The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-20

idea Of this duty was very simple. Taks
for instance a murder unprovoked. com
mitted in a public place and seen by
many. The criminal confesses his guilt
TO the officers and If left to himself would
so plead before the court. and the psnaii,
would have been fixed by merciful ana
| upright judge. But a criminal iawye-
| appears. and If the prisoner and n.
friends can raise the money a half a 6-z-
en- lawyers appear and able ones too. sid
/ the prisoner is informed that he IS not
guilty The fact that the crime is Bn9wl
| BY everybody, and IS beng discussed ~
everybody IS very discouraging ID the
criminal, but under cur jury system IS a
tower Of strength to the defending isw-
/ yers The state is represented by q
| young man OF integrity, with a fun sense
] Of his responsibility, but with little ex-
! perience and who only accepted the Office
! with its small compensation, 10 ger in-o
I practice but with all the young mans
! zeal 70 serve the state he finds himself
/ confronted with lawyers long exce-ienesH
in criminal defense; and most OF nll ne
4 finds himself confronted with statutes.
I which seem 70 this honest. simple, soul.
/ 10 have been constructed and construct
/ on purpose to defeat the ends Of iussi.a
ana set at liberty a self-con1essed Grim
/ nal. The young prosecutor must not
/ exhibit too much zeal and the court must
! De cautious or sonnet hing viii be said or
done which under our statutes viii lie
! called reversible error We mean il
| conviction follows, for whoever head Of
the state having any remedy in case the
o,7b.-I 49,
sharp practice. But after all the GiH-
Guilty Of getting a jury, the young pros
ecutor discovers that he must find twelve
men who are determined to find a yer iict
according to the evidence or the criminal
escapes. We mean that eleven men VIII
do him no good; while, II the defense can
secure one man on the jury who belongs
to the criminal class or who synpathizes
with the accused, his vote defeats the
Judgment of the other eleven and though
the judge On the bench is satisfied that
the evidence demands conviction. he dare
not even hint this 70 the Jury. beyond
mis- formal instructions already delivered
for fear Of an appeal on error. We must
not forget that the accusedsin this case
IS 50 VIGOROUSLY guilty that everybody
knows OF It and has discussed il and
expressed an opinion. We mean every
BODY capable Of having an opinion and
the twelve men selected are no more cap
aoie OF understanding a metaphysical ex-
PLANTATION Of what constitutes reason
able doubt than we are Of understand
ing the language Of the inhabitants Of
Mars. And so well do the defense IN
derstand this that they put great stress
on this instruction. and If doubt is not
raised in the minds of al least one of
these twelve men, Peers of the Realm |
Good and True it is a miracle
The fact is we have been legislatine
these seven hundred years in the interest
OF the criminal classes. 7 can only ac-
count for this by the tendency OF the /
world to follow one extreme with anoth- /
er. L will explain: There was q time
when we as Anglo Saxons had no rights /
which Norman King was bound TO re- +
spect- But the people could bear the
no longer and rebelled. or the
barons did, and secured for themselves
from King John a concession called a
Dill Of rights, which was originally grant
ed only to the nobility and cie~gv. II
was eventually extended to the peonle
and was called the great charter. From
this Magma Charta came the light Ct
trial by jury, a trial by ones peers. face
10 face with his accuser To show the
commodities Of our present law On tIlas
point and the advantages taken Of it
VIII give a case in point, at which I was
present 1t was in western Kansas. ana
-rlI was for horse stealing. The court
after dinner recess before the
'herin had reached the court room WITH
ne prisoner which great abuse of Kir.p
Iohns grant that no man should be tried
without being present to face his tcons-
'rs was noticed only by the defend11t's
counsel who said nothing as fl was as
1000 a thing as he wanted as he after
wards stated. II a few minutes after
'penlns court perhaps three or four when
lothing had been done except a motion
-fgueo, the prisoner and sheriff ap7aared
me court fearful of the wonderful tech
localities OF our laws asked for the no /
Ion to be repeated In short 7eheared
ne few minutes proceeding in the pres I
nee OF the prisoner. But mis- ala nat
IRE the great wrong to one OF the people
ne Temple Of Liberty had been assailej !
nd the learned counsel asked for rav }
rial and when his motion was overrule5 !
e notified the judge tkat he would ~
cal the case. and have no doubt he I
you'd have done 50 = he had not seeur-
d the twelfth man, spoken Of heretofore Z
ne jury stood eleven for convica N and I
ne for acquittaL will state farther q
hat the twelfth man explained 10 me c
fterwards that the case was piafn {
nough for conviction, II X hal not been =
o. the instructions On the subject OF G
'easonabie doubt which as be could not =
nderstane he CONSTRUED % be "a doubt. b
his IS an actual case, and occurred IT e
he last term u court il comfy 81 b
'esteFn Kansas, anG all the facts can Il
c given 70 any in1ui.sr. b
say again that all our legislation since Z
lagna Charta and Increasing in modern o
mes has been in favor OF the lower g
asses. This sentiment had its origin IN q
Just demand for the rights Of the peo- 2
e against its oppressors but it degener- e
Ted into morbid sympathy in favor z s
Re people against the wholesome re- G
raining laws and ont Of IL has grown *
granisn Anarchism, Communism. Popu- e
SIN and modern politicz IN tact the
'mmonwea'th has no rights which IRE .
sopie are hound IN respect
II parriat and statesmanshlo could q
; substituted foT modern politics. IL
an could he punished for seeking al
ice corruptly whether rs the see az ?
oney or by deveuturiuE the natrona-e
his office 70 q political ring more per-