OCR Text |
Show THE JURY IN MURDER TRIALS It Is probably safer in this ttKT.try to commit homicide than to be a bur- ' glar. Tho more serious th crime the harder fight Is put up for the , criminal. For Instance, w'len Cfcns. I Pecker was again found guilt:1 of the murder of Herman Rosenthal, It was 1 tho first time In New York City that two Juries had prpnounc--.l the vr-diet vr-diet of guilty of first denreo murder twice In succession In the-Fame case. These twelve men are entitle 1 to ci edit ed-it for their promptness, Jinj their fidelity fi-delity to the Juror's oath. Tho lax enforcement of tho law ngalnst homicide Is ono of our pet pcnnilnls, due In part to a too technical tech-nical view of the law on the part of the courts, nnd tho disposition on tho part of Juries to dodge a tlutf. The moment a man comes no for murder, at least In any state havlg capital punishment, thero la p unanimous unani-mous effort to dodge Jury service. Thoughtful men shrink from tho tnk. Murder Juries In the United States are not ns a rule equal In Intelligence or In personal force to the pnnel assembled as-sembled to try a man for larceny 1 he ense that calls for the higher sotiso of responsibility and tho broadest Intelligence In-telligence may draw a rhlnltiiu-n of these qualities. It Is merely tho duty of, a murder, Jury to look at tho evidence In a sensible, sen-sible, oommoi sense HgM. Fven If one believes Uiat the penalty :mpoted Is too severe, yet .the responsibility for that penalty is wholly upon tfce cittzens of the -state, and no mora on tho Jurors than on their next dior neighbors. In almost any murcer cane, an ap peal to mushy sentlmentaltsm is made. Tho Jury Is Implored to disregard dis-regard a sworn duty, simply because it Is difficult to Inflict punishment. It takes Iron In tho blood to stand up 1 against these appeals to a universal 1 human sentiment. Tho Jury that brushes aside nil this fog, and renders nn honest verdict on tho facts, Is en-titled en-titled to thanks. I- ! ! DIRECTORS WHO DON'T DIRECT The testimony given by Charles S. Mollon. concerning his rotations with dip late J. P. Morgnu, is an lUmulii- j ' ntlng plcturo of tho way in which big corporations nro often dominated b 1 ono man. ' Although tho head of tho Now York. ' Now Haven, and Hartford railroad j Mr. Mellen could not securo any detailed de-tailed statement of how $U,lDo,000 wbb spent In acquiring n now line. I Other directors of tho road woro nleo ' In tho dark. Thoy had ontlro con-1 con-1 fldenco In Mr. Morgan, and did not feel like Insisting on definite Information. Informa-tion. 1 ''i:rFlWi E -" .v4 wVjU.Y I - .. 11-- . . 1 "' ! ! "' ' " M ' u -,Y L "" UW" Ortlnary business life .docs not con-' tain these spectacular instances. Still a great many directors of large corporations cor-porations take their responsibilities I too lightly. Their, names glvo confidence confi-dence to tho public, when their connection con-nection with tho corporation may bo too perfunctory to add strength to tho management. The man who holds directors'' positions posi-tions in a dozen corporations may be strictly honest In his relation to each. But If tho stockholders get the notion that a corporation js getting the full benefit of his ability, when it nctu-ally nctu-ally gets only a small fraction of his attention, and If he e not per-mltted per-mltted to know too much of Its real workings, tho corporation gets an Indorsement to which it Is not entitled. entit-led. Every director should be from'MIs-sour!. from'MIs-sour!. He owes It to the stockholders nnd public, to ask a great many questions. ques-tions. If ho perceives a. tendency to deny frank answers let him take alarm. . Thero are too many ornamental dl-rectors. dl-rectors. There are too many1 who, having implicit confidence In the man at tho headr aro ready to Indorse any report he may make. A director should bo what tho tltlo Implies, an active, not a passive force. He should thoroughly understand the affairs of any corporation to which he gives the prestige of his r.ame, nnd should not take on business positions which he can not fill in this comprehensive compre-hensive way. |