The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-01-13

The speaker also said that contrary
to the suppoistion that innocent chill
dren make the best witnesses. a de-
signing attorney through suggestion to
a child might make false witness Of
him.
The Unwritten Law.
1.-THE strangest thing in the history
of the law is the assumption of those
in authority that laws can be made at
will by some man or college man.
This statement is from the address,
THE Unwritten Law delivered by
Major A. NJ. Harvey of Topeka at
Thursday afternoons session. Other
extracts follow:
"a scientist in the realm of physics
who would presume to make a law of
motion or of attraction would be
ridiculous. Such laws must be discov-
cred, and when they are discovered,
they may be recorded. They are not
made, nor are they new, because they
are recorded, for they always were
and always will be.
I'm the realm of social order, is it
any less ridiculous for a man to as
sumo that he has power to make law :?
Can we not arrive at better results if
we recognize the simple truth that the
law that points the way to justice in
any given situation among men, al
ways was, and that our highest duty
is to find it and administer it?
The first trace of any law must be
people who are first confronted with
the situation requiring such a law.
"A recent case was one wherein
young man of promise and of high ideals
had the misfortune to have a brutal
father. Certain brutal and inhuman
conduct of his father toward his young
er sister was related to the boy, and
he deliberately walked into another
room where his father was and killed
him. None of the circumstances of
the statutes were present. All of the
facts were presented to the jury, and
the jury was instructed on all of the
degrees of murder and manslaughter.
After elaboration, a verdict was re-
turned finding the boy guilty of the
lowest degree of manSlaughter. The
court, being impressed with the same
consideration as the jury. paroled the
defendant, so that he did not have to
spend day in prison on account of
the killing, and the courts action in
this matter was approved by our SUI
preme court.
Much has been written and much
discussion has been had upon the fail
ure of the jury to acduit on the urg-
ing of the unWritten lay in the Thaw
case. The facts did not bring the case,
within the law that moves juries to
acquit the killer. Thaw was dishonest
and licentious, and himself Indifferent
to the virtue of his wife. The able law
yer conducting the defense had present
ed evidence making an unqualified YER
dict of guilty impossible, and then, to
avoid a verdict of not guilty on the
ground of insanity, he pulled for the
shore and made a gallant effort to Sc
cure a general verdict of not guilty.
He should not be censured for his zeal:
neither should the jury be especially
praised for detecting the fallacy of his
argument.
Court records are full of instances
Of acquittal of persons charged with
murder where no positive law can be
found that would support the verdict.
If we are right in our conclusions that
the positive law is a child of the un-
written law, and that law is some
thing to be discovered and admins
tered, instead of something to be made
and administered, then we may we'll
withhold our criticism of juries in cases
of this kind