The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-08


 One Point of View
 One of the prominent attorneys here 8 member of the Birmingham Bar associa ton and general practitioner, whose firm handles only legitimate damage suit cases and who himself stands in the front ranks of the profession, was talk ing the other day in the law library. Said he:
 "There's certain judge considers it le- gitimate to solicit cases? Well. More good cases are butchered right in this court house for that very reason than yoli could count. There are damage shit cases and other kinds that simply in the natural run of things, would fall into the hands of good reputable firms. able to handle them and bring them to a suc- cessful conclusion. but they are diverted out of their natural channel by artificial, means. The firms that ought to, and would get the business, loses it. And tho soliictor-runner, or whatever you call him-in nine cases out of ten, hangs him. self in his own rope. and his client with him. And look what it costs the county
 A Startling Statement
 "The expense of this county for mis- trials alone is more than all the salaries of the entire judiciary. Take any hotly contested case, where the jurors take, say, the whole week or Il days or more. and there's a mstrial at the end.
 "All to do over again! Salaries and mileage to jurors, their board and lodg- ing fees to witnesses, expenses in gath ering witnesses-everythln all to go over again. The most expensive system in the world is court business. And yet the jury system-what can take its place?
 '1t has been my observation that moss jurors try to do what they think right. They are, in the main. naturally inclined | to be honest No system like the jury systematic best In the world. you know. | Your average juror, especially the man l from the country. has almost invariably a natural disposition to do the right 1 thing, give fair deal. Occasionally some jurors in cities are apt to be in- l fuenced more or less by business condi- tions, politics. this and that A Task Too Heavy for Mortals For that matter the Lord himself couldn't pick out 12 honest men all in one bunch, y know! He could get Il. ! maybe. but not 12
 "In the main, however, as I was say ing, the average juror Is on the square. He's all right. He means to do well ac- cording to the best of his ability And don't blame the fellow from, say, over the mountains. who is summoned to serve on the jury and comes in, natural ly expecting board and lodging for the week, and holds out for 1t. Don't blame him too much. He's been brought often against his will. He's got his side-don't forget that. Suppose he has only a few | nickels in his pocket. He's not going to turn in a verdict until after he gets his dinner, y know that. What man will :? And he will keep the jury out all night if need be, if he has no place to go Here the other fellows living in town can hop on a car and get home, where they can be clean and comfortable. But what's to become of him? Judge Ferguson Quoted ,"Then again there are some jurors whc are so very conservative, cautious, so fearful of doing wrong and all that, that they remind me of Judge Ferguson s story of the cautious witness and the sheep. Ever hear that? The judge said he knew man once who was called ,n to testify as to a flock of sheep-whether shorn or not He was asked:
 You saw the sheep being driven down the roadss'
 "'Yes, sir
 "Where were you?'
 " On the right side of the road
 "'Well, now, were the sheep shorn or not?'
 :" From the side I saw them on, sir, the sheep were shorn. But I saw only one side, sir. I could not swear as to the other sde.' !"
 Now. that's what you call a cautious man, all right. He believed only what he saw. He admitted only what he be- lieved to be the truth,s the whole truth and nothing but the truth. A rare man. that.''