Foreigners and
idiots cannot serve. Doctors, soldiers, journalists, clergymen, and
others, besides those who are deaf, blind, or otherwise disabled, are
exempted. The experience of serving on a jury may be annoying but it
is broadening and gives an opportunity of seeing human nature in a way
that few appreciate. To serve on a jury is to become a part of the
judicial system of the State and for the time being to belong to the
governing class.
"All day long," says the court officer, "they do nothing but grumble
and grumble at being kept away from their business but when they get
chosen on a case, they realize it does not do any good so they settle
down to do what is right." The country man may not have much to do and
may look on jury duty rather as a diversion or vacation from farm
work but the average town man feels the $2 a day he receives is only
lunch money compared to the amount he is losing in his business, and
so he hates it.
The first warning of trouble that a juryman gets is when he comes home
and finds that a policeman has been looking for him. It is to be hoped
that he has a guiltless conscience. He inquires further and learns it
was only a court officer summoning him to court for the trial term
next month.
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