The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-04-29

BY MoUNTIo1.

am always sorry to hear my brother law
ye1s abuse professional jurors. have
deep sympathy for them. When hear q
young sprig Of lawyer ask an old broken !
down merchant the question, "Mr. Brown,
have you served on jury during the last
year." and, before half the words are uttered,
poor old Brown reaches convulsively for his
hat under his chair, and starts for the door
Il pity Brown. regret too, the inhuman-
ity of the profession. The worn out steam
boat captain, the bankrupt commission mer-
chant, the retired railroad conductor, the
shabby old assessor, the respectable German
who owns his own house. but has no busi
ness the man whose wife has small in
come on which and the jury fees he lives,
the man who lost his leg in a threshing ma
chine-these are before me now as they are
in person nearly every day in the jury box.
Could there possibly be better material to
decide cases? They are absolutely impartial.
They dare not decide cases contrary to the
right because their occupation would then
be gone. Their reputation is like Caesars
wiie's. Iappeal to the Indiana polls bar
did one of them ever hear of professional
Juror having formed an opinion? Was ever
an affidavit filed against a professional
Juror charging that he had been offered moR-
ey that he had talked to witness or .Coun-
sci? Such thing is unheard Of There is
MOUSE of ever Major GordDe's attacking one
of them because he read a newspaper con-
tanning an account of the murde1. They nev.
or read newspapers As men they may have
incidentally heard that man and his wife
and their four children were found we.ter.
ing in their blood-but as jurors they knew
nothing of the case. One thing always strikes
me rs marvelous-the professional Juror
bas no kin. There never were any psrnes in
court to whom they are related bg blood or
maTrisge. l have advised several letigious
lersons to put up and marry the daughters
of professional jurors, so as to keep out of the
courts.
What wisdom they possess. Their verdicts
have built up Indiana as she has marched
from wilderness to an Empire, Gney are
too old at the business to be csjOled By law
gers. They have heard all our fine bursts OF
eloduence SO often, that, against their COM
mon sense, the stream trIckles harmlessiy
away. How they temper Justice with money,
There is no use OF saying TO them that man
who killed the adulterer or the seducsr is
guilty of murder. They know better than
that They know that he is not even guilty
CT granddaughter. They listen to the judge
very respectfully. He and they are old
friends and mutually respect each other.
enough to get their dinner at the expense OF
the county, they come in with mot guilty
as charged in the Indictment" A righteous
verdict says all the press and the people.
Shall we begrudge them their dinner? Is not
the laborer worthy of his Aire2 Will you
muzzle the OK that treadeth out thu grain,
etc?
As TO impartality was ever set OF men so
impartial? There was one old fellow--on
whom in the rare cases in which he was not
eligible to sit as juror, ne always had to
swear to the reason. He would try case one
term with some rustics. who did what he
never did in his life, hung the jury. The
next term he would answer all the formal
Questions showing perfect qualification. IL
was necessary to show by the record that he
had served as juror in the same case at the
preceding term. Then we had TO let him go,
ard both sides were sorry. On one occasion
when the Jury went out this juror imme5i-
ately moved that I'VE find for the plaintiff"
A country man suggested that they should
discuss the case little. Thereupon my
friend Immediately moved that I'VE find for
the defendant. pom being demonstrated
with by "tenderfoot," he said be wanted to
get home he had chicken for dinner. SUBJ
NIT that there is no finer example in history
of absolute impartiality. l oncs tried case
two deys in rural district. At the end of
that time the jury we're sent out, and, after
being out some time came into Court and
were asked if they had agreed on verdict.
The foremen answered yes. and handed to
the Clerk this verdict: I'VE, the jury, can't
sgree." Would a professional Jury have
ever done such silly act as that? Your pro
fessional Juror Is like your professional poll
tician. He Is honest because his honesty is
his capital. l look over Southern Indiana
for thirty odd years. l see in every county
the men who ruled their fellows politically.
They were always IN Office, sometimes clerk,
sometimes assessor, sometimes township
trustee. They fixed every couuty conven-
ton. They banded the pd bic moneys bas
they died poor-as Tom Benton said a
public man ought to dle-as Madison, JEFF
ferson, Monroe, Clay, Benton, and host OF
others died. They could not afford to steal
1t would have destroyed the only capital
they had. And so with the professional
juror.
There was one objection to the professional
politician which in these modern days would
have operated agaist him. He was an "of-
fensive partisan" II he was Democrat he
was dyed in the wool. He was anti-tarif
states rights, and hated an Abolitionist. II
he was Republican every Democrat was a
copperheAd and a traitor. He did not know
the meaning OF the phrase Bureau of Often
give PaYtisanship," but he did know that a
Democrat or Republican who failed to vote
a straight ticket ought to be shot. He didn't
understand how in popular Government
you could change the Government unless
you changed the men who administer public
affairs. For thai matter, We, his SUCCESSORS,
are DO wiser than he was. The great bulk of
us don't see any use in having elections at
all if the same old cusses are to run the Gov
ernm ent. III we can't put the rascsIs out"
and IT, having won Office by being offensive
partisans," we ara to be turned out because
we continue TO act on our principles we will
quit politics altogether and go into the one
profession which is purer than even ''ciyll
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