The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-11
Ret Quincy Ewing Uses Some
 Very Plain Words REFERS 10 JURY SERVICE
He Quotes from Alex T. London's Re- cent Letter and The Age-Heraid Editorials - Calls Our
 Citizens to Duty.

Church of the Advent. preached a stirring sermon on local conditions yesterday. His discourse in full follows:
 "Doth God pervert judgment? Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?'-Job S:S.
 'sTo do justice and judgment is more ac- ceptable to the Lord than sacrifice."- Prov. 2l:3
 How long shall ye judge unjustly and respect the persons of the wicked? Judge the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. "-Psalm S2:1-2-S.
 There is school of reformers in the present day. of whom the most widely known is Count Tolstoi. who, if I under stand them alright, interpret the saying of Jesus. Resist not evil.' as meaning that no evil-doer should be punished by society for his evil-doing; that, whether he filch a fellow-man's purse or shed fellow mans blood, the individual criminal should be dealt with by his fellow-men as tenderly as the six-months' babe by it's mother-no more punishment visited by force upon the adult thief or homicide than the mother infiicts upon the ire sponsible infant for upsetting its bowl of milk
 Concerning Local Conditions. Concerning local conditions must we conclude from certain of the editorials and other articles lately appearing in our local newspapers that the people of the state in which we live. and of the county and city in which we live. have been very deeply impressed by the Tolstoian doc | fri of jet fn nd rapidly making up their minds to put it into practice, without reserve?-to dandle the unfortunate individual who steals or the unfortunate individual who murders, | on society's broad knee, and coax him into honesty and cajole him into re- nouncng the homicidal mania? Is 1t about to be discovered or Is it already publicly proclaimed, by all men in our state, coun- | ty and city eligible to jury service, and l by all men qualified to manipulate juries, that arrests and Inducements and trials for crime, and local jails, and the state prison. are out of date-useless things that should be henceforth jury-balloted and jury manipulated out of existence, If no better and speedier way is found to rid society of their annoying and expensive | uselessness?
 One of the local newspapers declared editorially, a few days ago, that our | juries have filled the land with hom-' | cides," and that more men are slain by their fellow men in a year in Jefferson county than in Great Britain, with it's l 100000 of people, moro than 250 times as many as dwell in this county of Jef- ferson. An astounding state of things to l be true of any county or district any | wi On RlOha tOlaVl | It is vastly more astounding as true of | a county located in so civilized and en- | frightened a state as Alabama, and in which is located one of the half dozen most wide-awake and progressive cities of the entire Southl
 Must we conclude, l ask, that in the state of Alabama, and especially in the county of Jefferson, a determined effort is being made to put into practice the | Tolstoi theory of non-resistence to evil and evil doers? Nay, nay, such conclu- sion is forbidden by one of the ghastliest facts which can possibly call to account | the conscience of a civilized people, who take the name of justice on their lips and profess to hold the creed of Christ in their hearts, the fact-ff we may rely upon the testimony of the editors of our city journalsand of others who ought to know whereof they speak-the fact that it is only one class ot evil doers who are forgiven their trespasses by men sworn to deliver Judgment according to the law and the evidence-the evil doers Of social position; the evil doers with pull; the evil doers who can speedily acquire a | pull" if they have it not by use of their own, or their frineds money; the fact that the wrath of the jury box and the police courts is poured out in most | lavish fashion upon the poor the de- spised. the pull-less, the friendless, the @l..l.~ AZ frfr .I- as helpless as themselves Of this latter class thousands are arrested every year in the city of Birmingham, and nobody has complained that they are made to drink too lightly of the cup of punish ment for their misdeeds.
 Unsound Public Sentiment.
 In an editorial in the Age-Herald, last Wednesday, it was declared that we are confronted by an unsound public senti- ment as to the sacredness of human life resulting in desire to excuse any white slayer who can present case, however rotten it be-" (The editor, doubtless had in mind>the white slayer with influence" ; and few there be that have 1t not to some degree)
 During the past week an able and prom inent lawyer of our city stated over his signature in public print-and I have seen no contradiction of his statement, nor criticism of it-that there are Hundreds of poor and friendess whites and negroes in the penitentiary and in the coal mines, and hired out to individuals and corpora lions in practical slavery for the purpose of earning fees for officers in the vari- ous court houses of the state. and to pay usurious interest to purchasers of claims l against the fine and forfeiture fund.- and that it is Ian open secret that any man in Alabama, provided he have money and influence enough, and be not negro, may with impunity violate any criminal stat ute. even to the extent of murdering his neighbour In reading this statement, I could not but be reminded of a remark made to me several years ago by one of the most distinguished lawyers in Mis- sissippi. After recounting a number of dreadful homicides. white men the victims and white men the slayers. and the slay- CTS all acquitted, he remarked: ''The fact | of the matter is, we have no criminal law in this part of the country for white men; our criminal law is all for negroes?
 cIankins Chains.
 Who has walked the streets of Birming- ham, night or day, without seeing his feliowbeings in clanking chains cleaning the. gutters? a sight so disgraceful, so barbarous, so horrible. that I am amazed to think, and hurt to the depth of my and the noble womanhood of this com believes that one of those poor creatures, clankine his way from gutter to gutter; guarded like wild beast of prey before . --r-