Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-01-25

cept by caterers to vicious tastes. This
public policy, in the interest not only of
good morals but of domesticity and the
discouragment OF litigation, is one of the
best established in all our system.
Whoever will take pains to examine the
records or inform himself through such
avenues of inquiry as are open to all citi-
zens, will discover these facts: That
secrecy of trial is invoked by the poor or
those of moderate possessions and ordered
for them far oftener than by the rich :;
that it is commanded by the
law Courts, irrespective of the po-
sitions of the parties in society, their
social prominence or obscurity. They will
discover, also that the bawdy press in
search for material to feed the grossness of
depraved appetites, makes no cutlery be-
cause the doors are closed in cases where
the parties are not prominent in the public
eye; that scores of issues are tried in pri-
vacy, and the records sealed up, concerning
which the sensational press manlfests no
interest. Let parties somewhat prominent
be involved, however, in litigation con-
corning the domestic relation, and the hct
indignation Of the purveyor of scandal
finds vent in such protests as we have re-
ferred to. 1t is a Notifying fact that
some Courts lack the courage to bar the
door against these social scavangers in the
very cases, of all others, in which they
should do so.
The Judges of the Courts in Sacramento
being sought out, declare that there has
been no variation in the application of the
rule of the statute here, nor any refusal to
one of that granted to another. That
within very recent days the Courts doors
have been closed upon trials of a
domestic character, and publicity of
which would have done irreparable in
jury, have brought shame and disgrace
upon innocent children and have defeated
the ends of justice. In one notable recent
case publicity would have prevented a
happy denouement, and have intensified
human woe and suffering. Yet in none of
these cases has the voice of scandal huck-
sters been heard to exclaim against the rule
of the law, the parties to the issues
being people of little public prominence.
If such trials as the laws Of California and
other States of the Union now wisely rel
egate to the privacy of the Courts, were
openly conducted, only a morbid, vulgar
appetite would be appeased, while public
sensibility would so lose its edge as to be-
come Indifferent to the domestic woes in
volved. And it is to be kept in mind that
because the Courts close their doors by
mandate of the law in certain cases, it is
not to be assumed that the trials are of ne
cessity and in themselves scandalous, for
the purpose of the law is also to protect
the sacred privacy of the domestic relation
from the gaping curiosity of the world.
Exposure of corruption and denuncia-
ton of wrongdoing; the holding of official
dishonesty up to public reprobation these
are commended by all men; but the whole
truth is that attempts to infiame the public
mind against the Courts because they obey
the laws, and exercise wise discretion in
preventing publicity of scandalous matter,
is in the direction of disorder. 1t is of the
drift that sets strongly toward enmity to
American Institutions it tends to breed
contempt for orderly government, and its
Legitimate outcome is lawlessness. 1t
ought to be, and happily is, frowned upon
by the mass of the American people.
knowing that they are their own legis-
latoIs, they realize that the laws aae at
their beck and command by orderly change
or repeal. They are sensible to the truth
that the perpetuity of American institu-
lions depends no less upon respect for the
laws than upon the valor of the people
and their devotion to the principles of free
government. Anarchism teaches that the
law is partial and tyrannous, and the cry
ofthe Anarchist is " stab the law" All that
second such heresy and cultivate a spirit
of distrust in the law, directly aid and
abet the enemies of republican institutions.
Loyalty to public morals and the policy of
the law that conserves them and discour-
ages litigation, bids every seIf-respecting
man to brand such imputatiOns as that
found in the paragraph quoted, as false
and damnable.