Telegram-herald., 1890-07-07
HERE AND qHERE.



PhsnaAa4eaa-
or tie aav th2t W Red VAS re-
fused nsw tri2l - judge Jackson IN
the Fe4eFal Court al Grand is@plds,
another medium Was oa tFAl IN an
other part of ths country. The differ
ent views Of the matter taken by tie
TWO jufges are Interesting Nhen COM
pared
Tie ssc0ad case was ln Atlanta, Ca,
and aroSe out of an accusation cf maud
against Mrs. Mand Jones, Who Nas de-
seIlbed a. = slsge-Writer and splrituallsl-
Tie complainant alleged tn@l he be
ieYed hep preJeutious 10 spriuhstie
I powers were fraud ulents ana IA order
Ia expose tHem he agreed - pay her ~
+ for a seaBee, and dld pay the dollar
after Ii was over, according tD nis con-
( tract. IhIs is substantially the charge
against Reid, hat the Georgia man was
more honorable ia fulfilling bls con-
tract taan the man who SCI Aanamaker
+ upon Reid, for he only psld 80 cents,
holding ont inducements OF future adj
yantaggs for the balance.
/ The judge ia the Federal Court and
/ the Judge IN the Georgia State Court
Epr0yince OF government Mr.. Reid
i judge holds that ''the government as
suues 10 protect the lncredulOus,"
While the Georgia court holds that
/ neither criminal prosecution nor a
I clyll sult could be maintained upon
/ these facts, inasmuch As il was quite
/ prcposterOus for a man 20 CLAIM that
I ne had been cheated or OYerreached
/ when he made the agreement 10 pay
/ tie money under the belief that the
/ person who received II WAS an impOstor,
! and courts, he held, should not waste
/ their time in any event IN an attempt
/ 10 pass upon the truthfulluess OF the
claims of those who profess TO hold IN
tercOurse with spirits. He thought
such claims must be regarded either as
too absurd TO be capable of decelylng
any one, or else as religious notions
which the law should leave alone.
On the legitimacy of the alleged phe-
nomena and the attempt 20 suppress
mediums, the judges differed az radi-
| cally as upon the province of the courts.
Judge Jackson, at Grand Rapids,
concluded his decision in these words
"There rs not particle OF doubt as TO
the constltuuonality of the statute un-
der which this indictment is brought.
! The power certainly rests with Congress
to prohibit the use of the mails TO par
ties for fraudulent purposes. Congress
has the power to say what shall go
/ through the mails, and consequently
must have the power TO say what shall
not. As to the charge of the trial Judge,
/ find that he said: IF you believe that
DR.. Reid believed himself that he could
..
tions from the spirit land, etc, then
you must acquit him. That seems to
me the fairest kind of charge. and it
is going farther than the circuit Judge
would have gone. One of these wit
! nesses for the defense received a letter,
| he says, which from its nature must
have come from the spirit land. That
| Same kind of an argument would apply
70 other instances Just as ridiculous.
! Suppose. tor instance, a surgeon sends
circulars through the mails advertising
that he can restore the dead to life. He
is called upon to prove it, and he says:
| Mrs. Jones was dead for twenty-fOur
| hours, and brought her back to life
Here is a case where the woman was in
a trance. and the physician has just as
| good claim TO the argument as DR..
Reid"
The Georgia State Judge took the
contrary view of all these points. He
did not believe in such prosecutions, for
no law could be framed to cover them
| that did not at the same time interfere
with freedom of religious belief; and if
man should desire TO pay money for
such entertainment, it was his right to
do so at his own risk. He had no rem
edy at all for evil results from his own
credulity. The Judge concluded with
these words-very different III spirit
from those of Judge Jackson:
"If the claim of Spiritual medium
to have communication with the spirits
of the shadow lard beyond the grave be
utterly and patiently preposterous, how
can any man be duped by them? And
if not utterly prepOsterous, how can the
Government summon jury to try the
question of how much truth or falsity
there is in any particular creed or sys-
tenn or religious belief or doctrine? If
n man invoke the services of 4 fortune
teller to apprise him of future events,
or of Spiritual medium to inform him
of the events transpiring in the other
world, he must abide his trade, If he
pay over the money with full knowl-
edge, he Is duped. Will not impanel
n jury to try the question whether his
fortune was truly told, or whether true
spirits spoke to him from the vastly
deep"
Mrs. Jones consequently went free
while Mr.. Reid is serving a years sen
tence to the Detroit House of COrrec-
ton.
On the whole. we think the govern.
ment might as well mind It's own busi-
ness in this matter. Spirituallsm Is 2
religion to thousands. and they believe
IN spirit communication. That is a'
much their inallenabc right as the be
lief in Heaven ana hell IS to othei
thousands.