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Show THK JURY SYSTEM. The wibJom of our exi-tiog jury sys- ' tern, long considered the most effectual means for the promotion of justice ever ! J devised by man, is beginning to be ques- j i tioned, and the developments in the ' ! Erie bribery case in New York furnish : the agitators for reform in that direc- I ! tion with a strong argument in favor of ! a change. William L. Davis, one of the jurors in the "Black Friday" suit i of Davis and others against FUk and j others, lately tried in the superior j court in New York city, told a reporter: 1 "We stood ten to two, but after some j ! discussion one of these came over to ; ! our side. The other one held out, and j would' nt even argue the question with I us. Then it came out that bribes had j been offered to Mr. Whitney and Mr. i Beisser, and I said, 'Gentlemen, l t j think I have been approached, too.' I Finding that the one who still stood : out for the defendant was stubborn and J would'nt argue the question, I charged I him with being bribed, and 1 got the ' Bible and called on him, if he wasn't bribed, to put his hand on that book and swear that he hadn't received, and didn't expect to receive, and hadn't been promised a cent of money or any other consideration to 'hang that jury.' He wouldn't do that either. Then 1 renewed my charge ngainst him, and ; wc all got rather excited and had quite a lively time for & white. That man was only saved from being thrown out of the window by the intervention ol' some of the peaceable ones. He ro-mained ro-mained stolidly opposed to us for I several hours, but finally yielded, and i we brought iu a verdict for plaintiffs." ' i It has further transpired that iMr. i Bcisser was offerod $10,000 for a dis-! agreement, and that tho man who made a similar offer to Mr. Whitney is , known. The jurymen held a meeting Saturday morning, at which resolutions strongly condemning the attempted bribery, and urgingtho immediate pros-i pros-i ecution of the guilty parties, were pre- sented by the foreman, and signed by all present. ThiB was probably a more intelligent or honest jury than that in Dublin, Ireland, which acquitted Kelly, the Fenian, who killed a policemen, police-men, on the ground that it could not tell whether it was the pistol shot or the probe of the doctor which killed the officer. The great objection to the present system ia, however, tho fact that one corrupt juryman can del'eat the ends of jusiiie, lor which reason a bill has been introduced in ihe Illinois legislature which provides that a jury in civil cases may tind a verdict by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the jurymen. Washington Star. |
