Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-05-07
JUSTICE IN RUSSIA.
Collisions Between Juries and the Imper-
ial Authorities-The Blood Fine.

Petersburg correspondent to the New
York San. the ear reformer subSti-
tuted trial by jury for the system of
crown judges. 1t is the general op;n-
ion here that, next to the abolition of
serfdom, the introduction of trial by
jury has served for the moral elevation
of the people far more than any other
reform. The jury system, however,
has not been introduced in all the prov
inces of European Russia. A part of
the Caucasus all of Siberia and Central
Asia are still under the jurisdiction ofthe
crown judges. Trial by the crown judges
is usually called trial byJudge Shemiaka.
Instead of listening to the testimony,
that worthy Judge used to keep his eye
on the caps of the plaintiff and defend
ant in which was kept tangible and I'M
disputed evidence in the shape Of cop
per and silver coins. The balance of
justice turned in favor of him whose
cap contained the larger bundle. As
the cap evidence cannot be convenient
ly presented before the public, the
crown judges to this day hold court
behind closed doors. And vet there are
many Russians, Mr.. Katkoff, of the
Moscow VedOm0stj, included, who give
preference to the crown judges. In
justice to the Russians, it must be said
that the jury system is not quite COM
patible with the autocratic regime. The
ear, being the sole legislator, issues
his laws regardless of the views of his
people. Then the jurors, the peoples
representatives., are called upon to pass
a verdict according to their own con-
victions. But the trouble is that there
are many things which, forbidden by
the imperial law, are justified by popu-
lar opinion. Hence come collisions
between the Russian jury and the i'm
perial authorities.
In a village stricken with famine the
imperial tax-collectors undertook to
empty the village granary and drive
away the domestic animals. Starvation
stared the villagers in the face, and q
peasant shouted to them:
brothers! Let us take sticks and
drive away the tax-collectors, who
have come to rob us of our last crust
of bread. The treasury may safely
wait for our taxes, and at any rate the
car would not starVe us. To the
sticks!'
And to the stick they betook them
selves and drove off the tax collectors.
But the next day the leader of the riot
erS was put in chains and carried away.
On the trial the crown attorney de-
manded that, according to the law, the
defendant should be sent to the Siber-
ian mines for twenty years. But the
jury brought in verdict of not guilty.
The acquitted peasant, however, was
kidnapped by gendarmes and disappear
ed forever.
This is one of thousand cases of col
lision between juries and the imperial
authorities. 1t seems to me that the
jury system, though far from being
what it ought to be in the interests of
Justice, is one of the most powerful
factors which are undermining the au-
tocracy.
There are some special courts here,
such as the merchants court, the
craftsmen's court, the church court, the
military courts. the land surveying
courts, and others, in which specific Of
fcuses are tried.
But there are many subjects of the
ear who quite ignore the law. Over
fifty millions of peasants dispose of
all their civil suits in their own way, by
their own courts. If a peasant is
caught stealing, if he drinks too much,
or beats his wife for no cause, if he in
dulges in idling while taxes are unpaid,
if he does not pay his debts, if he of
tends a priest or somebody else-in all
such and the like cases the villagers sit
as q court of justice. Their verdicts
are exceedingly plain and sensible. In
all cases where damage or loss of prop
erty is involved the guilty party is
bound to make good the damage OF
loss. In the cases of some personal
offense they usually resort to ''the
birch porridge, " as they call the whip
ping with rods. The verdicts of the
village court are explicitly obeyed, for
the villagers have the power not only
to exclude obnoxious members from
the village, but even to send them to
Siberia for life.
Among the mountain tribes of eau
casus, if q murderer does not pay the
blood fine he is sure to pay with his
life, for the relatives of the victim deem
it their sacred duty to take a bloody
revenge. Ii he undertakes to pay the
fine the murderer takes the best horse
he can purchase and loads it with such
goods as costly arms, clothes, and
money. Then placing a rope on his
own neck he leads the horse to the
family of his victim. If the mother or
wife of the dead man takes off the rope
from the neck of the murderer, he is
safe. Having surrendered the horse,
money, and other presents, he returns
home. If, however, nobody takes the
rope from his neck, that means that he
is under the penalty of death, unless he
can appease the wrath of the family by
cOstlier presents.
In Turkestan, according to the
kirghize notions of justice, a murderer
may eXpiate his crime by paying q
blood fine, which consists of a number
of camels, horses, sheep, and goats. In
some cases, however, the family of the
victim refuse to accept any presents,
and then judicial duel is arranged.
The murderer armed to the teeth, APP
pears on his best horse Two or three