The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-20
WOMEN on JURIEs.
How the Experiment Failed I'm
Washington.

Washington.
From the Chicago Times-Herald.
The talk in the Chicago papers of late
about the drawing of two women for SER
vice on a jury reminds me that 1 saw
the experiment of women jurors tried
pretty thoroughly several years ago in
what was then the Territory OF Washing
ton. The legislature Of that territory
passed full female suffrage act. and at
two or three elections all Of the women
In the state over twenty-one years Of age
had the privilege of voting.
lhere was judge I'm Washington named
Greene at that time. He insisted that so
long as the women enjoyed the suffrage
they ought to bear the burens Of citizen
snip Just the same as men. lie made an
order to the sheriff in his judicial district
that they should put women on all the
jury panels, and he declared that he
would accept no jury I'm his court unless
there We're women upon it, There was a
great deal Of rebelliOus talk among the
women, but a number of prominent suf-
fragists came forward and announced
their Willingness to do jury duty No
discrimination was made. however in
favor of the women who didn't want to be
jurors, and small social CONFUSION fol-
lowed the arbitrary order of Judge Greene.
was out In Washington considerable
part of every year, and / talked a good
deal with the lawyers as to how the wo-
men jurors were performing their duties
All agreed that they were conscientious,
that they listened carefully to the evil
dence and that they gave closer atten-
ton to the arguments of the lawyers than
the average man juror did. They did not
yawn or shut their eyes or look up at the
flies on the ceiling of the courtroom when
the lawyers were talking.
But the lawyers were unanimous in
fN4I
men on the jury. They said that the
trouble was the lack OF the logical fac
ulty In the female mind. The women
didn't seem to be able to weigh conflict
ing evidence or to follow closely a line
or dry argument, or to give the proper
weight to the statutes explained TO them.
1hey were very apt 10 make up their
minds in the progress OF the trial from
some little circumstances or bits Of EVIL
dence that might be almost immaterlaI
TO the real point at issue When they
had once come to the conclusion that the
plaintiff or defendant was right, all sub
sequent evidence or pleading ran off their
brains like water from a ducks back.
man might have a very strong case.
but II the women heard that he had not
behaved himself well towards his family
they were sure TO favor a verdict against
him, 10 matter what the evidence might
be. Their tendency was to take every-
- ~
jury and her particular friend, Mrs.
Il. IS husband, was a party to the law
suit, Mrs. A. was pretty sure that Mr.. b.
was right because Mrs. b. was a friend of
hers.
The physical inconvenience of having
women on the juries were great II was
necessary 10 provide some sort of retiring
rooms for them in the court houses, and
female bailiffs had to be appointed. When
the jury was locked up to force YER
dict the men whose wives were thus in
carcerated with a miscellaneous lot OF
masculine jurors were naturally furious
l do not think there was any case while
the experiment lasted, when the Jury was
held over night. Out of courtesy to- the
women members the men came to an
agreement sooner than is usually the case
and didn't resort to the general and ven
cradle custom of firing out the minority
by all night sessions with cigars and
pipes.
Finally the whole business came to an
end by a decision of the territorial SUI
preme court knocking out the woman
suffrage law on the trihing technical
point that its purport was not fully ex-
pressed in its title.