 80 change the law as 10 permit honest,
intelligent, respectable men to serve as
Jurors. Yet such change has been called
for in this and in every other State for
years, and IL has not come because OF
strange and unaccountable respect for the
legal dry-rot that has had its own way
everywhere for so many years. IL is the
custom OF the law TO charge its villainy
upon the jury system. Why not reform
the jury SYSTEM What is there TO pre-
ventY"
Ii Is not necessary TO say to any south
erner that the GrGphic'S first three sem
fences are true to the letter. Had there
been no jury system in operation in the
South since 1865, these southern States
would have been IN worse condition
than Russia. Just imagine il you can
what would have become OF "rebels" in
courts in which UHDERwoODs and BONDS
should have had the right to pronounce
upon the guilt of their victims. 1t Is
sickeniug to think Of such thing. Why
every penitentiary in the United States
would have been full Of such men
as ROBERT b. MUNFORD. South Carolina,
Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina
every southern State-would have been in
an infinitely more deplorable condition than
Ireland Is now in, or ever has been in.
Read how the bloody JEFFREYs treated his
victims In England two hundred years ago
because they were "rebel sympatbizers,"
and you can come to correct conclusion
as 10 what would have been the fate OF the
"rebel sympathizers OF the southern
States OF this Union il there had been no
Jury system in vogue here.
The jury is not only the defence Of the
poor man, but the shield Of the innocent.
II is an incoTupuble guardian of the right.
Let the Jury be free, and its members safe
from dictation and intimidation by trucu-
lent judges; then let it be made up of the
bone and sinew of the land-the average
OF citizens-and it is a bulwark OF per-
sonal liberty and civil rights. There is no
other institution Of human invention that
is so nearly perfect. 1t has stood the test
OF ages.
But the jury system must be restored to
ITS purity. Juries must not be composed
OF the most ignorant classes OF the COM
munity. Juries must not be organized
10 acquit." Men must not be excluded
from iuries because they read the newspa-
pers. There mist be some reason in the
objections raised to the veniremen. The
law must be administered as it was in
tended 10 be administered. Justice must
be done.
Lawyers deserve a word Of defence. In
every land they are the pickets ahead Of
the army OF citizens in the battle for hui
man rights. "They know their rights and
knowing dare maintain; and so they
know other peoples rights. There can be
no real security for personal liberty and
personal rights where there are no
lawyers. "The respectable gentleman Of
the large watch-chain" may get his lin
come from thieves and murderers," and
the bench may Z" smile upon" him; but
he Is indispensable to the innocent man
and to the man of property and TO the
community. Make your iury-law what 1t
ought to be, and the criminal classes will
no longer find him invincible in conquer
ing juries. II il, we repeat, because the
Jury system has been perverted from its
original design that thieves and murderers
SO frequently escape the penalty Of their
crimes.
Mr.. McAdoo-Internal Taxes.