Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-04-12
THE COMMENTATOR.

Anlll ItllNk Win n JURY from time nm
memorial has been regarded as a dastardly
proceeding Any court in christendom
that wishes 90 retain It's seli-rospect flames
out 10 anger at attempts to "hX" men
VINO TO the determination OF facts arc
what the judges are to the law. Every
freeman boasts that the jury system is
one OF the foundation stones of our liberty,
ana there are few who cannot make q
ringing address on this most glorious of
Anglo-Saxon institutions.
And yet from time to time Jurors are
tampered with; sometimes we sispect II
at Others We are morally certain OF IL. and
from every community men are selected
10 serve who have been promised this as
a reward for doing a little questionable
puhtical work. Only recently "a man re-
marked that he was surprised at the Sc
lection OF certain man to serve as Juror.
lie was told that the local boss had Sc
lccted him. "Why, how is that He is
Democrat" 'Aes. Was the reply.
. he was until the last election. and then
he changed II was understood at the
time that hc had been promised q plncc
on the JURY" Life, person and property
are frequently held in the hands OF such
men, And VIC know all about IT,
Now the man who sold himself to get
the privilege Of serving on n jury will sell
himself without q qualm when he gets
on jury, and then all members of the bar
IN this state who. il they will not ap-
proach weak jurors with improper sug-
gestions, will not interpose when their
clients do IL. A part Of the weakness is
IN our system Of selecting jurors. The
Levy Courtmen use these appointments
as political rewards and as busy men
don want the honor, and as another
class regard it as a picnic and an easy
way OF getting a few dollars while posing
IN the lime light, they bargain with the
local boss for appointments.
Down in Sussex the other dav there
was temporary lifting OF the lid. Friends
and agents of a certain defendant fitted
IN and out of the courtroom lust as they
do through the halls Of the State House
when the Legislature is in session. They
know that in the Legislature laws are
made, amended or repealed as a matter
OF personal pull and why should not the
verdicts of juries be similarly influenced
NO matter how serious the crime with
which some influential person is charged
there is a plea to let him 20 this time
and don't be hard on the poor devil;
think OF his family" And tho Juror
pleads tenderness of heart. when most
likely he has been led to his decision by
intimidation or the hope of reward.
But what else may we expect We
have a suit in court, and we say that now
at least we will get justice The evidence
is on our side; the law is with us; the
Judges are learned and incorruptible. Our
lawyer quotes Littleton, Kent, Lord
somebody or other, and we have wonl
But we haven't. Outside of the court
room that case has been decided without
the help OF the judges the lawyers or the
evidence; and It probably has been de-
clded by some sleek scoundrel who ran
the last election and won glorious
victory
In Dover and in Georgetown. and pos
sibly in Wilmington. when court is in
session and cases are being carefully pro
scented. there is a court of appeals that
sits in secret and determines many %
verdict The judges of this court of ap-
peals are not always sufficiently insolent
TO come out in the open and announce a
reversal of the court of law, but we have
recent example showing that this may
become common. In other words. there
Is the cool assumption that political CON
siderations come first. and If a venerable
Judge in the conscientious discharge of
a plain duty administers Justice to poiti-
cal iavorite that judge and his decree must
be sharply criticised.
Now when we buy verdicts Of the people
al elections, why should we not buy YER
diets In the jury room One verdict has
TO do with the making of laws and the
other with their enforcement. And as
long as elections are won with cash. il
logically follows that juries will be sub
jccted TO the same influence. A few
years ago n venerable pillar OF the church
thus reasoned with the writer: "Mhy
shouldn the poor man get something
for his vote The man who wants TO be
Senator wants 10 be elected because that
would mean the opportunity to make
money. The men who are elected 10 the
Legislature expect TO make "a good thing
out Of il. Why should they not con-
tribute something to the poor man for
his trouble in voting ?" And we may
60 a step further and ask, why should a
juror hesitate TO render a verdict against
the facts il he needs money and his act
will put IL into his pocket Why we
may grow eloquent in his defence and
speak of his grinding poverty. hard luck
of his wife and children pinched with
hunger, and easily win sympathy for him.
And then all that we have left are the
courts. AT present we can't touch the
Judges. But plans are afoot to secure a
atrN.r N..N.
There is an element which desires a more
subservient bench, judges who before
opening court will call in the local boss
and get the lay of the land IL all de-
pends upon the next governor Of Della
ware. But meanwhile it is possible TO
weaken the influence of the Judiciary by
oriticising their decisions and thus en-
courage the lawless and the unheeding
TO greater curelossness in their demeanor
before the court. There have been several
attempts of this nature. A few years ago
Mr. Addicks threatened 10 have the Chan
ccllor legislated out Of Office because his
decisions didn't please the gas man, and
now c. r. Layton in his paper oriticises
a verdict that affects protege, making
it clear that he wishes his disrespcct for
the court to be understood.
OF course for tho court to protect its
own dignity it would be proper to have
an officer bring Layton before the bar TO
show cause why he should not be punished
for contempt. Even the arm OF the ad-
ministration could not protect him in
Delaware.
Is It not plain that we arc drifting from
bad TO worse And is it not also plain