We couldn’t help feeling sorry
for the unhappy jurors who were
summoned to serve during the civ
il term of Craven Superior court
this week, listening to the terri
fically dull doings that inevitably
dominate a civil calendar.
Thanks to Perry Mason, who sees
to it that there are no moments of
monotony on his popular television
program, some citizens may get the
notion that it’s fun to have a ring
side seat when His Honor raps for
order.
Nothing could be further from
the truth. Admittedly, the criminal
calendar does have a bit of enter
taining testimony now and then for
the morbidly curious, who take a
sadistic delight in watching less
fortunate humans squirm in mis
ery and embarrassment.
Murder trials are always assured
of a .good audience, but even these
grim proceedings play second fid
dle to the sure fire attraction that
a case involving sex affords. Rob
beries, unless the defendants are
prominent, don’t cause much of a
commotion.
But when it comes to civil cases,
often centering around property
disagreements, there’s less than
nothing to keep a bored jury
awake. Who, except the parties di
rectly concerned, can get excited
over the place a property bound
ary should be?
As if the subject matter itself is
n’t dull enough, it becomes even
duller when couched in legal
language that is as far over the
head of the average juror as the
star on a Christmas tree is from
the grasp of a fascinated tot of
two.
Having sat in boredom as a
newspaper reporter at some of
these trials, we’re firmly convinced
that the /twelve men and women
in the jury box are bewildered
more often than not. Yet, it is to
their remarkable credit that they
usually come up with the right ver
dict, if the case gets as far as a
jury decisiop.
We’re all in favor of the jury
system. It is one of the fundamen
tal privileges that a Democracy
guarantees us. However, it is
doubtful that the trial of involved
civil cases—packed with technical
terms and statistical data—is a
matter for juries to wrestle with.
The presiding judge, if worthy of
his office, is far more qualified
to rule on the right and the wrong
in such instances. His wisdom may
not surpass that of each and ev
ery juror, but through training
and experience he has the capacity
to absorb the facts and govern
himself accordingly.
Getting back to Perry Mason, we
wouldn’t be at all surprised if Soli
citor Bob Rouse of Farmville
breathes a little prayer each night
that Perry will stay out of his ju
dicial district. ,
As things now stand, the Solici-
tor^-or District Attorney—does
right well in Craven Superior
court. He loses a case every now
and then, but think what a night
mare it would be for Bob if he lost
them all, as do those prosecutors
who are forced to match wits with
this Mason fellow.
Unfortunately, justice moves at
a rapid pace only on television.
It moves fast enough on the Perry
Mason show to get all the drama
in, and still leave plenty of time
for commercials. By contrast, the
snail’s pace of a real life court
room scene is enough to drive ev
erybody to distraction.
All of which contributes to the
countless delays, continuances and
discarded suits that plague the
courts of North Carolina, and every
other court in America. Under the
present system, tjiere doesn’t seem
to be a satisfactory solution.
Haste makes waste, you’ve often
-been told, and nothing as serious
as a trial should be skimmed over.
Tfie A/fIV
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
5 Per Copy
VOLUMNE 3
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY 20, 19M
NUMBER 8
SPRri^6 SERENITY—yearn not for the rolling plain,
or mountains to the sky, as long as I can know the joy of
rivers flowing by.” New Bernians are a lucky lot to have
scenes Ufeo'thfe 'ift thfeir very doorstep. Following in the
photograp^Kic pattern of his camera-talented parents, John
R. Baxter, Jr., caught this view for a Mirror mural.
New Bernians Take Collapse
Of Summit Talks in Stride
Nikita Khrushchev’s insulting ti
rade against Ike and the United
States in Paris this week came as
no surprise to New Bernians in
terviewed by The Mirror in a sam
ple survey here.
Without exception, those queried
gloomily admitted that they have
felt for months the summit con
ference was doomed to failure.
What did startle them appeared to
be the suddenness with which the
Soviet premier lashed' out.
“I knew he would come out
swinging with both fists,” a typical
citizen reasoned, “after that plane
incident gave him a perfect prop
aganda weapon. Whgt I didn’t fig
ure was just how soon it was going
to happep after the bell sounded.”
Serious though the matter was,
many local citizens obviously
shrugged it off as “just one of
those things”. Perhaps it was a
case of whistling passing the
graveyard, but such iiidi^duals
seemed to be more annoyed and
disgusted than they were frighten
ed by the turn of events.
