The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-09-13
serve the interests that obtained their Sc
lection?

No; we wish no system of professional
jurymen. Men taken from the ordinary
avocations of life, if excusing capable men
is discontinued, are more competent to
pass upon questions of fact than any pro-
fessional jury that could be selected. 1t
would be easy at large salaries, to get
young lawyers and men with more book
knowledge, but in nnety-nine cases out
of one hundred the jurors need to under
stand human nature and those things that
are of common knowledge to men in all
stations. They will render verdicts more
just and more nearly in accordance with
the evidence than any professional jurors
that could be secured.
Let proper safeguards be thrown around
| the selection of juries, prevent all tamper-
| ing with jurors or packing juries, compel
the challenge law in capital cases, and
| elect honest judges and solicitors, and then
| let the jury system alone If it is carried
out as intended it is the best system that
human ingenuity can devise for rendering
| justice.
correspondent of the Baltimore Sun,
writing on What is jury trial worth ?"
complains that the courts set aside YER
diets that virtually annul trial by jury.
| He says
What is jury trial worth any
how?"
| Many answers might be given to this
! question, but it is my purpose now to
notice only one of the reasons for the
inquiry, viz: The frequency with which
| the verdicts of juries are set aside by
| the courts. Let anyone read the case
reports of the country and he will be
surprised to notice how often a jury YER
| dict is not allowed to stand
! Moreover, under the present judicial
system it is the province of the jury to
decide questions of fact on the evidence
presented by witnesses while to the
court belongs the function of determining
what is or is not evidence. Over and
over again we have the following occur
renee: Someone is killed or badly hurt
while crossing a railroad track; suit is
| brought against the company for dam
ages on the ground of negligence; the
whole history of the accident is mnutely
given by the sworn testimony of wit
nesses in the court of the county or
town where it took place. AS usual in
such cases the attorney for the corpora
ton asks the court to instruct the jury
that there is no legally sufficient evil
dence from which a verdict may be found
for the plaintiff but the court, under
whose eye each witness has testified, be-
lieves the question of negligence should
be submitted to the jury. The jury con-
siders the evidence and returns a verdict
for $40 900 or SIS, 900 AS usual the COM
pany appeals, and the appellate court de-
cides three was no legally sufficient evil
dence for the jury to consider. If any
one has doubt about this statement let
him consult the records
-
This paper stands for the preservation
of the jury system and against the too
frequent setting aside of the verdicts OF
juries by courts. That is very dan
gerous power to be lodged in any one
man and it should be exercised very selS
dom and then only in case of corruption
or wanton disregard of sworn duty. Joseph
Choate, in his address before the Ameri-
can Bar Association, made a noble plea
for the preservation of the jury SYST
tenn and declared that the Judgment
of twelve jurymen was far more apt to be
correct than that of any one man on the
bench, however eminent he may be. 4!