St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-10
SOME RANDOM THINKS
Oecasioned by Attendance
Upon Trials in the Dis
triet Court.
Value Of Expert Testimony
and reliance to Be Put
Upon 1t.
The Manner in Which AttoP-
neys Assail People in
Court,
And Abuse Newspapers for
Attacking Character With
ReekleSSneSS.

| cdSC WHICH Is usually dOOptSu III pays
and novels, is that when a witness takes
the stand to testify as to the genuine
ness of signature, he may be handed
any number of miscellaneous upon
which to pass his judgment, This is
all we'll enough in fiction, but il don't
| go in court. The signatures and other
writing must be identified first and adj
mitted in the case as standards of COM
| pariSOn. That is what was done IN the
| Colom case, and the law requires it.
| If it were not so the evidence OF the
! best expert in the world might be
| wholly DESTROYED by running in on him
a cleYerly executed forgery.
1t is all nonsense for any person to
| claim that no man can so exactly lml-
| tate anOther'S signature that IT cannot
| be detected. 1t has been done times
without number. There are innumerable
| cases on record where courts have been
unable to decide as to the genuinenesS
| of handwriting after the most exhaust
| i've trials. in which the most noted eX-
peTtS living were sworn. This very re-
suit is quite likely to occur in the Col
| lom case.
| Itlsa curious fact that the develop
| ment of penmanShip as an art has faell-
| itated the work of forgery. Paul A.
| Spencer, a register of deeds in Ashta-
| bula county, Ohio, the author of the
| Spencerian system, was the hrst man 70
| formulate fixed rules for the making or
| written letters Before that time writ
| ing was taught by school teachers, each
| one of whom had his own style of writ
| Ing, and these styles were as numerous
as the teachers. When teachers were
| changed the style of writing changed
| with them, while each pupil to certain
! extent impressed his own individuality
upon his writing along with that OF the
| teacher. The result was that In no
| school, nor in any number OF schools,
were there two pupils who wrote ex-
actly alike.
Mr.. Spencer's system changed all this.
| Probably there never was reform in
stituted which spread as rapidly over
/ the country. The practicaDlllty and
| common sense principles were at once
| recognized, and an army of teachers OF
penmanship soon sprang up all overtime
| country, composed of men who con-
! fined their laborS exclusively to teach
| ing the SpenceTian system or penman-
| ship. The business was lmmeDsly pro-
fitable, and there are many persons llv-
| Ing WHO ldlu Tic lOuuudllOA VI lASA4 Iva
tunes in this avOeatlon.
The result was naturally to Introduce
| a uniformity of penmanship. 1t became
| strictly an art of imitation which left
| no room for individuality or originality,
and hence it IS that trained penmanship
| has more nearly approached a uniform
! similarity in its character, and is much
more easily Initiated.
Notwithstanding the army of imi-
| taters which has sprung up, 1t is douot-
| full if any of them have ever eXcelled
| Mr.. Spencer IN beauty Of penmanshlp.
| He has been dead many years, but the
| records which he kept in Ashtabula
county, Ohio, cannot be excelied. If, in
| deed, they are eQualed anywhere in the
world. They are one of the sights of
| the little village which is the county
| seat of that county, and are examined
yearly by thousands of visitors. who
! admire their exquisite and artistic
! beauty. Other systems have been
| originated, but the Spencerian style
| easily holds its own at the head OF them
| all, and almost exactly as Paul Il.
| Spencer first gave it to the world. He
| can truthfullv be SAID to have lmmor-
| talized himself with the pen.
|
The decision of a Minneapolis Judge
in a recent sensational divorce suit. by
| which the application of the plaintiff
was refused, will strike most people as
| being a sensible decision. The laws on
| the subject of divorce are not intended
| to facilitate the dissolution Of the mar
| rage relation, but, on the contrary.
| were enacted in order to hedge the pro-
cess with difficulties and prevent di-
yorces, except upon good and sufficient
| grounds.
1t is safe to say that at least one-half
of the divorces which are granted by
| the courts ought to have been rejected.
| Some Judges seem to think that if the
| evidence in the case shows condition
| of agairs under which the parties can
not live happily together. the divorce
| should be granted. This is great mis-
| take, The marriage relation, once as
| sumed. should not be lightly thrown
| aside. A divorce should not be granted
| save for the gravest of reasons. When
| courts adopt this rule there will be
fewer suits brought.
As it is now, there is a class of SINISTER
| LAWYERS who encourage this sort OF
business and who will resort to any
| means IN order to achieve success and
4
| able to make living in the legitimate
practice of the law. They have no
| Standing in a profession which should
| be the most honorable of all secular
| avocations. although they are admitted
TO membership in bar associations. The
| consequence of this is that the profession
| is falling into disrepute, and unless a
halt is soon called the condition. will be
much worse than it is now.
Sitting in court room the other day
| the writer heard an attorney open
| libel suit to the jury in which the bust
! ness of journalism was denounced IN
| unmeasured terms. IL was held up to
the jury as the most Inscriptions OF all
| professions, and that its principal bust
ness is to blacken and destroy the repu-
tation of good citizens, hence the jury
was asked to render a large verdict in
favor of plaintiff who never had
reputation Of which any man should be
Within a few days the same attorney
was engaged in another case of differ
ent character. When he came to sum
ND the case he hurled every epithet of
Opprobium at the party on the other
side of the case which the regulations
of the court would permit. The party
| was QcSCIlUCU dS d pClJuAOls q oOOuuNlOA
and about everything else that is dis
graceful. The jury, after an absence of
about ten minutes, returned verdict
in favor of this ''villain."
The abused individual has no redress
for the contumely which was poured
upon him in open court, because the
lawyer is wholly irresponsible, but if
any newspaper had said oue-tenth of
| the bad things about this man which
the lawyer gave utterance to, the same
| LAWYER would forthwith have hunted
him up and made him a proposition to
bring a libel suit against the paper,
paw all of the costs if the suit failed.
take half or more of the judgment for
his fee if one should be secured.
All libel suits against newspapers are
not of this class. Some of them are en-
tirely justifiable, but it will usually be