Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 161, 12 Iulai 1894 — HIS LITTIE MISTAKE. [ARTICLE]

HIS LITTIE MISTAKE.

Mr. Hatch’a Clause in the Constitntion Relating to Jurors Will Not Work We bave in former issuea criti- j cized tbe amendment of Mr. Hatcb to a certain article in tbe constitution whieh carried, and in whieh be sncceeded to make it obligatory for a juror to take the oatb to tbe republic. Of course, we do not know Mr. Hatch’s motive for such an absurd proposition, but we ean ] make a pretty correct guess. The clause was made for the special benefit of political offenders —in fact for Mr. Hatcb’s political enemies. As sucb it would undoubtedly be a snccess. lt wonld mean that a man charged witb, j let us say, seditious libel against | Mr. Hatch’s government had to be ! tried by a jun’ composed solely by tbe supporters of Mr. Hatcb i.e., the political enemies of the defendant. The outrage embraced by sucb a rule bas been condemned even by the most radical members of i the party whieh support Mr. ) Hatcb. The main qualification of a juror should be that be is a fair winded respectable citizen, ! who has resided sufficiently long in the conntry tobe known in regard to his integrity and pays his taxes. A jury of men having such qu&lifications ean be called with justice “a jur}’ of his peers. - ’ Mr. Hatcb’s jurors, thougb, must possess one qualification whieh overshadows those wehave mentioned. He must sympathize politically with the government. He must not beloug to the oppositiou and be must take an oath to support Mr. Hatch’s administration. We do not care to dwell on the international complications whieh will arise. We ean assure Mr. Hatch that no foreigner will sit tamelv by and be tried by men who avowedly are his enemies. j Bot let tbat pass for the present. Mr. Hatch has already succeeded in getting tbe conntry into a sad ! mess in regaid to our foreign relutions. A few moro beiises don’t make mueh difiereuc0. But where the trouble comes in is, tbat Mr. Hatch will be un- 1 able to get any jnry, whieh ean sit legally underthe constitution. ■ The Circuit Court is now sitting in Honokaa on Hawaii. The term opened on the llth inst. The new eonstitution went into efi*ect on the 4th. Now, we will bet Mr. Hatch, and give him handsome odds, that the authorities bave been unable to draw a ! jury list for Hawaii according to i ; law and accortling to his constitution. If a single mau sits as a , juror withont tuking the oath to j tbe republic, the verdict of that j jury will be void. A writ of [ , babeas corpus will lie if the defendant was convicted, and he will be as free as the bird. The Augnst term in Honolulu is drawing near. According to the : law the jury lists should be made ont on or about Monday uext. , So farless than thirty Hawaiiana . have taken tbe oatb. nnd out of them about twenty-five are government oiEeiala. How are you going to make a Hawaiian jury Mr. Smariie Hatch? Are yon gomg to eloee tbe government . offices for a month &nd let yonr polieemen, clerks, etc. etc , act I as jnrora? We are afraid tbat no judge and no lawyer wilj

agree to sach an arrangemenL At the same time tbe foreign jarr will be in aboot the same po<ition. A number of people are not sorry to find themselves disqualified from jary doty, and even if tbe sympathize with the repablic they most likely will wait to take the oatb until eleetion is at hand and tbe jary is pan. Mr Hatch may be a very smart lawyer, bat this time his personal vindictiveness got the best of him. We ean add that the main reason for Marshal Hitchcock’s joorney to Hawaii was to see how to “fii” the very mnddled situation of the Circuit Coart —without a jnry.