Evening star., 1927-05-08
BY BEN MckELWAY.

~ LEASE tell us, professor said the
sSD student in seat l. row l. of the his
tory class, "of the events leading to
the abolition of trial by jury in the
United States and the substitution therefor of
the present system of star-chamber tribunals
That is an intelligent request" replied the
professor stroking his luXuriant whiskers-
whskers in the year 2027 remaining the sole
distinguishing feature of the male-"and if you
will take your seat l shall tell you all about
it,"
X X x
Trial by jury in the United States was aban-
doned about the year 1850. after having fallen
into dsrepute under attack far and wide
public nuisance. The system was demoraizing
the Nation. increasing crime and had placed
every mere married man in position far more
precarous than that which startled Damocles;
for the sword of Damoclcs was suspended by
a single hair but in 1850 not hair remained
to bear the weight of the punest sword, all of
them long since having been bobbed So stated
the population with verbatim testimony
that all private conversations were conducted
after the manner of a cross-examination, fire.
quenty leading to what the newspapers called
clash" In a classroom such as this, if
teacher propounded question to pupil which
might lead him to embarrassed failure, the
pupil simply stood upon his rights as a pro-
spective American citizen and refused to testify,
or else the question met objection from another
pupil and the class sustained the objection.
Business often came to a complete stand
STILL thus endangerng the prosperity of the
Nation, for men and women refused to go to
work until they had digested the morning
papers report of the most popular trial, and
hardly We're they arrived at their offices and
factories when the early editions were on the
street with some sensational new development.
The word home was stricken. from the die
tionaries as obsolete, and love nest" substi-
tuted and no mother rightly could claim that
proud title unless old careworn silver haired,
but still loving her child of yesteryear" Chill.
dren became known tiny tots" until reach
ing the age of 16, when they automatically
were transferred into the class of flaming
youth, and no crime was considered worthy
of being brought to trial unless it involved
murder, yet murders were held in the light of
misdemeanors unless they were 'love murders"
* x X
A psychologist was understood to be a man
who wrote about trials for the newspaper: an
alienist one who could be relied upon TO get
one out of hot water when other measures
failed, and the fame of judge depended not
upon MS learning and skill in Jurisprudence,
but upon whether he excluded flashlights in
ms courtroom and ordered out the women and
small children when the defendant took the
stand and the love letters We're read. A mans
aolllty TO serve on jury counted against him,
but his inability to do anything else was sufi-
clent qualification, jurors being restricted
NHA"NSh ehS NHdiieIlSeS Oh learned counsel to
those possessing the mentality of a child of
or under. The time to empane jury extended
through several weeks, not because of a scarcity
OF talesmen, but because it often took the
morons who could qualify that long to find
thelr way to the courthouse. The old tradition
tnat man is innocent until proven guilty be.
came hoary through disuse, the new theory
belng that man was guilty until he could
bring tears to the jurors eyes or sob stuff to
the headlines, especially the headlines The