Evening star., 1924-04-06
Faith i'm American Government
Dented by Graft Disclosures

ernment such as ours it is not the
business OF citizen to try and con-
denim his fellow men. That is the
duty of our courts and juries. There
was great necessity for the investi-
cations, and if innocent persons have
been brought under public condemnaz
ton, they must seek consolation from
the fact that from the days of the Naz-
arene to the present day the just have
often had to suffer for the unjust. L
doubt not that many whose names have
been dragged into the public print in
connection with the Investigations are
blameless in both thought and conduct.
= y X i.
/ repeat that I utter no protest
against the investigations; I admit that
there are times when extraterritorial
Jurisdiction may properly be assumed,
times when il is necessary for the courts
to go outside the law as written and
announce the rule of reason, times
when executives must WELD the big
stick and infringe upon another branch
of the government, times when legis-
lative bodies must interfere with the
orderly processes OF the courts, yet L
wish to emphasize that evil may flow
out OF this good work il il should be
established as a precedent in our re-
public.
tablishment of the English system OF
Jurisprudence was the star chamber
know not how star chamber tribunals
were originally instituted, whether
from the prejudice and hatred and
ambition of the monarch, or whether
the monarch was so outraged by the
conduct of some of his subjects that
he adopted a short cut in administer
ing punishment But out of the sys-
tenn grew an idea that became well
aCf "a IN h-x k N ~
peoples and was made the guaranty
OF the rights of American citizens,
namely. that man charged with
crime shall be charged by a present
be confronted by his accusers, face
to face, that he shall have the op-
portuntty of being heard in person
and by counsel, and shall be given
the great advantage of cross-exami-
nation; also that all the proceedings
shall be conducted in an orderly and
legal way, and a record kept, so that
errors of the court or any depriva
ton of the constitutional right of the
citizen may be presented to some su-
preme, impartial, judicial tribunal for
determination.
= = =
There was another great reason in the
background when English-speaking
men established the grand jury and
the right of the trial by petit jury
for crime. 1t was practically en-
bodied in the oath that is admins
tered to every grand jury in Amer
lea, namely, that the Jurors will pre-
sent no person through malice,
hatred or i'll will, nor leave any un-
presented through fear, favor or af-
fection, but that in all their present
ments they will present the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the
truth. The grand jury was intended
TO be, and / trust always has been, a
body that secretly Investigated the
commission Of crime. Suspected Grim
inals were not informed beforehand
of what it was doing, thereby afford
ing them opportunity to destroy evil
dence. suborn witnesses or cover up
the proof of guilt. The secrecy had
another purpose-that of not drag
ging into disrepute the names OF in
nocent persons.
While refraining from defending
crookedness in business or in public
Office, let us be careful not to destroy
grand juries in America. Legisla-
tive chambers must not be substi-
tuted for star chambers.
Copyright. 1924, by Twentieth First Century
Press.l