The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1916-02-12

lawyers Of great ability may present
arguments that seem hard 10 answer, yet
the average juror comes bask again 10
his gllide-his conscience. And l say 90
you, without fear Of successful contra
diction, that notwithstanding verdicts OF
luries arc sometimes criticised, yet in tho
vast majority Of eascs-nincty.nine out
Of n hundred-tho verdicts Of iuries are
right; and that is why the people insist
upon retaining the jury system. Twelve
men are called from every walk Of life
10 sit in judgment upon the conduct and
actions of their fellow citizens. And
when they have determined. the people
are satisfied that II they haven Z done
right, they have at least tried 20 do 10.
You twelve men, occupy a peculiar
position today. As soon a. the arguments
are finished and the court has charged
You as TO the law, you 20 10 your jury
room 10 deliberate upon your verdict
When the door of the jury room closes
behind you, and you twelve are left
alone, you will have more power than any
president, any emperor, any prince, OF
any potentate in all the world. You
have in your keeping the liberty Of four
lNNN ANAAuh NlNAAthns IL - AoT YOU
10 say, and no one else can Eay il for
yOu--it is for you 10 say whether these
men shall go back 70 Aurora, cleared OF
the stain that this charge has brought
against them, or whether they shall pro-
ceed from here 70 Leayenworth as felons,
sentenced, 10 pay a fine Of Eve thousand
dollars aud 60 serve FIVE years in tho
pententiary, on each count that you con-
vict upon. So l say that you have a
wonderful power in your hands today.
The probabilities are that none of you
will ever again be given such power, for
men are seldom called 10 render Jury
service; some never are called And so
speak to you of the seriousness Of the
great responsibility that rests upon you,
and / ask you 70 use your great power
as becomes noble men.
In this case, IL is urged that we must
be confined strictly 20 the matter set out
in the Indictment You noticed what that
matter was Now, may have misunder-
stood the Court 5 rulings a moment ago,
but think he will instruct you at the
conclusion Of this ease that you have q
right, when you deliberate upon the ques-
| ton of whether this matter is obscene,
| TO call 10 your consideration, your knowl-
edge of the literature Of the world, the
Bible, Shakespeare and other standard
works, for the purpose of determining
the effect that that literature has had
upon the world, and for the purpose of
determining what effect this particular
literature will have upon the world.
say, / am convinced the court viii give
you that instruction. 1t has been re-
quested.
Garbled Passages
You have read in Holy writ-and
didn't you1 fathers and pethers before
you, as mine did-rcad things from
which, if you take an excerpt such as il
sought to be taken in this case, from q
page or a chapter or a paragraph and
consider il, standing alone, would not
sound well 10 cars polite.
Ma. WILSON: Just a moment. Now,
II the court please, very much regret
to interrupt my friend, but under the
rulings Of this court, do not understand
that be is permitted TO argue to the jury
that which was expressly excluded by the
court. He cannot argue as to excerpts
from other books.
MR. SHEPPARD; II your honor pleasO,
in the eases that have been decided. Your
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