The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-12-31
Reported for the RECoRD-UNIoN.l
"OLD CRANK'N" SERIAL SERMON.
CHAPTER V.

One of the great existing evils in our
country is superfluous and excessive
legislation.
Liberty Of the individual can never be
attained by prescribing thousands OF use
less rules and regulations. Useless be-
cause they are never consulted. 1t is the
inherent sense of right and wrong in
man which governs the world, and not
written laws Probably ninety-nine
men of every hundred never break any
law, unless it is some ridiculous ordl-
nance which is not in accordance with
common sense, and such are too numer-
GUS in our multiplicity of legislation.
They follow the inherent sense of right
and wrong within them, and really have
no use for written law. For use of the
other one in a hundred, who breaks the
law, they are only available for his pun
ishment, for they can have no re-
straining influence if he does not know
what they are.
If every law and statute in our printed
books contained the essence of wisdom,
what possible benefit could they be to
those who do not-and cannot because of
their abundance-read them?
Think of the vast sums of money and
the more immense power of brilliant in
tellects which are being continually
wasted in this injurious occupation of
aw-making.
Would not constitution showing the
form of government, with its offices and
manner of electing its officers; with a
code showing punishments for known
crimes; and criminal procedure, and
code of civil procedure, with courts COM
petent to entertain and adjudicate every
form or kind of complaint, each on its
own merits, regardless of what has been
done in the past or what may be done in
the future-simplify and accelerate the
administration of justice?
l propose this question to the common
sense ofcommon inteliects, and l relegate
it to the acute sense of the brighter intel
lects of our legislators, who have
power to act in accordance with
their discretion. AS l am aware
that it would require much time to ac-
cOmplish such a sweeping change, will
propose a few lesser reforms, which L
think will obtain the approval of the COM
mon sense of the public.
First-A bolish all oaths which are re-
quired in law, and administer legal man
dates instead, with the same penalty for
disregard of mandate that is affixed to
the violation of an oath. Administering
an oath is a barbarous ceremony, fit only
for a superstitious people who lack the
common sense of civilization.
Second-A bolish all official bonds, and
also all bonds required of those accused
of being criminals. Because it is unjust
to require the innocent to suffer for the
guilty. Substitute legal penalties to be
! borne by the guilty only.
Third-As our jury system is a fragrant
and despotic infringement on the liberties
of the people, without one redeeming
| feature, abolish that, and substitute
commOn-sense system, from which some
benefit can be derived. Think of the in
consistency. In country where free
dom and liberty are the watchwOrds,
law-abiding citizens are hauled away
from their business, without their having
any voice or choice in the matter, ostensi-
bly, to make them serve the public; and,
to add to the injustice, oaths are imposed
upon them, which no conscientious man
could take without mental substitution
of the common sense which ought to
but does not--eXiSt in the oath itself
|. Men are made to swear to decide ac-
cording to law and the evidence pro-
duced, when they do not know the law,
and many of whom are incompetent to
separate the legally admissible from the
inadmissible evidence. The conse-
quences are well known. Decisions are
rendered which surprise common sense,
and sometimes common-sense decisions
are rendered which surprise the lawyers,
because they do not conform to the law
Does any man who is ordinarily intelli-
gent doubt the assertion. that if men
were selected and elected because of their
fitness to perform such office, instead of
| being drawn by lottery, regardless of
their right to liberty (of choice, at least,
or fitness for such services, justice would
be administered more in accordance with
its dictionary definition than it is now?
| My plan would be to elect two or more
Justices of the Peace in every township.
and make one or more in each township
liable to serve as jurors whenever called
upon by the courts.
Abolish the pernicious practice of per-
hitting lawyers to object TO jurors for
! frivolous reasons, but give power to the
courts to change jurors for bias or proved
prejudice.
Abolish juries in courts where only
trivial cases are adjudicated.
Our present practice of permitting any
| accused individual to require jury often
imposes greater punishment on law
abiding citizens who are compelled to
serve as jurors than the law imposes on
the accused when convicted.
OLD CRANK.
TO be Continued.l