St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-19

trlai ny jury Shdll nOt DC aOriuseu OF ue-
|. MED to any citizen. The privilege may
b3 waived by the person accused. but it
cannot be arbitrarily taken from him.
also provides that no person shall be
deprived of his liberty without due proel
ess of law. The act of 1898 is an at I
tempt TO oyerturn this constitutigiiats
safeguard by substituting for triaf bXss
jury process not conte mplated byotha
constitution. and therefore null and
void.
There Is occasion for alarm at ttfsliha
noyation. aud to protest againstit. !sIf
it is possible to take from persons acr
Gu sed of Insanity the right TO be ok,
-amined IN open court before properly,
constituted tribunal, it is also possible
to deny the same right to persons be-;
cused of crime. There are few medical
men who are more capable of discover
Ing insanity-no larger proportinn-7
than may be found among men of good,
average intelligence. In other profess
sions. Added to this is the fact that
the two physicians to whom a case may
he referred may be prejudiced against
the person accused. And there is "a
still stronger objection to such jury.
The ethics of the medical profession,
which are as unalterable as the laws of
the Modes and Persians, hold that It's the
duty OF all physicians to stand by each
other, and to repel any insinuatlons that
might reflect upon the conduct or char
acter of any member OF the profession.
Under these circumstances it is notonly
possible to procure packed jury, but
all cases are certain TO be prejudiced.
For the verdict of one physician who
has once passed upon the case will be
the verdict of thousand. The ETH
quette of the profession requires it.
The two cases referred to in the
GLoBE-those of Mrs. Blaisdeli, of Fer
gus Falls, and Mrs. Perry. Of Mime
apolis-and the Hoskins case besides.
show to what extent the abuse of the
Insanity law may be carried. Whether
those persons were insane or not has no
bearing on the issue. The fact that
they were committed to all asylum
without trial by jury, and therefore
without due process of law--for the law
of 1893 is so manifestly unconstitutional
that it does not deserve to be dignified
by being called a law-Shows that any
citizen, 10 matter what his mental
s0undneSS or social standing may be, is
liable to be thrust into the company of
lunatics, and kept there indefinitely at
the caprice of an enemy. No citizen is
safe so long as he has an enemy, and
his Punishment from the world may be
male perpetual. The vilest criminal III
the land has greater privileges, which
no one dare assaif.
The insanity law of 1898 is an abound
ing iniquity. disgracefui alike to our
state and to the age in which we
live. Its infamies are already manifold
The greatest injustice it has brought is
that it has not resulted in the confine-
nent of its authors in an asylum for the
feeble-minded or the insane. 1t was
manifestly concocted in the interest of
the managers of the so-called private
hospitals for the insane, which are Moth
ing better than prisons, to which per.
sons possessed of abundant means aie
kidnapped, and in which they are con-
fined while dishonest relatives and blisit.
ness associates plumber their estates :
for, under the law, the complainalits
are permitted 10 consign them to private
as well as public institutions for the
care of the demented. sRF