Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-04-03
IS TRIAL BY Jury A FAIIURE2

One Of the questions of the hour and one
which is pressing itself, in marked man.
ner, upon the attention of the American
people, is that OF trial by jury. From al
most every State in the Union comes ac-
counts Of mobs made up OF substantial and
law-abiding citizens, who, outraged by the
verdict Of juries, swiftly infiict penalties
that the courts failed of. Only last week.
in this State, young scape-grace, a mere
boy, but an acknowledged murderer, in
Marshall county. was taken from the jail
and hung to the beam Of bridge. The
death penalty is the only one which 4 mob
can infiict. But for that there would have
been hundreds of penalties inflicted in this
State upon yiolators of law wherein the
jury avoided the plainest kind of evidence,
but the penalties for which would have been
only fines or Imprisonment. The Ohio leg
islature is now passing law which makes
any fair-minded man a competent Juror,
however much he may have read the details
Of the case TO be tried. We have had in
stances in this county only lately wherein
the feelings and ideas OF justice of good
men have been outraged by the verdict OF
iuries. In Illinois last week, only, a man
by the name Of Carpenter, rich and power
tul in the community, was arrested and tried
ior the murder Of girl named Fora Burns,
whom the evidence showed he had in all
PROBABILITY first seduced and ruined. The
jury acquitted him and the law-abiding cit
liens of his county, TO the number of thou
sands, met in mass and after Sc ng forth
by resolution their unal -abh conviction
Of Carpenters guilt, no, 4 him that he
must Immediately VII Pr affairs and
leave the country forever.
But the worst, the saddest, the most ter
rible result Of the failure Of the jury system
comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, where an at.
tempt TO infiict the death penalty by a mob.
was resisted resulting in scene OF carnage
and blood. A man who had been charged
as an accomplish in numbering, for a small
sum of money, and who afterwards confess
ed to the crime in full, when upon trial was
only convicted OF manslsugnter-a peniten-
tiary offense. Last Friday apublic meeting
was held which resolved itself into a mob
Of thousands which proceeded in body to
the Jail where the murderer was confined
The sheriff and police and militia resisted
the attempt TO capture the criminal. Sever
al shots were fired, wounding, seriously, a
number and killing one or twomen. Again
was the effort made to secure and hang the
foul murderer and again was a more deter
mined resistance made resulting in the
81
ty building which now lies in ashes, the
complete destruction of records Of untold
value, and the killing or wounding Of sixty
or eighty. The excitement has been in
tense. Hundreds of thousands OF dollars
worth Of property has been swept away,
and law library, founded in 1884. and the
second in size in the country, valued at
sl25 200, burned up. and sorrow and death.
besides, 10 many homes. The total money
loss is placed at 81, 100000.
The capital punishment law OF Kansas is |
a snare and a fraud. The writer OF this,
who, at the time, was 4 member Of the SEN
ate, when, upon the recommendation of
Gov. Harvey, the present statute became
law, took occasion to say that under that
law no criminal would ever be executed,
and there has not been a single execution,
since.
We assert without fear OF successful con- |
that the present mode Of select |
ing jurors, the present tests Of their CON- |
potency, must be wiped from the books, or
Kansas will witness more of the scenes en-
acted in Marshall county last week and may |
be something of the terrors witnessed in |
Cincinnati on Saturday, Sunday ard Mon
day. As to our law for the punishment of
murder, ii is a subterfuge and a sham,
pretense Of what il is not, resulting in trl-
als and yerdicts which are stripped Of all
terror TO eyil-doers.