The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1892-03-11

Medicine to-day scopes in vast field for re-
search, while law rests as it did years ago on
Blackstone and later i'm this state on How
ellis Annotated Statutes. The quirks and
bubbles of the law is something unique, ave,
almost wonderful, and its uncertainties are
growing more and more glorious every day.
Look at Detroit, which has become verita-
BILE robbers rOOst, and convictions of known
rascals are singularly seldom. This is no
fault of the law but of its executors in many
instances, tho our lack of capital pnnish-
ment which takes off the deterrant influence
in many cases, and our present jury system
go far toward increasing crime. Further It.
has got to such pitch that the prosecuting
attorney may favor guilty person or the
judge may take the case away from a jury
and decide the matter himself. Such a case
happened in Detroit the other day when the
jury brought in verdict of guilty after hav-
ing been instructed to the contrary by the
prosecuting attorney, and i'm liquor case
from this place which went down to the cir
cult court, wherein the defendant pleaded
guilty. Judge Gartner let him go on sus-
pended sentence. So one can't most always
tell how matter at law will terminate In
another case recently at Detroit the Judge
refused to allow the prisoner to plead guilty
of the crime of murder with which he was
charged, against whom there was abundant
evidence besides his own, but put the poor
devil through the farce of trial for crime
which he vehemently and persistently adj
mitted. Bah! it is a WEAKNESS to the flesh
to look at the performance i'm this state over
a murderer. 1t doesn't make any difference
how useless, shiftless and villanous the
wretch may be either he will always find
some lawyer to take his case and worm it
through the lower court in presence of jury
or what must in many cases be composed of
knaveS or fools, and after successive dis
agreements or change of venue, carry it to
the Supreme Court, and If that fails, to the
pardOning board, who if the fellow hasn't
already escaped may recommend him to ex-
ecutive clemency, and still later on he can
starve and cough himself into "a decline"
and fool some prison doctor into writing his
pardon so that he can ''die at home" But
he don't die worth cent. He gets well to
raise more HI if you please. Crminality
is disease which when once it is contract
ed is liable to become chronic and render
the individual fit only for the penitentiary,
in order that society may be protected.
In contrast with the inglorious uncertain
ty of law comes a Pandora's box of abso-
lutte certainties in medicine. Certain to do
harm in great many instances. Lay aside
the vast and constantly increasing horde of
so-called dOctors-the woods is full of em-
two-thirds of whom, to say the least, are
practicing medicine on stock of ignorance
and gall. l say laying these aside, turn to
the daily papers and see the disgusting ar
ray of vile, lying, and obscene advertise
ments of medicines Of all kind, nature and
degree of potency. Nasty, insinuating adj
vertisements are tucked under ones nose
with the measley persistency of a beggar or
n hIOnd- mncunitn phntOOronbq nf
idiotic looking faces call attention to state
ments as false as the faces and all construct
ed in such manner as to worm the name
and claim of the nOstrum INTO the mind of
the reader, whether he will or not. Human
ingenuity is pushed to its utmost to con-
struct an advertisement that will sting the
reader before he knows it, and the louder
the ''ad" the bigger the humbug. The in
discriminate use of these compounds causes
a great deal of disease as every intelligent
physician knows, but his evidence against
them goes for nothing as he is reckoned an
interested party, supposedly.
The way in which these detestable adver-
tisements are tucked onto the reader, re-
minds me of the man who went out in his
field and planted hill of cucumber seed,
and after putting down the warm, moist
earth over it, he leaned on his hoe and stood
looking at the hill in calm contemplation.
Suddenly the ground raised over one of the
seeds and the tender shoot came up
and put forth leaf and then the vine
began to grow, and ii grew towards him.
Finally he stepped back to make room for
it, and it grew still faster and faster, and at
length he walked away rapidly and at last
got into dead run and jumped over the
fence to keep the confounded thing from
climbing him, but when he reached in his
hip pocket for handkerchief 10 wipe the
perspiration from his face, he found GU
cumber there large enough to poison him.
This story and the deectable advertisements
are of about equal truth and the fruit of
both are used with about equal results.
Laingsburg March 9, 1892. WARD.