The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-04-28
AMBULANCE CHASERS
ABUSES CHILLED
Continued from Page One.


cases.
Some of the reasons given are
that jurieS in this state are more no
eral than in other states, and tha'
five-sixths of a jury may find yer
dict. The result is that our already
over burdened courts are called upon
to accept jurisdiction OF causes tna'
can be, and ought to be, tried IN WIS
consin. Montana, Illinois, Mississippi
and at least dozen other states.
Investigation shows that the added
court expenses in Ramsey county
alone resulting from this class of liti-
CATION is. in one year, about $1,000.
THE Illinois Central Railroad COM
pany has 30.19 miles OF road IN TINS
state. and the extra expense to which
this company was put in the trial oil
five cases. in which the causes of &C
tion arose and the plaintiffs resided in
other states, was $4,000.
Runs Up Into Dollars.
"One firm of attorneys in st. Pau
claims TO have recovered verdlcts IN
personal injury cases, in eighteen
months. amounting TO $134,000, result
cent of 1866.
"One firm of Minnesota attorneys,
making speciality of this class OF
cases. claims TO have branch offices IN
thirty-two cities. with solicitors, etc,
among which cities are Winnipeg.
Houston. New York, Los Angeles and
Jacksonville.
Al the time this investigation was
made there were personal injury &C
tons pending in this state against
railroads by n-residents who have
a remedy at home, in which 1t is
sought to recover $6,35S,522.
lone hundred and ninety eight of
these actions were pending in Ramsey
county. sixty five in Hennepin, thirty
three in ST. Louis, and forty five in
other counties, making total of
BAL.
1.-THE injustice of all of this to our
courts and the taxpayers OF the state
is patent, but when bills were pre-
pared to check this evil, and were
presented to the legislature by a
committee from the State Bar as
sociation, they were met by the class
of attorneys here complained of, who
let loose food of briny tears for the
killed and wounded, the widows and
orphans of railroad men, at so much
per tear, with such effect, that the
bills never got beyond the committee.
81 may say, however, that persis-
tent effort is being continued along
this line by the Bar association, and
our next legislature will be appealed
to; but for one, / am not over
sanguine as to the results.
Feeding Criminals Sugar.
I'm this day and age, when so much
is being said by humanitarians and
others about the reformation of
criminals rather than their punish
ment, when the fad is to reform them
by feeding them sugar, it may be I'M
popular to suggest little more
stringent administration of the Grim
inal laws, for the protection of those
of our people who try to behave them
selves, but there is at least one rule
of practice in our laws which was
advocated, and procured to be adopt
ed, by our legislature many years ago,
by an eminent lawyer much engaged
in defending criminals, and who
wanted to succeed, which has more
than once resulted in shameful mis-
carriage of justice, and the acquittal
of criminals who have walked out of
court redh handed, and that is, the rule
giving TO the defendant the last
argument to the jury.
Surrounded as he is by all of the
LOW TOD 50, hi
to secure to him perfectly fair trial,
with the prevalent rule urged by
counsel and court upon the jury, that
he is presumed to be innocent until
he is proved to be guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt, and that every link
in the chain of evidence must be
forged, and if there is a missing link
he must be acquitted, there is added
this rule, giving him the last word to
the jury, and to which there is nc
possible opportunity to reply.
'The law as to order of argument
should be restored as it was origin
ally, or at least should provide thai
the prosecution should have a few
closing words to reply to new theories
advanced by defendants counsel.
Il would be much panied to see
such an innovation in our practice as
to take from the hands of twelve
men, the solution of questions oil
fact, involving the integrity and fair
ness, as well as the memory of wit
neSseS, and place such solution in the
hands OF one man, who, while per-
haps not SO liable, is yet liable to err
especially while, as now, the cour'
may set aside the verdict of the jury
where it is so contrary to the evidence
as to shock a true sense of right anC
wrong.
I'm closing may say, that ir capita
punishment was restored, it is quit,
possible that the carnival of murder
m our large cities would somewhat
subside, or there would be at least {
few less participants after a while
and a little more room on earth fol
law abiding people: .-
Defects in the Law.
Judge William r. Hughes spoke q
a number of defects in the law an,
prevalent methods of handling it.
He spoke of the fact that in crimina
procedure the defense had tweAt.
peremptory challenges of jurors
while the state had ONLY fen He saw