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Show H A THREE MONTHS' TRIAL. T-HE verdict in tho case of Clarence S. Darrow, accused of having par- H ticipated In attempts to bribe Hi jurors in the McNamara case, calls HK for no more comment than that it is Hi prima facie evidence to the country H at largo that the evidence did not es- H tablish the accusation beyond reason- H able doubt But one feature is open Hi to comment, on which unprejudiced H opinion should be practically unani- H mous. B The trial lasted three months and H two days. It was an important case. Hl It required that everything necessary Hr to bring out the whole truth and in- R, sure an honest verdict should be fully Hi inquired into. But can common sense B accept the idea that this task could Wm not have been thoroughly performed WB in a tenth of the time? We do not H think so. It is a safe assertion thai H, the great bulk of the thirteen weeks B was used, first, in a quibbling and B ; long-drawn-out fight over tho Jurors, B the aim of both sides being to secure B jurors favorable to themselves rather l than those who were Impartial; and H next, in almost interminable debate H' to bring in or exclude points of evi- H donee the propriety of some of waion H was indisputable and the importance B of others microscopic. B The incongruity of .using that extent B of time to either convict a man of fl crime or to oetabllsh. his innocence B seems to be produced by the "act that, K while the theory of the rules uf prac- f tico is all right, th'e actual practice is tho opposite of the theory. In theory rules of court practice are for the purpose of bringing out the truth as clearly and as promptly as possible. The actual practice is to prolong the trial by all sorts of devices, which frequently obscure rather than clarify tho truth. Legal reform should be directed to the point of making professional ethics eth-ics require counsel on both sides to seek first the truth in the case. Tho clearest way to attain that end woum be to take away the professional m duceinent for counsel to exclude or o' scure the truth when it will be unfavorable un-favorable for their clients. |