| Show TOE THE NEW JURY BILL jury bill which has passed the utah house of representatives is in the main an excellent measure the necessity for the chief provision in the bill is evident to every one who knows anything of utah affairs it is clear that in the passage of the poland law congress intended to provide pr ovidea a plan by which juries could be provided provid bd representing the two opposing elements in utah and cormons mormons Mor mons were both to officiate as jurors without taking into consideration the vast majority of cormons mormons Mor mons in the population or it if recognizing it in ally giving an unfair advantage to the gentile element the small minority m were given the sanie same number on the jury list as the immense majority no other plan w was as provided than that arr arranged angea in I 1 n the law the open venire method wb which ich is ip in direct hostility to the method provided in the law was never viewed us as proper or allowable till the recent ra ram on the cormons mormons Mor mons was binau inaugurated ura ted and it has been sustained solely ie lecause cause of its unfair advantages against them the thurman Tb urman bill amended in committee and presented as a substitute is no infringement upon the poland law or upon any other act of congress it follows the principle of the latter law exactly it does docs not attempt to chan change geor or render inoperative the poland law but instead it renders its operations more complete the poland law does not pretend to take out of the hands of of the legislature any power to make ot other her provisions that are needed in connection with that law the assembly has power over all rightful subjects of legislation not inconsistent with thel Constitution and laws of the united states providing an efficient jury law is a rightful subject of leg legislation 1 I sla this thib bill is not inconsistent with the constitution and is perfectly consistent a with the poland law and every other law of the united states it only sets aside the open venire system by which juries can be packed and which is inconsistent with the poland law and as administered in utah is opposed to justice equity and the common rights of citizens that the poland law and laws of the territory can work together and that the farmei Is not a complete jury law of itself is evident from a statute passed at the last session of the As the provisions ot of the poland lawand law and 0 of I 1 utah laws concerning juries are amalgamated and appear as title III of toe tae civil code if the provisions of the present bill had been then inel included aided there would have been no go objection raised the open venire plan has been since adopted and it Is because of its unfair and anti poland law spirit and workings that there I 1 ia a desire on the part of many of the minority arity to cling to it the governor Govern br signed the civil code with jury provisions attached to the poland law provisions there is no tangible reason why he should refuse to sign this bill which merely travels furt further lier on the same ground as the other and as everybody e v knows not a step too far f for 0 r it simply completes a part apart that was left unfinished the effort to make it appear that it will hinder binder the prosecutions against bigamy polygamy and unlawful cohabitation is silly billy in the extreme the edmunds law ex eludes all jurors who believe in the rightfulness of either of those offenses and the courts manage to exclude all mormons cormons Mor mons from the juries required to try them the bill provides for respectable men selected with tl view to their fitness from both classes of the community in ordinary cism and nd merely stops an hostile TO tb the accused from picking oat persons specialty specially to convict and culled from the street the saloon and the loafing corners noone so one will 0 oppose the bill but those who want to perpetuate ga an infamy that is a disgrace to utah jurisprudence pra depee we hope the council will take up the bill promptly and put it through with due speed that it may soon be placed replaced in the hands of the governor however it should not be rushed with care less haste there is one point that deserves special attention the jury expenses of this territory are becoming so BO large that they threaten to swallow up all aft the revenue something must be done to check this rapid increase from the appropriation necessary meet it lias has increased to and it is I 1 s expected that will be wanted for jurors tees fees for the next two years and to cover the deficiency this tais is alarming to every economist one outlet for tills this drain upon the treasury is the fees paid to I 1 jurors frers in CAYU KOO i mr joseph A west of 94 weber county proposed that a ie posit of 12 be paid by complainants or appellants as a jury fee to be taxed as costs it Judg judgment mOnt is ren rendered derod in their favor ane objection to this is t that at poor men would be prevented f rom h having their day in court and their constitutional tight to abury a j ury trial T to 0 obviate this mr West proposed ehfe 11 following to be e added to hla his amendment provi providing dink for the 12 deposit provided further that if at any timp it appears to the satisfaction ot of court or andee from the affidavit of atie party or other evidence that tie he cannot baythe jury fee such court br or judge jude may direct that he be allowed to tb proceed without the prepayment thereda the butia but if such party prevail so as to be entitled to to collect such fee as a disbursement bur i of bf tae advance party when in collected ita it sh shall allbe be retain retained edby by the clerk as if paid in advance these amendments were lost in ha the house we think the proposition or sm seething something ething akin akin to it deservi deserving ag of careful cOtO in the Cou council nicil the evil it designs to cure care is 19 of no 40 small moment we understand mat from to for jurors fees boes in civil suits has bee been expended joed as an encouragement to litigation during the L pasc two ye arAnd less than has been returned fo 0 meet it tile the 4 feet fed of the pr B resent sent system ay stem is to drive many people now from the Justi pez courts where it if they lose they would have to pay the J jury ary fresto the D dettrict Dittri ct co court urt where saddle the expense of their private litigation upon the territorial Lrea treasury sury we think mr bests points well taani and that the objections kaied so far as we have seen them are not an sufficient to 0 the propos proposition 1 tion they are up not without precedent and in view of the alarming biennial increase of demands upon the treasury for jurors fees the excellent I 1 jury ury but 1514 now pending should be h so io changed as to embody something similar to the e amendments mento of the member from weber County ty |