Despite the general pessimism
here, there was agreement in all
quarters that Ike’s trip to Europe
should have been made. “The
World is too small for this or any
other nation to draw itself within
If you had to choose between slow
dragging justice and fast speed
ing justice, you would be better
off with the former.
As for jury duty, no New Bem-
ian should try to dodge his or her
responsibility. Even so, we’re glad
we weren’t imprisoned in that jury
box this week.
a shell,” one New Bern woman told
us. “We’ve got to face the music,
even though the notes are sour.”
The concensus of opinion in this
peace-loving city by the Neuse and
Trent is that the United States
bungled the spy episode rather
badly. Chief complaint heard here
stemmed from the way the story
was officially distorted, before the
truth had to be admitted.
“It’s sickening,” one New Bem-
ian said, “when the rest of the
world gets the impression that our
nation is trying to pitch another
nation a curve. It wasn’t the spy
ing that damaged our prestige nec
essarily, but the way we trifled
with the truth.”
Those interviewed by The Mirror
this week had no illusions about
the prevalence of spying among all
nations. ■“Khrushchev’s indignant
and holier-than-thou blasts against
the United States aren’t very con
vincing,” a mild-mannered but
well-read little old lady told us.
“There are bound to be spies ev
erywhere nowadays, and it would
probably scare us out of our wits
if we knew how many Communists
there are working at Cherry Point,
Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg and
other military bases.”
Among other things, the verbal
attack that President Eisenhower
was subjected to when he arrived
in Paris brought sympathy from
even his bitterest critics here in
New Bern. Like members of the
Senate and House of Representa
tives in Washington, local citizens
forgot for the moment that they
are overwhelmingly Democratic in
their politics, and sided with the
Republicans in what they consid
ered a non-partisan situation.
Although the events in Paris
could hardly be termed a step in
the right direction for world peace,
none of the New Bernians queried
said they thought this particular
uproar would bring the threat of
war closer to inhabitants of this
woefully disturbed globe.
As one man put it—“There’s a
lot to the old proverb that a bark
ing dog never bites. You can say as
much too about a couple of tomcats
quarreling on a backyj^d fence. As
long as the situation remains in a
talking stage, there’s always a
chance to avoid actual war.”
If war should come, and with it
the probable passing of all peoples
from the face of the earth. New
Bernians are convinced that it will
occur accidentally. “No nation,”
they say, “would be foolish enough
to start a war deliberately, but a
slip up can be just as disastrous.”
Time and again, as we made our
sample survey, a New Bern citizen
would tell us that the plane inci
dent of recent days over Russia
could have triggered such a war.
“Supposing,” a teen-ager reasoned,
“that the Communists had figured
the plane was carrying an atomic
or hydrogen bomb. They wouldn’t
have waited to start an attack of
their own, especially if those in
authority lost their heads in the
excitement.”
Such were the sentiments and
the reactions here, as the summit
conference came to a sudden and
bitter end. Most New Bernians ap
parently felt that President Elisen-
hower did about all that could be
done under the circumstances. It
was generally agreed that Khrush
chev’s demands for an apology
from the President, plus guaran
teed punishment of those connect
ed with the spy incident, had been
suggested simply for maximum
propaganda effect.
Everyone locally agreed that the
dramatic happenings of recent days
were well covered by the press and
television. Never before, perhaps,
has the public been better inform
ed on a news story that vitally con
cerned it.
Summit conference or no sum
mit conference, the doings abroad
didn’t slow up political candidates
in these parts. Scrambling hither
and yon, like a bevy of June bugs
exploring the wonders of a water
melon rind, they were smirking
and working from early morning
until late at night.
Charges and counter-charges
were being hurled openly and prt
vately, but for the most part there
wasn’t nearly as much smearing
and mud-slinging showing up oa
the surface as has been the case
in some of the campaigns waged
here in the past.
Whether a last minute flurry
might change this remained to be
seen. However, voters aren’t quite
so easily swayed by such tactics as
they once were. They aren’t overly
concerned over one candidate’s
personal dislike for another candi
date. And, no matter who wins,
they won’t expect wonders when
he goes into office.
It has been a rather disconcert
ing week in many respects, but
Dame Nature did her best to help
matters. As she always does in due
season, she made May as glorious
as ever. Even if the summit con
ference got called off, we’re glad
that Sprmg wasn’t cancelled, ia
New Bern and the world at large.