The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-07-11
Thss paper Is Democratic IN principles
and is Independent in its Vtea0s ON all
local questions.
The Grand Jury System.

L1AO IA oJot~A"
The Camden Daily Nesos once again
attacks the Grand Jury system as
obsolete, tyrannical and otherwise out
of keeping with the age.
Well. it may be right. Every charge
it makes may p~ossiblybe true; but
what plan does it suggest instead?
The principal ground of condemna-
ton seems to be that personal
motives-hatred, envy, greed, or their
opposites from time to time control the
judgments of Grand Jurors, and the
system is made the medium of great
injustice. We do not think there is
any very broad truth in this view of
the case, though there is a modicum
of reason in it. But, supposing it is
true that personal passions and inter
ests occasionally control the action of
Grand Juries, what system can be in
vented which will eliminate these in
fiuences altogether?
The preliminary examination of
crime must be entrusted to one man
or to several-if to one, why then the
opportunity for improper influences
and prejudiees of all sorts to do their
work is multiplied ten fold.
But objection to the secrecy of
Grand Jury enquiries is also made. on
the ground that secrecy is disadvan-
tageous to the accused. But, again.
this defect is a mere outgrowth of the
imperfection of all humanity and it's
methods. 1t may be hard that an
accused person cannot keep side by
side with the prosecution in following
up the threads of the crime alleged
against him; explaining here, denying
there, and generally making things as
favorable as possible for himself. But
it is obvious that the plan would not
work in practice. If the investigation
of crime is to be pursued with torch
light professions and brass bands.
then Justice had better go out of
business altogether.
Certainly our system is much more
favorable to suspects than the Con-
tinental methods, where Grand Juries
are unknown and professional pro-
seeutors follow up their wretched VIC
TINS with the relentless fury of blood
hounds.
Poor Mr.. Brown, the New York
State expert in electrical matters, has
been forced to the unhappy task of
attempting to explain an intricate
subject from the witness stand to
counsel who not only can't, but won't
understand it. The discussion of
scientific matters in the court room
has always been profitless since the
days when a de lunatdco aaqaarendo
was begun in the case of one Noah.
whose barometer indicated rain. :.
1t Would Have Bothered the Penny
A case that would have puzzled
the intelligent and discriminating
penny which on a certain occasion
assisted-perhaps we may say, directed
the devious course of justice on the
Hill, was brought up in the Court Of
Sessions Tuesday. John Geiss com
planned that his neighbor, Barbara
Ladisch, put a wet blanket over his
chimney to make it smoke, and that
when he climbed up to see what was
the matter with it she emptied a
pitcher of water upon him. Barbara
-. -.
said that Geiss' chimney was on fire
and that she put the blanket over
1t to smother the flames. Presumably
when Geiss appeared he was SO 'shot''
about it that she mistook him for the
IRE in the chimney, and that was the
reason why she poured the water on