The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-07-10
THE JURY SYSTEM.



C6HditIoas Under which Il BecomeA .
Gratifying Success.
Having at last served as juryman ]
should like to be allowed to say word
In regard to the much discussed ques-
tioni rs the Jury System a Failure?"
Under certain conditions, / believe
it is an unqualified success
II was the seventh man on the jury
which decided the case Of Pepper against
Jones IN Supreme Court Chambers, Part
TX, week before last
Peppers family had had the scarlet
fever, and he wanted to collect twenty
thousand dollars from the landlord,
claiming that it was improper plumbing
which had caused the fever and the con-
sequent loss Of one little boys hearing
and the others hair.
After we were seated in what they
are pleased to call the s'box." took a
look at the other eleven good men and
true. There were Ave very intelligent
looking men among the eleven; the
others were $3.50. Four OF these five
wereexcused shortly afterward, because
they knew the plaintiff or defendant or
had had business relations with some
body who knew something about the
case. / may not have this exact, but
they were excused because they knew
some thing, anyhow; and their places
were filed with men better qualified.
= The lawyers weEe men OF great ability,
the witnesses were plumbers, physicians
and scientific men. We listened to
their testimony very much as we would
listen to Wagner's mnsic-impressed
with the Importance of hearing every
particle of it; understanding none of it.
The taking OF testimony occupied a
day and half, andwhen it was copclud-
ed, the jury was probably the worst
ratified lot of men ever assembled to-
gether in one place; but their faces
never lost that solemn, judicial express
sion proper to men who are called upon
to decide momentous question without
fear or favor, and with absolute justice
to all.
When the last witness left the chair,
the foreman and several others took up
| their hats; but after the defendants
lawyer had been summing up for an
hour or two, they Put them down again.
This summing up helped the jury i'm
mensely. 1t showed them that whole
mass of testimony, which they supposed
must be minutely considered, really had
no reference TO the case at all Then,
when the lawyers were through, the
judge further explained and e.ncidated
matters, SO that when we filed out we
really did have some notion of what we
were going to do. When we got to the
jury-room the foreman thought we had
better take vote, and as we had moth
ing else to do we adopted his suggest on.
The result was eight for plaintiff, four
for defendant.
The fifth juror wanted to know IL we
could find verdict for the pla ntiff
without having the landlord of the house
| arrested for perjury. He was informed
that we could, and the next vote showed
nine for plaintiff
The eleventh man said the defendant
was a poor man, and had had a good
deal of sickness and big doctors bills,
and he ought to have a verdict Some
body told number eleven that it was the
plaintiff who was the poor man, not the
defendant; and the next vote showed
ten for the plaintiff. So we stood for
some time; ten to two. Then one Of the
stubborn two addressed the .ury, and
said that every bit of evidence showed
that the landlord had built his house in
the best possible way, and that II there
was sickness in the house. he wasn't
responsible for it. He said that an all
wise Providence, and not plum bers. sent
scarlet fever into the community; he
said that the whole thing was specu-
lation on the part Of Pepper to make
Jones pay for his (Pepper's) misfortunes.
1t was partnership scheme between
Pepper and his lawyers, and they relied
upon their ability to work upon the
jurors sympathies to carry it through.
That was his opinion.
We took another vote, then, and stood
nine for defendant, three for plaintiff.
Another vote brought over the other
three, and we. rendered what believe
was a just verdict.
This experience convinced me that
the jury system is success when there
is one man among the twelve who has
eloquence enough to induce the others
to render the same verdict that the
Judge would have rendered without any
jury at all.-Morris Waite, in Puck.