The log cabin Democrat., 1921-05-16
Trials of Bandits and Major Criminals Rushed on the Day
 of Arrest.
IS FOUNDED ON CALVANISM
Wheels of Court Move Quickly- Famed Not Only for Accuracy and ReientIessness, but for Fair.
 ness and Efficiency.


 been thrown on the operation and speed "of Jersey justice" as a result of recent convictions for murder and other crimes. While misdemeanors and felonies have increased in New Jersey, as elsewhere in the country in that there have been few disagree ments of juries, and prison sentences have been extended to maximum linn it's in order to discourage violations of the law
 One feature of New Jersey law that few. if any. of the other states have, and which Is said to have been a prime factor In giving the state It's tra. ditional reputation for llghtninglike court procedure. Is provision that a jury in first degree murder trial may designate life imprisonment instead of the death penalty for the convicted person. This has resulted in many quick convictions for life imprlson- ment where, otherwise, there might have been jury disagreements.
 Quick Bandit Trials.
 Cases like that of the Union county bandits, Charles and John Krebs and Martin Shannon, who were sentenced to serve from 56 to 75 years each, and who were tried, convicted and were beginning to serve their sentences within 14S hours of their capture, are occurring daily in New Jersey, the present so-called "crime wave" appar- ently furnishing an excellent test for the efficiency of its courts.
 Jersey justice" famed from Maine to Florida, from the Atlantic to the Pa citc, and even overseas, not only be- cause of it's speed, it's accuracy and it's relentlessness. but also because of it's fairness and efficiency, was not estab- lished overnight. It is scarcely a tan gible thing. It may be best described as "a state of mind," the people de- handing that their law officers be eff cient above everything else. Thus prosecutors, grand juries, judges, petit jurieS and all other branches of the ad- ministration of justice, which lead the criminal to prison and the murderer to the death chair are just so many wheels and gears and belts in an al- most perfectly working machine" whose motive power is the people.
 Tradition has had much to do with making Jersey justice" Beginning with the early days of the settlement of the state when many crimes were punishable by death, the Calvinists brought into east Jersey distinctive views of religious and civil matters which probably were the roots of "Jer- sey justice"
 New Jersey differs in no great re- spect from other states as to the ger eral legal procedure for the punish ment of crime Lynchings and crime against accused persons, however, are rare. Officers of the law, from the highest judges down, are well paid and every effort is made to keep politics out of the courts. At present there are more than three-score life pris- oners in the state prison here and eight out of every ten convicts are in for long terms.
 Safeguards for Innocent.
 While Jersey justice" is swift, the innocent are sateguarded through a system of appeals, reprieves and stays, the latter sometimes operating to save convicted persons from the death chair. The case of Frank P. James and Raymond w. Schuck, convicted of killing David & Paul. Camden bank messenger, Is an illustration. After their arrest the trials of the murder CTS were expedited and the same day they were sentenced they were in the deathhouse here candidates" for the chair.
 In July, 1904, three young negroes. Aaron Timbers, William Austin and Jonas Simms, entered the home of a farmer named Riddle, near Burlington, bound Mrs. Riddle and attacked her. Within a few days all three were cap tured, tried, convicted and had begun sentences of 49 years each in state prison.
 Bill" Framer, Camden holdup man, who terrorized women, was re- gently captured and tried and con- victed the next day. The evening of that day he was on his way to prison to begin long term.