Perth Amboy evening news., 1913-03-28
JURY REFORM
BILL HELD UP
Conference Committee Falls
to End the Dispute.
tFrom the NEWS Correspondent

CFrom the NEWS Correspondent
Trenton, March 28.-The situation
on jury reform today is this: The
warfare is still being waged between
the real reformers who are insisting
upon jury commission law to re-
move jury drawing absolutely from
politics, and the reactionaries who
training every gun to keep the draw
ing of juries In the hands of the
sheriffs in order that in Atlantic,
Hudson and few other counties
these same reactionary forces may
control the selection of juries as they
have in the past. A truce, however,
has been declared until next week to
permit the conference committees Of
the two Houses to wrestle with the
problem of reconciling the differen-
ces and endeavor to bring peace. The
numbers of the conference commit
tees are far from being unit as
to what kind of a compromise meas
ure shall be proposed.
President Wilson, who warned the
reactionaries before he entered the
White House that the road to Tren-
ton would remain open, threatens to
Colllt W tuo cbdlC llOuoC hcht A'loiA-
day, unless he shall be needed in the
flooded districts of the West, and
take personal command of the fight
for a jury commission law. Acting
Governor Fielder is likewise lighting
for real jury reform. He will speak
In Atlantic City tomorrow, and it Is
believed he will say something i'm
portant on the subject to stir public
interest.
The conference committees held
two meetings yesterday and the re-
suit was that Senator Leavitt, RepubA
lican, of Mercer. and Assemblymen
Martin and McDermott, Democrats,
of Hudson, voted to keep the jury
drawing power In the hands Of the
Sheriffs, properly safeguarded" as
they expressed it; while Senators
Davis, of Salem, the Democratic lead
or in the Senate. Slocum, of Mon
mouth, Democrat, and Assemblyman
Salus, Of Atlantic, Republican, favor
ed a jury commission bill with the
commissions appointed by the Cir
cult Court Judges. This is the
proposition in the bill recommended
by the State Jury Investigating Com
mission appointed last year and in
troduced some time ago. 1t will be
seen from the foregoing that the
conferences are evenly split. but not
according to party lines. 1t will be
seen, too, that Senator Leavitt has
deserted his party on the question,
for the Republicans, headed by Sen
atOr Read, of Camden, their leader,
would support the commission bill.
Senator Read has already issued
statement in favor of that measure.
If Senator Leavitt had voted at the
conference for the Circuit Court
Judge from of jury commission, the
conferees would have stood four to
two i'll favor of that propositin which
would have meant that they would
have reported such bill to the Leg
islature.
After their even split, the eonfrees
decided that each side should draft
bill embodying its views, these two
tentative measures to be reported at
another conference to be held next
Monday afternoon at o'clock. At
that time the effort to reach COM
promise will be continued.
In their work Of preparing a bill
the anti-commission conferees will
have two propositions before them.
Senator Lesvftt said today that he
will stand for q bill similar to his
jury reform bill of last year This,
provided that the Sheriff should pre-
pare roster OF names for Jurors, the
roster In first class counties to con-
tain 500 names; In second class
counties. 400 names; In third class
counties, 800 names, and in fourth
plo
piled both to grand and petit juries
These rosters were to be advertised
In the newspapers under the direc-
tion of the Judge, and the Judge was
also given the right to revise the
panel Of Jurors after the Sheriff had
selected it,
The other proposition will be that
of Mr.. Martin, of Hudson. He will
insist upon a bill along the line of
the bill introduced this week by AS
semblyman Bracken, of Essex. and
which represents the James Smith,
Jr.-James r. Nugent Idea of jury re-
form. The Bracken bill is similar to
the Leavitt bill, but goes much fur
ther, in that it expressly forbids the
selection of elisors to choose grand
juries, as was done in Hudson and
Atlantic counties and which wrought
many reforms, except the Sheriff and
all the Coroners be dead or under a
disability to draw juries. 1t Is 1000
chances to l of course that this latter
contingency would never happen, this
provision merely being to prevent the
jury drawing from ever being taken
out of the hands of the Sheriff. The
Bracken measure provides for a jury
roster containing 200 names, the
names to be published two weeks in
at least five newspapers. This bill
has been reported in the Assembly
and advanced to third reading.
The jury commission conferees
will work for straight jury COM
! mission bill without a referendum.
There Is much speculation as to
the outcome of the deadlock. The
| reaetionary forces in the Assembly
are determined that jury commits
sion bill shall not pass without a ref
erendum. If commission measure
Is reported by the conferees, they
will again fight to emasculate 1t with
a referendum. 1t is expected. This
move Will be sure of the eleven Nu-
gent votes from Essex, probably four
from Hudson, one or two from other
North Jersey counties. 1t was the
talk of several political leaders at the
State House today that with the end
OF the session so near and with