New-York tribune., 1907-03-23
JUSTICE WEIGHING HERsELE.

To Mississippi belongs the credit of proving
that even our oldest institutions possess unsus-
pected potentialities. 1t has long been the Gus
tom Of reformers outside Of Mississippi to raise
the moral tone Of society by introducing new
laws, new officials and new philosophers The
inconvenience Of this method has been apparent
even TO the obtuse. It compels the average cit
lzen 70 intrust his morals to legislators for lack
OF time TO keep track Of amendments and
plainly there was need Of some method whereby
every man might Judge himself and for himself.
But the world had to wait for Mississippi to hit
upon the perfect plan of moral salvation. Down
IN Sharkey County the grand jury has revived
the lost art Of self-criticism. 'SPhe Chicago
Record-Herald" reports that this grand fury In
ucted each OF its own members on the charge
Of violating the Sunday Liquor law. The Judge
thereupon lectured each offender and levied upOn
him fine Of SO. Strange to say, the indict-
ment and conviction did not take place on a
Monday, which is an astonishing tribute to the
staying powers Of Southern beverages
Like many other great inventions, this auto
matte, reflex action jury system Is so simple and
enectlve that the wonder is that nobody ever
thought Of 1t before Ministers, Prohibitionists
ana political improvers will be driven out Of
business II the device is generally adopted.
WIN the motto. "Juryman, convict thyselfl'
hanging IN every courtroom 1t would only be
matter OF months before sin would be no more
Or at least, would be equtably paid for. This
last possible outcome might be almost as well
come as the former, economically speaking. If
the government could collect fines equivalent to
tne actuaI damage done, directly or indirectly,
Dy every wrong act SHINING would be placed for
the nrst time In the worlds history on a sound
business basis. If anything can bring this
hapDy state Of affairs to pass It is the ntrospec
tive jury.
Inc mississippi jury has incidentally taken
PROFOUNDLY philosophical view Of the relation Of
Justice the goddess, to ordinary citizens. ms
uce has always been universally trusted largely
because she suffers from total obstruction Of the
optic nerves. But with the spread Of reason and
tne ever increasing popularity Of the mOllycOddle
sport caIed criticism certain suspicious have
sprouted. Men have been deceived by so many
weak eyed persons and mlsled by so MANY other
shortsighted ones that the blind and blIndfolded
can no longer be above scrutiny Justice herseIe
has been asked how she can know that her scaIaa
90 not weigh short, and as the Mississippi iurv
mas shown there is a feeling abroad that Justice
should Chamber into one OF her own scale mans
Judge jury and counsel must be weighed before
they weigh.
One great advantage Of this procedure IS that
It affords the public a simple means OF estimat
Ing the value Of a jury's verdicts. Heretofore
Juries have been composed of men "tried and
true" according to theory. From now on, how.
ever, at least in Sharkey County, these men will
really be tried Whether or not they are found
uue VIII depend upon their own past history and
present veracity. And according to the number
and gravity OF the true counts they return
against themselves the public will fudge the
fairness Of their findings In other cases. II the
system comes TO be employed IN the trial Of
cases as well as for purposes OF indictment. the
jury which fails TO punish itself with ANYTHING
less than $4,000 fine and eight years in Jail will
soon De regarded as incompetent That the ends
oS Justice may not be utterly defeated tudgas