The daily times., 1920-02-18

| the docket and that no report would
! be made to the administration.
| The petition of the Norfolk-Southern
and other railroads for a general
! increase in rates to al Eastern North
! Caroina points enjoying water COM
petition had previously been made.
hat no action would be taken on
the matter by he traffic commission
| is due to the fact that the railroads.
wi very soon be returned to private
| ownership. What action. if any,
! the railroads will take following the
/ return of the roads to private own
| ership however, is altogether an
| other matter, members of the cor
| poration commission think.
Influenza Situation.
Figures being compiled by the
State Board of Health as to the influ
enza epidemic which has been rag
ing over the state for the past 20
days and which show that the dis
ease in North Carolina this year is
not mean so severe as it was in the
fall of 1918. Since the epidemic
started on anuary 27 this year there
have been $4,000 cases reported, this
being for a period of 20 days. For
the first month of the 1918 epidem-
ic there were 1O3, 900 cases reported
In 1913 the disease started in
the eastern part of the state and
moved westward. This year the re-
ports indicate that the epidemic be-
gan in the western counties and
swept eastward. This indicates to
the mind of the health officials that
the disease does not strike hard
twice in the same place.
The reports up to Tuesday show
ed that there had been 800 deaths
from the disease followed by pneu-
monia. The indications are that
the epidemic will last two or three
weeks longer although it is rapidly
spending itself in many counties at
this time.
North Carolina argue da new law
before the Supreme court this morn
ing when Attorney General James
S. Manning and Assistant Attorney
General Frank Nash contested the
missing a capital felony against Lon
ME Burnett and Ernest Burnett of
BERTHE county, nd sending it to the
Juvenile courts.
The Burnett boys, blacks, are un-
der 10 years of age, but they killed
Ludelle Hyman and against them
was found a true bill for murder
The little black brats came into
court and moved to quash the bill of
indictment and discharge the de
court had no power and authority
to try, determine and dispose of the
charge against the defendants, and
Judge Bond ruled with the defense.
He quashed the bill and sent the case
to the juvenile courts.
Judge Bond was of opinion that
the 1919 act takes from the Superior
courts the right to try defendnts
Burnett and their crime and to dis
pose of such cases, remanded the
pl 1oOASIS " Iu0 Juvenile court.
Attorney-Genera1 Manning's brief
| admits the juvenile court act but
does not agree that Judge Bond had
| the righ to quash the bill of indict-
ment until the little prisoners were
first tried by a jury to determine
their guilt. The state appealed in
this case. Judge Manning refers to
the common law which held that an
infant under seven years of age is
conclusively presumed to be incap-
able of understanding the nature of
criminal act, and for that reason
cannot be held responsible for such
an act. But between the age of
seven and IA the presumption is
against capacity to commit crime, al
belt, this presumption is subject to
being overcome by proof of capacity,
which burden is on the prosecution.
Judge Manning argues that the
legislature could not have meant to
repeal in its juvenile court act de-
signed largely to try minor misde-
meanants, the whole law relating to
judicial accountability of infants for
capital crime when they are doll
capax; or that these infants when
they are fatally bent on mischief,
should go scot free, though the jury
should determine that they are fully
capable of committing crime.
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