Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-12-29
in 4 JUSTICE COURT.
ah.s HONOR DELIVERS An OPINION
m IMPRESSIVE STYLE


90. ws.n~xrr II shows it, Egly Front
tss. has heen 1 lasnentshle failure to the
man who has not prowiess around the rss>
,.isst ,uaiciaI sr.stnsili ON grinding days
ana ~.4n iniauisy s.stonaped on and JUS
tee crowned q,ieen Of the May.
Rut ii YOU woaid see the justice court IN
its wild. s,sn,seS,ered" state go iato she
i.,n.y.,.s of esst Texas. where II rossiias NJ
vii, and ssbsists on funny yonng men
who get accused of disturbing peace
which in all likelihood neser existed ~
sYc,, olaees the jsts,iee Of the peace s,ener'
al,y rms his Office in connection VITA
small stock Of family groceries, and the
s.-ssions II the court are held in the rear
sp3 of the mercantile establishment, where
,hs nr,-sitiiny genius can keep his eye on
sbs front door. 80 that he may NOT miss a
Zach sails. if upportuuity offers. And the
opf.ort,uiry sometimes presents ITSELF On
sneb occasions, aud ''his honor ASKS tue
l.vy.rs and the Jury 10 excuse him whiie
he increases the 2rssSs receipts oil the cash
drawer. 1t also happens sometimes 'ha'
thaJ y ,.sr,ips some one in the courtroom
,Sho is in arrears for Supplies. anu lays a
,arer,yeirht on iecal proceedings While
he attempts To induce he delinquent 10
.,,,,r. the account Tais sometimes re
st,,ts in had blood between debtor ana
er,,ditor. angry words, axhandles and bar
rel slaves and the ground torn up, IN which
,shis homer sometimes comes out OF the
.onairt an all tours, with "A head on INN
like "A hjppopotamus. Then an ADJOURN
,nent is in order. and the rest OF the docket
il carried over to the next terra OF court
attended the sitting of one Of these
ronrts once aud SAW il hatch out small
brood of unvarnished justice, a youhs
man had disturbed the peace ami trinea
with the ,iiu,nity of the state IN the one
and the same transaction, and JUSTICE
whetted las havknife and howled Tor re
yeDge. 1.-THE court" had drawn up the
indictment at the instance of nervous
gentleman. who claimed that suodivl'
sion of the naace located in his immediate
vicinity had been disturbed by the young
man hereinhefore referred 10. In IRA"
ing M the indictment "his honor han
DETECTED somewhat from iioyle ara or
biography and spelled peace piece
When court WAS opened, counsel for defeIi
daut attempted TO quash the complaint on
the ground of its literary and legal inlper
lection and made quite an exhaustive ar,
gument to that end. After counsel had
closed his argument the court sustained
the indictment in substantially the ioi
lowing language;
"While admitting that in the drafting
of the indictment an EN- barrassing degree
of unfamiliarity with the standard an
thorities on diction is evident from the
spelling of the word peace, at the same
time it is the opinion of the court that
this inaccuracy does not vitiate the lndict-
ment for We cnuuot enter upon the dan
perous precedent of predicatins the al
ADMINISTRATION of justice upon "A certain de
gree of familiarity with the textbooks.
Justice was full grown and had eorns
on her toes before knowledge had ceased
To wrestle with the collie. She stood guar
dian over the liberties of man while knowl
edge was in the kindergarten and small
clothes, aud now to make her subservlent
to this precocious young 'uu were Ike the
head paving homage To the tail. II eoun-
sci will bear with the court, we VIII state
that-,yc are here TO administer a job lot OF
rectangular justice and not for the pllr-
pose of discussing the literary merit OF
the complaint wherein a superfluity OF
+ seems To have obtained and in which
the drought appears to have struck the "a
crop
Admitting that. when scruiiniznd by
the scholarly eye. peace conveys t. the
mind Il different meaning to that Of piece,
it mas no age over it hen conveyed to
the understanding phonetically. Hence,
should a witness ON the stand testify TO
the fact that ,hc defendant had disturbed
the peace, the import of the word would
he determined by the sense in whith IT
a a.. nf
reasoning would obtain rs applied to the
written instrument.
aThertforc the court holds that the
complaint while II little wohbiy in it'' legs
as regards literary makeup, iS abundGntiy
sufficient for all practical purposes. and
this il not a court in which abstract
theory will ever he invited to seat up
next to the stove and practical demonstra
tiou allowed 10 Enuw "A file in the back
hall We take il for granted that 1Estice
would get along as well and sleep as
Sonndly shuuld II conviction be secured for
disturbing the piece It's though the same
verdict had been obtulued for disturbing
the peace Tie ane would he 10 harder
10 pay for the person so convicted, the rup
tured peace would recover its normal tunc-
ton MS early. and the revenue nccruing to
the COUNT 10y reason Of the fine elected
would bu.ld rs nmuy bridges, court
houses or ails The chief end and aim of
the Justice court is TO ptIt the kerbosh on
crime wherever it shows its ugly 'front.'
and not to attempt to compete in ortho
graphical finish with the bill of fare mt n
first rate restaurant in drawing up bills
Of Indictment Scholarly attainment is
all well and good. but the crucial moment
sometimes arrives when justice presses
her lily white hands TO her stomach aud
yearns to he satisfied
We do not desire to be understood as
fayoring the conviction of Il party for one
offense when charged with another. For
hid that we should desire n man hung
when he shonld only have the seat of his
pants kicked into tatters and his plug OF
tobacco taken away from him. Neither
10 we favor the release of II party when it
is evident that he is guilty simply because
he indictment whereby he is brought be
lore the courts would tail TO provoke APP
blause from II literary society. So. with a
supreme desire to do the square thing he.
tween legal form Oh the one hand aud
box toed justice on the her. the court
will he forced to sustain the sufIicency of
the Indictment aud ,eave the rest to the
Jury and its God."
Then the trial was entered into, and aft
Fr the evidence was taken and IL pyro-
techHic display OF oratory touched OF by
the council on either side OF tie ease, the
jury found the defendant guilty and fined
him s. and trimmings for disturbing the
piece "--Galveston News