The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-11-04
PRAISE FRO M
PULPIT FOR
SHERIFF
DR.. Martins Talk on Grand
JurieS-- SayS Commission
Should Name Body

ltItStlHB u lllt iltlllbtIS u HIS OIL
gregation, the Rev. DIR. Daniel H. Mar
tin, pastor of the Clinton Avenue Re-
formed Church, last night outlined the
duties of a grand juror as he saw
them. The discourse was especially
appropriate. as the members of the
the September term. of which DR.. Mar
tin was a member. were present upon
the invitation of the pastor.
DR.. Martin has the same opinion as
to the Grand Jury and it's Importance
as has been repeatedly expressed by
Sheriff Frank II. Sommer DIR. Mar
tin declared that the Grand Juries
should be selected by a commission.
and not by the sheriff, placing great
importance on the political slogan,
ELECT your sheriff and the law can
not touch you" He paid a high tribute
to Sheriff Sommer, Clerk Scales and
the other September members of the
first term Grand Jury. DIR. Martin
said:
Sheriff Sommer,s argument is f~oreeful,
for he says the Sheriff first ar
Jury, which indicts, then the petit
Jury which tries the case. Thus, theoret-
ically, the cards are stacked against the
prisoner by the Sheriff system of drawing
il ries. If all the counties had as chief of
its c~onstabulary such a man as the pres
ent Sheriff of Essex County there would
lie no danger, for Mr.. Sommer is recog-
nized nor only as a man Of great ability.
but one who acts upon his conscience. 1t
has passed into common remark that Essex
County has never had such a man in the
Sheriff's office. The fact that criminals
and law breakers have no love for him is
testimony that he does things; that he
winks at nothing Illegal. but seeks to en-
force the laws as he finds them.
'"The finest and greatest thing about the
present Sheriff of Essex County" con-
tinned the clergyman, zig his con
office To his mind public office is a sa-
cred trust. Others have said public office
office being a public, trust may be old
fashioned-yet is said to be a new idea.
II is the kim of an idea that does some
thing. The present Sheriff is called by
name. for he certainly is producing n
revolution. This crank has t.. ned over
several time-worn customs for the greater
good of the people. His idea is that gov
eminent exists for and by the people, n
that the duty of a man called to public
station is not to rule the people accord
make. He believes in the right of the
want, and that after this popular will
has created the laws, there is no discre-
ton in the power of the executive but to
execute them" 1 have dwelt q little lon
cause this church feels a deep interest
and a just pride in his career; For sew
eral years he was a boy in this Sunday
school," explained DR.. Martin.
The pastor resumed his explanation of
the duties of a grand juror, and during the
course of his talk he said:
"A conscientious Grand Jury has no easy
task. 1t feels the tremendous burden of
its responsibility.
The Grand jury tremnies between Two
| the offense with the chance of saving the
young man, or blindly obeying the evil
dence and perhaps sacrificing a good citi-
zen. orr present system seems to be
the best we have so far, but 1t is possible
of improvement. The Grand Jury, for ex-
present it seems to be obliged to follow
the rut of precedent. which limits 1t to
the two ultimates befoI mentioned TO IN
dict or dismiss. If Il" Grand Jurys
power were enlarged to .ndict, to. dismiss
absolutely, and to dismiss indeterminately,
that is to refer cases to special committees,
to be held under advisement pending good
behavior, there would be added to, the
work of the Grand Jury an efficient lever
for the attainment of results, and for the
elimination from the court calendars large
numbers of cases which now 1t.
another improvement is possible. one
Of our body. Mr. Frank e; Davenport,
Grand Jury about half the term to be-
come familiar with the routine. therefore
half of the jury should be re~appointed TO
serve with the next panel. This would
facilitate the business and promote the
ends of justice better than the present
system.
infatuated method of calling cases i'll
alphabetical order should cease, and cases
should be classified according to their I'M
portance, those coming from the Sherlf
and the police, taking precedence over all
others.
quite as mischievous is the custom of
- - fn,fu apfg- fha n1toFnQTiUn
penalties Of fine or Imprisonment. The
rich man, particularly the officer of a cor
poration is apt to get off with a money
penalty which he does not generally feel,
| and which does not tag him with disgrace.
while the poor man stands a good chance
OF being Jailed.
matter has started a determined war
against the law-breaking corporations and
corrupt officials. There is no more I'M
portant object lesson before the eyes OF our
rapidly increasing foreign population than
this wave Of law enforcement now sweep
ing over our land.
1--WE have been making law breakers in
the past ont of our newly arrived foreign
citizens by our general apathy over vio-
lations of the law. For example, the first
thing a foreigner saw when he came to
our city was that the laws for the regula-
ton of saloons was a farce. He quickly
saw that sales of liquors on Sundays to
minors, while illegal. were openly VIC
lated. He also saw that our laws against
lli III IT'S dAiAA aiAhN - HAA A0AN1 ~
gambling could be violated with impunity
and immunity.
iPeriury in court is often so obvious that
often the Judge feels certain that the wit
ness is testifying falsely, yet any attempt
To punish 1t is so rare that few witnesses
are deferred from falSifying their oath
when occasion arises.
The preacher continued:
1.-THE remedies plainly in sight ought to
be applied, namely, more effective prose-
cutors, higher ethics among the criminal
LAWYERS and an aroused and sustained pub
liz opinion as will limit. through legisla-
tion. reversais of criminal convictions upon
other grounds than guilty or innocent, and
compel Governors and pardoning boards
10 enforce the rule that no guilty man
shall escape the full measure of his pun
ishment,"
he served, he said;
in The very forefront of their respective
calIings. and men who hav made a pre-
eminent success of their lives, who sacri-
feed not only their time hut their daily
Income to perform the duties to- which
they were called. Every man on that
Jury was capable of doing his own think
ing. and of expressing 1t.
"There were several head-on collisions,
but no fractures. We knew how to dis
agree without being disagreeable. Forum
afely we had in the room a balance
which kept all questions of law prop
erIy adjusted. A more patient, PAINS
taking, Industrious clerk no court ever
had.N
"Our jury being an unusual jury, was ex-
pected 10 do unusual things, and so it de-
- v4ad erop, tho precedent Of hrinQfnO I'm n