Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1896-03-04

law al one session ana then, when thnt
law meets with the approval OF the
great body OF the people TO be aie1t e.
thereby, when that law is denlahueu Wy
the most elementary prihe,Il,sa "' COW ON
government. to repeal II Wtnout con
shifting those for whose beneht IL was
enacted?
II can not be said that our people
are Incapable OF enforcing the law,
By the act OF 1895, congress AFTER tuii
investigation. said that they were.
There has been no rstrogresslon hillpub
us. The records of the United suites
courts in Kansas, Arkansas and Texas,
when compared with the courts IN thls
Territory. VIII show Il smuller per cent
OF convictions in proportion 10 tne
cases tried than has been obtained IN
the courts in the Territory. In other
words. when cases are tried nero. there
10 preaer per cent OF convictions
than are obtained in the other courts
referred to. The reports now ON Me
with the Department Of Justice VIII
fully sustain this assertion. This
elbows concluslvcly that our people
mako as good jurors as do the people or
Kansas. Arkansas and Texas. II
shows that they are more ready to com
vict. II Is a groundless and cruel re-
Election upon the integrity Of the people
Of this Territory to say that they can
not be trusted to enforce the law
The man who makes such charge is
either fool or knave, and may be
both The people of this Territory In
Intelligence, integrity, law abiding dis
position, and devotion TO the prlnci-
pies of liberty, are the equals Of any
people TO be found anywhere upon the
face OF the earth. They have built
churches. school houses masonic lodg-
es odd Fellow halls and other lodge
buildings In every community all over
this country
As class they are Woodworking.
moral. progressive aud w-ahiding
people They appeal TO their friends
and hrethorcn FOR justice.
II a man has been a good man II he
has lead moral. honest, truthful life,
It IS his right as an American citizen
to he tried among those with whom he
has lived and where the accusation and
evidence against him may he heard and
considered in the light Of his past life,
1f man has been thief n liar and a
murderer, he has no cause 10 complain
II he Is compelled 10 be tried In n COM
munity where his true character Ia
known. The good man Is damaged by
the change. the bad man Is benefited.
Thus the ends Of justice are thwnrted.
When a person is tried beyond the ter
ritoIN' for IN offcnso committed here.
the Jury have no personal interest in
the enforcement Of the law. II Is
merely nm abstract proposition with
thom When he Is tried here FOR an
ontuse committed here. he Is tried be-
fore a jury who are personally inter
cstcd in the enforcement OF the law.
who understand existing conditions,
and who feel u Just pride In their coun-
try He Is tried before jury who have
somc knowledge of the character OF tho
witness for and against him, and who
are, therefore, much better prepared to
Il
Is due than n Jury would be who are
strangers to all OF the parties. Thus
truth IL moro apt to be Indicated and
justice more apt to be done. The fun
dDmcntol Idea Of freedom Is that the
people are capable OF self-goverumcut.
That while they may make mistakes,
vet that when opportunity ls given
them for Information and time for re-
Election, they may safely be trusted to
do right, n this is not true. then our
form Of government Is not only a fail
ure and a fraud. but 1t Is founded upon
Il lie II this IL true. If the people are
capable of self-government; that is, II
they can be trusted to make laws ana
enforce them, upon what prln"ipie can
congress deny to the people Of the ter
ritnry the right to enforce the law
among themselves? Where Is the teach
ing of our fathers that requires that
our people should he subject to foreign
lITlNtltllbtlE. lItll llltN Nnbllu ne lltUN-
ported out Of their country TO be tried
before strangers for either real or sup
posed Olfenses? IT matters not how in
nocent Il man may be, unless he IL also
a man of wealth. It simply means tinnn-
clnl ruin for him to he Indicted and
tried in one Of these foreign iurisdlc-
tons. We all know that no system OF
law IS perfect. II Is an innrmlty OF hui
man nature and human law that the
innocent as well as the guilty nre fire.
qucntlv indicted; sometimes through n
Misunderstanding OF the evidence by
the grand jury, sometimes because the
grand jury did not have all of the evil
dence before IT, and sometimes as the
result of malice ana perjury A per-
son living I'm the Indian Territory. who
Is dcpraved and who may be actuatcd
by malice, can go before a grand jury
of one OF these foreign jurisdictions and
procure an indictment against an in
nocent man, which should not have
been obtained. and which would In
many Instances not have been obtained
had the place Of the pretended offense
been sufficiently near to admit Of
thorough Investigation. The result Is
that the defendant is compelled TO
travel hundreds Of miles and carry his
witnesses with him. The Inevitable re-
suit OF this loss Of time and expense Ia
TO break the poor fellow up, no matter
how complete hts vlndlcatlon may be
upon the trial Many parties who know
of the commission OF crimes. or who
are the sufferers from crimes. when
they think OF the lost time and the
trouble and distance OF travelling to
and from these foreign jurisdictions
aud the liability OF the cases being con-
tinucd, fail to report the offcnse to the
officers, when they would glady do SO
IL the trial could be had at point
near to their homes It is much easier
for perjury to be committed In and
fraud practlceh upon those foreign jur-
lection are so remote and the time is
too short to allow investigation during
trial. II matters not how faithful the
officials may be, the present system is
an outrage upon the people NJ this Ter
ritorv, and un1ustifable by existing
conditions, violative OF every principle
Of right Justice and freedom, and can
not be perpetuated without ini,icting
m outrage upon these pcople amount
ing to an absolute inlquity
Furthermore, II Is lncontestahly true
that the present system OF dual iurs-
dlction over this territory increases the
cost Of administering the criminal law
incredibly, while AZ the same time i'm
pairing tho efficiency OF the executive
force, That II increases the cost must
he plain upon a moments considera-
ton. Remember, now, that there are
three United States mnrshals for the
courts In the Indian Territory, with
nearly forty deputies; that there are
In addition, mnrshnls and a great force
of DEPUTIES 10 eNnpufa tho prnengga, =, .