Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-23

mad anarchy rides upon the wings Of
revolution We can not hope shat JUS
tice may assert herself; but when, III
normal times, people come to truly
value life, liberty and the right to en-
joy property, and the constitutional
guarantees for stability their minds
will instinctiyely turn 10 the right of
trial by jury as the one institution
which affords to them protection
agalns the encroachments of arbitrary
power
The righl of trial by jury lies close
to the hearts of the American people.
1t is sacred wherever the common law
prevails. 1t is the sheet anchor which
has steadied Anglo Saxon institutions
amidst the storms of revolution which
have threatened to overwhelm them
In the past
1t has been the one institution
which has afforded protection to the
weak against the aggressions of the
strong, given shelter to the poor when
their rights were invaded by the rich
and powerful, and has at all times
been the sure refuge of the citizen.
whatever his station in life, against
those who, in violation of law, would
despoil him of his rights.
now TO preserve 1t.
You do well say that the people
should take counsel of themselves as
to how this inestimable right may be
best preserved. There never was an
a,pter time for. anxious and for sober
thought. Than the right of trial by
jury, there is none which should be
more scrupulously guarded against
the insidious influence of personal
on lob =
which the juror himself by his i'm
proper conduct, may expose to public
ridicule or contempt.
Personally, have, all my life, beer
an ardent advocate of the strongest
possible requirements as to the quail
fications and character of jurors, and
judges as well. To fill the office of
juror or of judge, not only, in my
judgment should the incumbent be a
man of irreproachable personal integ-
rity, superior to the minor prejudices
which sometimes enter into human
deliberation-a man of blameless pri-
vate life, a man who, like the elder
Brutus, would sacrifice his own son on
the altar of his Country's good-but
who should be a man endowed with
such Spartan fortitude, such cour-
age as will enable and impel him to
do battle for justice and for right al
all times and everywhere, against
every enemy against law or order,
from whatever source opposition may
arise.
Defy Public, if Need Be.
Whether such opposition shall seek
! to seduee him by the smiles of the
siren or to intimidate him by the
angry roar of the commune. let him,
indeed, be such a one as shall be will
Ing to stand up in the face of public
opinion-brave it, and, if need be,
defy tin order to preserve from
pagan touch the ark of the covenant,
under which is sheltered all that is
dear to every American citizen.
When civic righteousness shall
bring the citizen to this standard,
when the public conscience shall have
been educated to just conception of
the duties and responsibilities of citi-
zenship, when every man selected as
a juror shall feel a sense of personal
conservation to his task and shall
approach the performance of his duty
in the spirit of which l speak, then
and then only will the Jury system be
freed of reproach and its permanencv
definitely assured; then and then only
will one whose rights are being judi
cially ascertained be assured of a jul
dicial trial and of the determination
of his rights according to the law OF
the land.
More than this no man has a right
to demand; less than this the Gov
eminent should be ashamed to accord
to him.
SPENCER R ATKINSON.