Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-21
Justice In the Courts.

There is much complaint in the fail
ure of Justice in our courts Of law, the
trouble being variously attributed by
some to the jurors, by some to the un-
scrupulous smartness Of the lawyers,
by some to the perjury Of witnesses,
and by others to still other causes.
The subject is one that is as old ss
the hills; that has commanded the
attention of the best and most thought
full men and women of the past, and
is as much alive today as 1t ever was.
There are those who will defend the
courts, claiming that they always dis
pense justice and right; but this is
not true Those who say it Is true,
either have no adequate conception OF
what right is. or deliberately say what
they do not believe.
AS to what the specific trouble is
we do not know; but of this we are
sure. There is but little If anything
the matter with the law. The law In
its letter, does permit injustice; but
does not intend anything of the kind
When 1t does wrong It Is only because
men who are themselves constitu-
tionally wrong. take advantage OF
1t and force it to cover condi-
tions it was not intended to cover.
They establish facts by fiction and
the law finds 1t difficult to dis
tinguish between fiction established
facts and facts established in truth
sometimes. But be this as it may, the
law is no better than the men whose
duty 1t is to enforce it. 1t Is as good
and that is about all.
While this writer was discussing
this subject with a certain able, just
and distinguished circuit Judge, still
on the bench, he was surprised to find
that his honor, while not admitting
the fallibility Of the human element In
the administration of the law to the
extent the writer sought to hold, was
not at all inclined to hold that the
human element was infallible. The
most surprising thing in the discussion
was a declaration from the eminent
jurist like this:
Certainly the administration of the
law is imperfect. Since mankind Is SO
imperfect, how could you look for per-
fection in any of mankinds institu-
tions. But the older I get, and the
more see of it, the more impressed
am with one thing to which the critics
of the courts seem to attach little i'm
portance. That is this, the absolute
certainty of divine retribution for
those who fail to measure up to their
duty or who go beyond it. Yes, there
are those who are skeptical Of that;
but I have seen exhibitions of 1t In
so many cases that I do not believe 1t
fails in any case. 1t Is infallible."
This able Judge did not pretend to
suggest that he or any other man
could fully comprehend the law Of ret
ribution; but he did mention one ex-
ample like this: In a certain South
Carolina county many years ago, a
man sold a piece Of land, the last OF
his remaining possessions. specifying
in the deed that the purchaser should
forever respect and leave alone. a
small plot in which the graves OF the
sellers ancestors were located. With
in a few years the purchaser, who was
at this time rich and powerful, began
to use the gravestones for building
material, converted the stone fence
around the burial ground to more
practical uses and cultivated the soil
over the graves. Soon thereafter
things began to happen to the new
owner of the land, first one thing and
then another until before many years
the various members of his family
were stricken and died, and all his
property was gone.
Of course there are those who do
retribution this side of the resurrec-
ton. They are able to prove their
case to their own satisfaction by so
many instances which in their esti-
nation were deserving Of retribution
that did not come, that they feel GER
tain. But as the judge, who Is. being
quoted, remarked, I'VE do not know
all the facts. And where juries go
wrong and knowingly render improper
verdicts, 1t is pretty safe to say that
such verdicts do not end the matter
either with the beneficiarieS of them
or with the juries.
There are offenses and offenses-
gradations in offenses-moral. spirit
ual, temporal; but my observation and
experience have taught me that about
the most dangerous offense man can
commit, so far as the consequences to
himself are concerned, is an offense
against the laws of ordinary Justice. -