Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-05

The convention which President Taft
hopes to call for the purpose OF finding
ways and means Of simplifying legal pro-
cedure will have work a~-plenty. Besides
the proverbial slowness with which mod
trn justice uses its balances to determine
the right, there are hundreds OF techni-
calities which more often defeat the ends
Of justice than subserve them. That
apocryphal verdict, guilty, but not
proven" finds many more or less exact
counterparts in legal procedure. a leg
islator once was indicted for bribery, He
was tried and acquitted. Asked about the
outcome. he replied: "vindicated, sir. vim
dlcated." "A verdict of not guilty, then, l
suppose 2" pressed the questioner. We'll
not exactly" answered the statesman IN
a flush Of honesty. THE indictment read
that 1 was a member Of the assembly,
whereas I was a member OF the legisla-
ture. II further set forth that l had ac-
ceptod a bride, whereas IL was proved only
that l took the money"
In another case an old colored man APP
peared before a police judge for stealing
ehtckens~ AS he came before the bar the
Judge asked him II he were the defendant
He replied: NO, sab, that gentmum
ober dar Is de one what does de defendin.
Use de gent what stole de chickens Yet
he was permitted to plead not guilty, and
sde gentmum ober dar' put up such a
defense for him that he went scot free.
Some years ago 9 man by the name OF
John Smith owed a st. Louis merchant a
sum Of money. This merchant discovered
that an Illinois firm was Indebted to a
John Smith, 80 he garnisheed the money
In the hands Of the firm and collected it.
Later the John Smith who was the creditor
Of the Illinois firm came to collect his bill.
He was told that his money had been gar
nisheed for the satisfaction Of the debt
due the st. Louis merchant. But he had
never owed anything 20 the st. Louis mer-
chant. 1t was a clear case Of mistaken
identity, His money had been taken to
satisfy the debt Of another John Smith.
He brought suit against the ST. Louis
merchant to recover his money. He
had never owed this merchant a cent
In his life and was prepared to prove 1t,
but the court held that it could not right
the wrong it had done him.
Chicago offers a well known instance Of
the ends of justice being defeated by a
technically. A notorious character was
arrested while dressed in the garb OF a
woman. He was tried and sentenced as a
WOmAns AlNtIW hV iOOh oaNahN&bS VI
his knowledge Of the technlcalities OF the
law and declared that he was a man. The
courts held that a man could not be kept
in prison after having been tried and con-
victed as a woman.
In Missouri a woman and her child were
murdered by q man who wanted the vic
tim to leave her husband and elope with
him. He was arrested, pleaded insanity,
A,,t nae aaptapraA n he han~ad Rv for
gerry he secured money to carry al ap-
peal to the supreme court. All the lower
courts upheld the verdict of the trial court,
and yet the supreme court reversed 1t
and the prisoner died a free man. The
affirmation of thirteen judges was uot-
weighed by the dissension of five. In
another case the record in a murder case
failed to say that the prisoner was ar
raigned and pleaded not guilty, although
the context abundantly showed 1t. Yet
on this technlcality the prisoner escaped
by the reversal of the verdict of the lower
court.
President Taft himself had som expert.
ences with the delays Of the law. Years
ago the people of his home city became
tired of these delays and injustices and
burned the court house as an evidence OF
their impotence. Mr., Taft visited Column
bus and was heard by the judiciary com
mlttee OF the legislature. He appealed foI
a reduction in the number Of p~re-emptory
challenges in criminal trials from twenty
three to twelve, The chairman of the
committee settled back ana observed
"Why, | have seen the time when l would
have given my entire fee in a case to hav'
had the twenty-fourth pre-emptory chal
lengel" Mr.. Taft declares that the law
yers are pennywise and pound foolish
that through delays, technicalities and ex
panslve procedure, they are forcing meI
to arbitration who would otherwise ap
peal to the courts.
The law provides certain protection Il
accused persons. and often these safe