The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-01-29
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 90 1890
u-pcr LYNCH AND THE JURY sYs-
TIM.

lis undoubtedly true that our criml-
ral laws fail lameniably in tho sup
p,essou Of crime. and the knowledge
If facts which reach us daily makes al
most needless recent statement that
Judge Lynch had caused the execution
Of more than twice as many criminals
ne tho reeular tribunals Of the country.
So eaerant is the disregard OF law
and so slight the fear of punishment
that the proportion Of deaths by VIC
lence is i'm excess Of that Of any civil
lied country on the globe. That
Judge Lynch should be so
often called on 10 supersede
the established courts, is proof OF the
nopular distrust Of the latter, and the
popular preference for his Wild but
quick Justice. to the delays Of the law
and the uncertain verdicts Of juries.
His verdicts, often just, strike with the
madness of thunderbolt. and the Jail
door has hardly turned on the criminal
when this relentless judge demands the
kew Of the TAILOR. and drags forth the
trembling wretch, and with only mo-
mont given him for an invocation for
the mercy Of God, he is launched into
eternity amidst the shadows Of the
night.
This is Wild justice with avenEeance.
aud iustifable only, in the absence oi
prompt legal methods. in the punish
ment of q nameless crime 50 common
in the South, but to which Judge
Lvrch by no means confines his luris-
diction. In certain parts of the country.
the stealing Of a horse or a COW IS an
oGense too heinous, for the law 5 delays
and uncertain results, and in the ab
sence of convenient limb, this for
midable Judge executes justice speedily
by the flashing light of reyolyers. II
is only recently that a young man was
shot down within the sacred precincts
of court of Justice, and he fell amidst
fusillade Of pistols. This VIC
leuce is not blot alone on the
new States; and we need only refer to
the memorable murders by the Molly
Maguires in Pennsylvania, and the
scourgings and whippings ruthlessly
inflicted by the White Caps Of Illinois
aud Indiana, who are yet unpublished.
We have still fresh in our memories
that most fragrant instance of the par
tial miscarriage of justice in the great
city of Chicago in the case Of the muir
derers Of Dr. Cronin, but il is useless
to prolong the catalogue Of crimes
which have shown the inadequate exc
cution of law, and cast more or less
discredit on every part Of the country.
Every State has wise and just Grim
inal laws, aud the fault is only in their
execution. and We think that no one
with experience Of service on Ameri-
can iuries can fail to understand the
miscarriage Of justice in criminal trials.
That the same difficulty is not encount-
cred in the English courts must be due
TO the more careful selection Of juries.
and the greater conservatism in that
country, requiring a higher standard
of qualification for the jurors. While
the opinion Of an upright and sensible
Judge in any criminal case may be fore
seen with some approximation to accu'
racy, Divine prescience alone can pre-
diet the action Of an American jury.
Whether in a case Of damage or MUIR
der the result is involved in uncer-
tainly, and just verdict in criminal
trial is always received with more sur
prise than confident expectation.
The prerequisite that Juror shall not
have formed an opinion in criminal
case necessarily narrows the range of
selection TO the less intelligent, and Of
twelve men select d at random it would
BE- surprising il two. at least, were not
marked by both moral and mental i'd
iosyncracics and eccentricities. The
true remedy is to dispense with unan-
unity. and let the verdict of jury in
criminal cases be decided by a certain
proportion Of its members, TO be deter
mined by the wisdom Of each State.
The immunity from punishment of 50
mauy criminals is the reproach of our
civilization. and it can never be in any
measure arrested without the modihca-
ton Of our jury system.