Evening star., 1926-05-09
BY WILL r. KENNEDY.

| Should women be treated on the
same basis as men in regard to serv-
| ice on juries? This question was de-
bated at some length in the House
during consideration Of a bill provid-
| ing that women shall be subject to
! juror service in the District of Co
| lumbia
| Representative Charles l.. Underhill
of Massachusetts led the opposition to
this measure. but was unsuccessful in
obtaining a favorable vote on a mo-
tion to strike out the enacting clause,
SO that the bill is now listed on the
| House calendar.
| II find that there is. only a small
| minority of women in the District
who favor such legislation" declared
Mr.. Underhill. 1.-THE Woman's Party
and the Woman's Bar Association are
back of this proposition: and. by the
| way. every member of the latter is
exempt from jury service.
Foreign Names ON List.
II also have collected a list of jury
men on various cases that have been
before the District courts recently.
| In one or two cases there is not a
name on the jury list that has an
| American sound. Undoubtedly they
are all citizens, and whether they are
naturalized citizens or not 'makes no
| difference in this case, but what
want to call your attention to Is the
| fact that the treatment of women and
| the standards and methods or living
in the country from which most or
| these men emanate are d1fferent from
| our standards here.
There is not man in this House
who should vote for this proposition
| unless he is perfectly willing that his
wife should be drawn as q juror, to
serve with this mixed citizenship that
| I have presented to you; willing that
your wife should be drawn as a juror
and sit anywhere from three to six
weeks in a trial. / will refer you to
| two trials not long since where the
| trial was on docket for at least sew
eral weeks, and these jurymen had to
be locked up at night. could refer
| you to other cases where the jury
has been out all night long.
Asks About ColOred Jurors.
II am not familiar with the laws of
| this district, but do colOred people sit
on the jury?" inquired Representative
Ralph Gilbert of Kentucky.
II have not gone into that phase of
| it. but will state that on the list of
| jurymen that I have seen have read
! the names of George Washington
Jefferson Brown of Andrew Jackson
Cross and of Robert Lee Washington
Fairfax Green,'" replied Mr.. Under
hill. "I do not know where these men
come from or whether they are COL
! ored or not.
'It may endanger my argument by
bringing in the subject of race or the
characteristics of these men who
make up the jury. but do not weaken
my case one particle when l say to
YOU that unless you are henpecked
husband, unless you have an abso-
lutte fear Of a few women who are In
the gallery, you are not going to i'm
pose upon the decent women or this
| District so onerous duty as this Will
become"
| In reply to a question. Mr.. Under
Hill said that it was his understanding
! that in criminal cases q jury cannot
he separated after a case has been
submitted to 1t.
Bill Does Not Excuse Any.
Representative Clarence Mcleod of
Michigan, one of the advocates of the
measure, answered negatively when
, asked if there was anything in this
bill that allows a woman who insists
on serving to serve but excuses those
i who do not want to serve"
1.-THE gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
McLeod) has mentioned my State, "
said Mr.. Gilbert. ut is true that in
Kentucky women serve on Juries, but
we have way in the South of regu-