The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-03-15
OMISSIONS SUPPLIED.

The jury have disagreed in the libel
suit against The Salt Lake Herald,
as TO the amount in which the plaintiff
was damaged, but they all agreed In
the opinion that the injury was not
great. The implication Is that there
was All intention on the part OF
The Herald to personally attack an In
noeent person; what error was in the
publication was inadvertent, occurred
in giving the public the news. and was
repaired as far as possible by a SUISSE
Quent article.
In making his plea for the plaintiff
Judge Powers, as reported in the
paper for which he appeared as attor-
ney in another libel suit, read por-
ton of an editorial on the libel cues
ton from The Herald. We say a por-
ton, because the gentleman, with that
ihpartiality ~ which so often dis
tinguishes the special pleader, care
fully omitted such sentences as were
not specially suited to the purpose of
his appeal to the jury. If he had read
the paragraphs from which he made
his selections in full. the effect he de-
sired TO produce might not have been
so marked. Discretion is said to be
the better part of yalor, and that ap-
plies, no doubt, to forensic sallies and
the use of weapons in legal warfare.
This is what the cautious, not to
say cunning, attorney for the plaintiff
is reported to have read to the jury as
an editorial from The Herald of No.
vember %. 1894:
Nothing could be more cowardIy
than the assaults Of personal charac-
ter which have been made by the as
sassins of the quill. who have lurked
behind the power press (of that con-
Germ to level their inky darts Of
SANDER at the living marked as their
prey, and the dead, who could not re-
taliate. When proven to be in the
wrong. their pretense at apology has
usually been but a repetition of their
not condone groundless attacks on
citizens through the public prints,
If the law can be relied upon
to correct public and private wrongs.
there viii be no need for individuals
to resort to personal effort in their own
/ vindication And the Law Is intended
to protect the citizen in every civil
right. The law should be enforced IN
libel cases. when it is clear that ma
lcious intent prompted the SANDER,
That is the only way to prevent
breaches of the peace.
Anything from The Herald was
doubtless Of interest to both the court
and the 5ury as well as to everybody
81 the court room. And the reader
evidently considered il very good
authority. which showed his clear
Judgment and legal acunneu. But Il
would have been more generous 60 his
auditors. to say nothing of The Herald.
if he had read the connecting sentences
which, in the above extract. are reDre-
sented by asterisks. There would have
been more light In them than is re-
hected by those stars, We will here
supply them:
It Is a warning to the press IN bs
careful OF utterances CONCERNING nar-
sonal character, and to cease the fniec-
ton Of spite against individuals, Off
Gals or otherwise.
Every newspaper is liable TO make
mistakes and to give offense. When
! neither is intended, when it is evident
that there is no malice or design to
misrepre5ent, the spirit Of libel is alb
sent, and an ondeavor to rectifv 3.
wrong to the fullest reasonable extent
ought TO relieve the publishing com
pany of the responsibility which would
attach if there was a malice and libel
Gus design
But when paper makes scandal a