Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-03
GRAND JURIES.
TDubuque T'imeS.I

GRAND JURIES.
dubuque Times.J
The people of Minnesota at the re-
/ cent election gave a majority of 49,
400 in favor of authorizing the legis-
4 lature to abolish grand juries. Legisla-
! ton accordingly is expected at the
next session of the assembly
The grand jury system was once
supposed to be fundamental, but some
states have discovered that it can be
eliminated with advantage in the ad-
ministration of the criminal laws. 1t is
| founded on the theory that no man
| should be placed on trial for felony
| until after the production before jury
of his peers of evidence which, II un-
explained, would justify his conviction.
| But it has been used at times to shield
| criminals and at other times to graf
| ify malice or express passing pupHc
| clamor 1t came in for severe condem-
nation in Illinois year ago after the
| indictment Of Mayor Harrison for fail
| ure to enforce the ordinances against
| the owners of the Iroquois theater.
But the primary objection is that the
grand jury system, while somewhat
expensive and cumbersome. is not re-
uuired for the protection of the rights
of the defendant.
| Wisconsin abandoned the system
many years ago with satisfactory re-
suits. In that state prosecution IS
based on information filed before
magistrate and he decides without the
intervention of the grand jury whether
the defendant should be held for trial
| to Jury on the charge preferred.
~
TWO THOUSAND RURAL ROUTES.
Huntington Hawkeye]
| The close Of the year 104 finds two
| thousand rural route carriers pussy
| in the state of Iowa, and within Few
months this number will be Increased
| to twenty-five hundred And ere
many years have passed every resident
OF the state, no matter how remote his
place of residence will have his daily
| mail delivered at his own door. What
would the pioneers who depended on
the steamers for their mail during the
summer months and who went without
mail during the winter. have said II any
one had suggested the possibility OF
daily mail delivery in Iowa? If there
had been institutions for the insane
| and commissioners for the examination
of insane persons In those early days
the prophet who spoke Of rural mall
delivery to the pioneers would have
been sent to an asylum in short order.
There is nothing new under the sun.
! is a favorite quotation, but 1t Is not
true The resident of the Hawkeye
state never wearies of wondering at the
new things that crowd in upon this
blessed state and its people In close
| column and at atswiftest pace. Moth
ing new? Why everything is new. The
decade in Iowa is equal to whole cen
turtles in former times and the man or
woman who has lived in Iowa fifty
years has seen more progress has seen
more than was absolutely new to him.
than a thousand years after julius
| Caesar would have shown him. Moth
| ing new? Why the man who keeps his
eyes open longs to live to a ripe old
age, if for no other reason than to OBJ
serve what each new day brings forth
in Iowa.
| Now, aside from the great conven-
| fence Of the rural free delivery, aside
from the fact that 1T again will help
and does help to turn the tide from the
city to the land, there is another point
that ought not to be overlooked in this
connection. There is the neighbor Of
| the nothing new under the SUM- man,
He Is forever worrying himself and
everyone who will listen to him, be-
cause he observes how new inventions
and labor saving contrivances are de-
priving men of employment. He never
gives thought to the fact that every
labor saving machine, every new in
vention, every innovation, means more
work, requires the employment of
heads and hands. And where one man
is thrown out by new contrivance as
| a rule new avenues of employment
| open for him. The two thousand men
| in Iowa would be crowding other occu-
pations If the new service had not been
| established. Iowa is covered with
network of telephone wires, Iowa will
soon be gridironed with interurban
roads, Iowa is going in for the i'm
provement of her highways. 1t is not
merely the comfort of the farmer and
Of the whole population that is in
creased by the rural delivery, but it, in
common with every other innovation.
means more employment for willing
workers In Iowa. And that again
means business for merchants, in
| creased and permanent prosperity. The
two thousand rural route carriers are
paid at least s1,250,000 per annum, al
most every cent of which is expended
| or invested in Iowa 1t does not look