The Washington times., 1905-06-27
The Law S Delay.

cerning thesl law or legal procedure
his words are those aot of theorist,
but of an expert fully qualified to tes-
tify by reason of experience at the
bar and on the bench His opinions
concerning the administration of jus
tice are entitled to greater weight By
reason of the fact that as governor of
the Philippine Islands he was Obliged
TO compare our system with a very
different code and note the advantages
of each.
In his address to the graduating
class of the Yale Law School yester-
day. Mr.. Taft said:
grieve for my country to say that
the administration Of the criminal Law
in all the States OF the Jrion there may
be one or two sxceptionsl is a disgrace
TO our civilization. We a:s now reaching
sparse civiiiration. newness of country.
as cause for laNify in the enforce.
meHt of law.
Since lss in the United States there
have been iA.Sl murders and homicides
and there have been g. ,cSs executions. In
1885 the number Of murders was 1.9es.
In 1904 II had increased to s.4s2. The
1900 the number was lI6. This startling
increase In the number of murders and
hornicides as compared with the number
OF executions tells the story. AS murder
is on the increase, SO are all offenseS of
the felony class. and there can be no
doubt that they will continue to increase
unless the criminal laws are enforced
with more certainty, more uniformity,
more severity than they now are
Now, here is a man Of rich expert
ence.s of ripe judgment, with ade-
quate feeling for the sponsiailities
of his nigh position, and. this man in.
an address to body of young law
yers cuts down TO the bone to show
them how rotten and ineffective our
criminal procedure is. He is not
alone in his opinion on this matter,
the majority Of qualified lawyers and
Judges are of the same opinion; but
he not only sees the faults Of our
system. he has a remedy to correct
them.
Two or three years ago Mr.. Justice
Brewer. of the Supreme Court. caus-
ed something like a sensation by Civ
ing utterance to his opinion that this
country needs very greatly to restrict
if not to deny the right. Of appeal in
criminal causes. The learned justice
Indicated the manner in which the
introduction of endless technicality
in the processes OF retrial and appeal
had served to help the guilty escape.
and had convinced tie public that
there was no good reason why the
law and its solemn processes should
not be respected by everybody.
Justice Brewers utterance was a
tremendous shock until it was made
clear that the right of appeal was
not constitutional, and that the
privilege of endless appeal to foolish
the cornerstones of our Institutions.
Then the public began seriously to
wonder IL the justice was not right,
and the ensuing discussion Of the fail
try, and the growing lack of respect
for the courts and their DEGREES,
demonstrated a wide dissatisfaction
with present conditions and tenden-
cies.
Mr. Secretary Taft has recently
brought forth Justice Brewers issue
and shown disposition to force it
into practical politics. The other day
in an address out in Ohio he talked
of the failure of law enforcement in
this country and suggested the same
remedy that Justice Brewer had pro-
posed-restriction of the appeal Yes
terday at New Haven he took up the
same theme and delivered a still more
vigorous arraignment of present con-
ditions and practices in the courts.
His address ought to be read by every
citizen, for the fact OF its having been
made by the man who Is regarded as
the chief mouthpiece of the Admins
tration suggests that the President
may have in view the Inauguration OF
a campaign for practical application
OF these ideas.
Secretary Taft doubts whether trial
by jury Ia civil cases is an unmixed
good. AS to our criminal procedure
he is still more dubious about oul
methods, noting that appeals in tbs
English criminal courts are not al
lowed except on a very few strict,
legal grounds, as to which the tria
court makes the ruling.
The earnest interest which the Sec
retary of War is taking in this ques
ton suggests that it will be more i'm
portant in the public mind before
long. And it deserves to be. Their
is nothing In American life more sug
gestive Of inherent weakness In ou
system OF government, or more con
firmatory OF the charge that our ideal
as a people are essentially low, thar
our lack of respect for the courts.
1t Is national disgrace to us tha
these things should be, 1t would b.
infamous II we should allow them t.
continue much longer. The matter i