The Helena independent., 1889-08-06
TIE CORONER SYSTEM

THE CORONER SYSTEM
4erybody is familiar with the type OF
petty officialism that Shakespeare pic
tured in the person of DOgberry, who,
charging the watch. tells them: you
are thought to be here the most sense
less and fit man for the constable Of the
watch; therefore bear you the lantern.
This is your charge. You are to bid any
man stand, in the princes name" On
level with the Dogberrys Of the petty
courts. who exist only to lesser extent
now both in England and America, are
the corOners' juries, whose yerdicts have
/ been the laughing stock OF twenty gen.
eratiOns- Defects Of the Coroner Sys-
tenn" is the title of an essay by DR.. S. W.
Abbott in the August number Of the
Forum, in which the barbarism of exist
! ing law and Usage upon the subject of
violent Or suspicious deaths is strongly
depicted. Especially repulsiye has the
writer made TO appear that feature OF
corOners' inquests which shows the greed
and haste of mean souls TO earn a fee,
even at the expense Of the feelings Of
bereayed relatives and friends. Mark
Twain's enterprising undertaken. who
sat himself down upon a coffin opposite
the house OF dying man. to wait for a
chance 10 effect a sale, has had his
Rrchetype in the person Of New Eng
land coroner, who. hearing that a man
had shot himself. "and still in ignorance
whether death ha resulted, summoned
jury and fastened to the place, only to
find the man alive. Selecting the nearest
saloon as a waiting place, the coroner
and his jury remained there until the
man was dead, employing boy in the
neighborhOOd to keep them informed as
to the mans condition, until he had
ceased to breathe, when they proceeded
with the inquest"
1t is by no means unusual, too, that
such incidents as this are reported:
The body Of drowned man was towed
across a mill-pOnd from one town 10 an
other. TO save the first town. in which
the body was found. the expense Of in
quest fees"
The farcical nature OF verdicts rem
dered by coroners' juries is prOverbial,
and has had recent illustration In this
territory (Missoula county where a man
who died after having been struck in
the breast with crowbsr. during fight.
was declared to have ''died OF disease"
The fact that Martin 0'ConnOr was an
Irishman will scarcely account for the
ta~t oF O NinDaaora aoroparsa Snr.s,
verdict; the jurors also must have been
Irish, and Of the Sir Boyle Roche type.
for they found that
"MArtin O'Connor, here lying dead, came
/ 10 his death by shot flom a gun, which
/ caused the blood 70 rush in torrents from
his body, so that il was impossible for him
70 live until We could hold an inquest"
But one verdict which is cited by DR..
Abbott could not have been more closely
patterned after Dogberry's charge TO the
watch had the author attempted 1t. Ii
was rendered in Kentucky, and is as
follows:
'InQuisitiOn held on the body of Holmes.
/ deseasts Dec. = 1858. We of the said Jury,
i by being summoned and qualified, and
hearing the evidences, and making true
/ and diligOus resentments over the said
4
| ana being duly sworn into the case, be-
L lieves thst be come 10 his death by some
ht or other apoplexy. Doctor being duly
| sworn by myself. coroner, states that the
| lObis membrane of the spinal disease WAS
affected to considerable extent"
In this country Massachusetts, has led
in abolishing the coroner's court, which
has been justly termed 'an anachronism
and an anomaly" substituting for il
medical examinations and inQuests in
cases Of death by violence or when there
is ground for suspicion Of violence.
The absurdity Of setting six men. picked
up at random. TO determine the cause Of
death. where the cause is at sll obscure,
is so palpable as 10 require no illustra-
ton. IL is time the anaehronism was
wiped out Of the Montana code, and
from the codes Of other states wherein
it still has place. II members OF the
next legislature will but give the sub
ject the thought Ii deserves we shall
see the initiative taken for the abolition
Of the coroner system and plan sub
mitted for a more civilized and inteIli-
gent law.
|