Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-09-07
IMPORTANT IF TRUE.

1
er full hearing and the enforcement Of
such orders. y
IMPORTANT IF TRUE.
This would come under the head of
important If true. But the fact is,
our platform specifically declares thar
| we favor measure which passed the
United States senate in 1885, and which
a Republican Congress has ever since
refused to enact" etc. providing for
llals BY Jury in cases of Indirect con-
tempt. Are not the proceedings of the
| United States senate u part of the his
tory of the country? This measure
passed the United States senate more
than II years ago. and the vote upon it
was SO nearly unanimous that no roll
call was demanded. The bill was not
struggled through without discussion.
lt was amended in open senate and the
members of the senate had ample OPP
portunity TO understand it. 1t would
have passed Congress and become
law long ago but for the fact that few
large corporate employers of labor have
Kept a lobby in Washington ever since.
and have been able to coerce Congress
into ignoring the laborng mems plea.
Mr.. Taft is not an unbiased judge
where the jury system is under consid-
Grafton, He is not only known as the
father of government by injunction,
y
system. Every man Is unconsciously
Influenced by his environment, and Mr.
rats long, service upon the bench has
led him to nnderrate the Importance of
the jury system. In his address to the
students of Yale. entitled. "A Judge on
the Bench" he shows a decided leaning
toward an increase of the authority of
the Judge and praises the procedure in
the federal court at the expense of the
western courts, even though he admits
that the jury system popularzes the
court and gives the people to under
stand that they have, not only an in
terest, but also a part. in the admins
tration Of Justice" He has fallen into
the error OF assuming that. any i'm
provement in the method of court pro-
cedure Is an attack upon the authority
OF the court. This is an ancient method
of opposing reforms. Lord Macaulay
had to encounter similar objection
when he favored the reform of the rot
ten borough system OF England. Those
who We're opposed to the reform con-
strued it as an attack upon the throne
and as a menace to the stability of
government. but the reform was Sc
cured and the government of England
was improved rather than impaired
So the reform attempted by the senate
II years. ago. and endorsed by three
Democratic. national conventions, Is in
the interestaof justice and has for its
object the Strengthening Of the court
in public estimation.
FIRST BYfJURY.
,3i IT is not a rerfiect ton supongth Judge.
of criminal court to say that lie shall
cused, Our criminal courts are the bet
ter. not the worse, for the substitution
of trial by jury No common law judge
feels that 1t. ls4 a reflection upon him
when a party to a suit asks for, q trial
beforeta jury. 1T is the special func-
ton of jury to decide upon the credi-
bility of witnesses. and the manner of
a witness upon the stand is often as
important as his words In determining
the weight to be attached to his testi-
mony. A judgeIis apt to be hampered
| by precedent. He wants this decision
to harmonic with former decisions
rendered by him, although the facts are
never the same in two cases The jury
Is better able to decide each case upon
its merits
1t must be remembered, too. that nj
cases of indirect contempt, the charge
Is a criminal one and that, the punish
ment is by fine or imprisonment All
the reasons that apply to criminal
cases apply to these cases of indirec,
contempt, and the abuses to be re-
moved by the proposed law are those
that have grown up because of the
increased tendency of the great cor
porations to use the writ of injunction
to avoid the jury trial.
The Democratic platform proposes
no interference with the right of the
judge TO decided the cases Of direct
contempt-contempt committed in tho
presence OF the court; neither is it
proposed to interfere with the right of
the judge to determine the punishment
for indirect contempt. All that is
sought is the substitution of trial by
jury for trial by judge when the viola
ton of the courts decree must be es-
tablished by evidence.
IN CONTEMPT CASES.
Not only is the prosecution for con-
tempt criminal prosecution, bur
there is even more reason for jury
than in the ordinary criminal case.
In the criminal court the judge acts
in n Judicial capacity only. He is not
responsible for the law which is be-
ing enforced in his court, and there
fore he has no personal grievance
against the defendant. and not being
the prosecutor in the case, he does
not feel personal interest in the re-
| suit of the trial; but In contempt
| proceeding the judge is the lawmaker
and public prosecutor as well as the
| judge. II Is the Judges order which
the accused is charged with violating,
and 1t is the judge who appears to
prosecute the case, upon which he is
| to render decision. In our federal
and state constitutions we have care
| fully separated the three departments
| of government. and each department Is
| jealous of any encroachnlent upon it's
sphere of activity. The Judge resents
any attempt of the legislator or OF the
executive to usurp the functions of
| the court: the executive resents any
| attempt of the court or OF the law
! maker to enter his domain. and the
| lawmaker is equally insistent upon the
! preservation OF his independence. If
| there Is any time or place where q
jury is needed, it Is in case of in
| direct contempt. 1t is not strange
/ that abuses have crept in, for a man
would have to be more than human to