The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1890-02-22
TRIAL BY NEWSPAPER.


men known to the journalism OF the
western metropolis:
suppose the first point to he set
tied in this matter is the character
of the material with which we are to
deal ,and this brings us upto the ques-
ton: What is a jury? The ordinary
petit jury is : body of twelve men,
with authority delegated to them by
The people to act for the community
in certain matters which the people
are too busy to attend to in person.
In an actual trial, under the sta
tutes of Illinois and other states, the
jury are the judges Of both the law
and the facts. That is comprc-
hensivc statement, and it looks to
me a trifle thin. 1t is said, that
every one knows the law. That is
not even legal tiction-it is n bald
puted falschood. The manufacturer
Of that proposition would have been
much nearer the truth had he said:
Man has a sense OF justice in vari-
Gus degrees of impurity.'
Justice, or fair dealing between
man and man, is the foundation of
law; hut, unfortunately for the or
iginal article, the top-heavy super
structure has done its best to crush
the foundation siGewisc into the
bowels of the earth, and is insisting
that il shall be considered the found
alton itself. do not mean to say
that the law is invariably the instru-
ment Of injustice; | simply mean
that lawyers are apt to become so
enamored of the beautiful structure
they have raised as to lose sight of
the fact that is only the means to an
end, and not the end itself.
Nobody knows the law. If YOU
10 not believe that, hire lawyer 10
bore in and fish out some Of it for
your inspection, and then see how
quick some other lawyer with a
longer gimlet will knock him out
cold. Even among the law sharps
on the supreme bench, the ignor-
ance OF law is astonishing to the lay
man. In nearly every chse of i'm
portance there is dissenting opin-
ION; and | have heard good lawyers
say, that in some cases the minority
report was the better of the two.
This is the thing of which the
Jurors are constituted the judges.
And who are these jurors: l have
seen thousands of them, and, while
may be wrong in my estimate, it
seems to me that, in this country at
least, they may be classified in the
order Of their merit as level-heads,
partisans, mutton heads, bigots,
smart Alecks, interested parties,
pseudo -Omniscicnts, statesmen for
Marshall Field 4 Co. and -
fools. OF course, l say nothing of
the fixed juror, because counsel,
judge and newspaper might fiddle
away at him until Sheol wore an
overcoat of palcocrystalline ice, and
it wouldn't change his verdict.
The level.heads average about
two or three to the dozen. From
the standpoint Of an unintcrcsted
spectator it is a treat to he in the
same room with them as they un.
-rrngly follow the route of crime
or the thread of an ordinary trans
action, avoiding the pitfalls and
-hun.pikes that are invitingly open
ed before them by skillful lawyers
and at last arriving at judgment
and sticking to it.
Although it has been said that the
verdict of petit jury is the only
thing the Almighty cannot foretell,
jurles frequently return vcrdicts
rmbOdying Substantial justice. II
is a fact, though, that jury will
sometimes come in with verdict
which would make beautiful aub'
urn wig turn green in single night
There is but little hope of intelli
gent judgment from any of the types
have named except the level-hea(
and the partisan. or the latter
there are few whose partisanshiE
makes them so fearful of themselves
that they are led TO give the other
side the benefit of all doubts. But,
alas! there are not many of them in
existence. ] regret to announce
that | am, perhaps, the only one OF
that kind ia this country.
Before pass the newspaper end
Of the controversy, l would like to
say word about what are called
''punishments." When, in these
modern days, we hang man by the
neck until he gurgles out into the
other world, or deprive person OF
his liberty on account of any crime,
we are not acting under the old doe
,rine of "An eye for an eye and o
tooth for a tooth" We are simply
informing the prospective wrongdoel
that, having submitted to various in
iringements of our own liberty tC
The end that we may he protected
while going about our Legitimate
occupations, il he continues to mon
KEY with crime We will make 4