The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-03-25

The Duties and Powers of Juries.
Baltimore Ansericda.
The statements Of the senior counsel for Mrs.
Chadwick, concerning the deliberations and
verdict of the the jury who tried her were so
misleading IS to be we'll calculated to create in
thepubIic mind some confusion as to the duties
and powers Of juries. His chief complaint is
that his client had very unfortunate" jury,
because it was in large part made up of farmers
and, therefore, men unfamiliar with banking
laws and business customs. As a result, he
claims they were incompetent to comprehend
the laws governing the transactions bis client
was alleged to have performed. This argument
might be worthy of thoughtful consideration
were it a fact that it was the jury's duty to in
terpret such laws.
Fortunately for the administration OF justice
and the protection of the public, jurors do not
have TO be experts in the various subjects upon
which they are asked to render verdicts. It is
the duty Of the court to expound and interpret
the laws. 1t is he who sets before the jury,
stripped of legal verbiage, the laws which are
concerned in the case at bar The jury is in no
sense supposed to interpret such laws or to
question them. It deals alone with the facts
of the case, and decides whether or not in its
opinion, from all the facts presented during
the trial, the defendant did perform or fail to
perform certain acts or knowingly allow such
acts to be performed.
Furthermore, the court points ont the par
ticuIar acts or omissions which the jury is to
consider, so that there is no confusion in their
minds as regards the particular testimony
which has a direct bearing on the case. 1t
would, therefore, seem that jury of farmers
is as fully competent to pass upon any civil or
criminal case, as would be body Of men who
were more or less expert in whatever transac-
tions might be involved in the trial. Clear
minds, free from prejudice, and not too easily
swayed by emotional flights Of oratory, are
the best opponents of the justice of our jury
system,
THE COURT of Appeals of Maryland on
Thursday decided that the people of this State
will this year have the opportunity to vote
upon the negro DISTINGUISHING amendment
proposed by the last Legislature. This was
made certain by the decision in the mandamus
case instituted by Mr.. Murray Vandiver against
Governor Warfeld to compel the Governor to
promulgate the amendment in order that it
may be placed upon the ballot. The good
roads amendment is included in the decision.
The opinion of the court, which was written by
Chief Judge McSherry and except in one par
ticular, is concurred in by all of the other
members of the court, sustains Mr.. Vandiver
and the Democratic managers on every point.
Upon the primary and fundamental question,
docs proposal to amend the Constitution,
after having been adopted by the General AS
sembly, require the appoval of the Executive,
or must it be passed over his veto If he disap-
proves it before the people are entitled to vote
upon it ?'' the court was unanimous in agree
ing that proposition to amend the Constitu.
ton when formulated by the General Assem-
bly, and when no measures that are distinctly
and essentially legislative in their nature are
appended to it does not require the approval of
the Governor before it can be voted on by the
people, and that the Governor has no authority
whatever to veto it.
DIR. HENNER, a chemist, has been expert
menting with cocoanut oil and finds that it
makes very satisfactory article of butter. 1t
contains per cent. of soluble acids namely,
butyric acid and capric or decylic acid, which
gives the butter pleasant aroma and SAVIOR,
making it taste something like hazelnut.
This butter will keep fifteen or twenty days
before showing any acid reaction and snstains
many of the tests of true butter, for which
it is better substitute than oleomargarine,
and can be produced much more cheaply.
Posterity will face a scarcity of milk and the
butter made therefrom, so rapid is the increase
of population and so restricted in comparison
with the available area for pasturage, and per-
haps the cocoa tree may come in as the most
useful auxiliary of the cow anywhere to be
found Much may be hoped from DR.. Hem
ner's experiments as leading the way to Others
and possibly to final success thus utilizing a
substance which can be produced practically
without limit, and which is of known whole
someness and purity.
IT TOOK lot of Congregational ministers Of
Boston to deal Mr. John D. Rockefeller slap
in the face that he will not forget very soon.
These ministers have forwarded to the Ameri-
can Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions protest against the acceptance by
the Board of gift of 500, 900 from Mr.. Rookie
Teller. The petition protests against the ac-
ceptance of the gift on the. ground that the
Standard Oil Company, of which Mr.. Rookie
Teller is the head, islands before the public
under repeated and recent formidable indict-
ments in specific terms for methods which are
morally Ubiquitous and socially destructive"
and that ''the acceptance of such agift involves
the constituents of the Board in relation
implying honor toward the donor and subjects
the Board to the charge of ignoring the moral
issues involved" Concluding the protest says:
1--WE, the undersigned, therefore protest against
any action by which our church may even
seem to be compromised, and we plead with
the officers of the Board to decline the gift, or
to return it if it has been accepted"
THE OLD Greenway dwelling, situated on the
northwest corner of Charles street and Mt.