378 



ILLINOIS. 



INDIA. 



deemed it their duty to go fully into the 

 merits of the questions involved, they had yet 

 shown the court what the decisions were of 

 which they complained, and how the questions 

 arose. In this way the court was able to de- 

 termine whether the errors alleged were such 

 as to justify it in bringing the case before it 

 for review. 



The provisions of the Constitution upon 

 which counsel relied were Articles IV, V, VI, 

 and XIV of the amendments. The first three of 

 these articles secure certain immunities to the 

 people of the United States. Article XIV limits 

 the power of the State governments over the 

 people. The first three were decided more 

 than a half-century ago to be limitations, not 

 upon the State, but upon the national Gov- 

 ernment, and this decision has always been 

 maintained since. The argument of counsel 

 was that, notwithstanding tliis construction, the 

 immunities therein conferred pertained to the 

 people of the United States, and could not be 

 abridged under the fourteenth amendment, 

 which declared that no State could enforce a 

 law which affected the " privileges or immu- 

 nities of the people of the United States." The 

 fourteenth amendment also declares that no 

 State can deprive " any person of life, liberty, 

 or property, without due process of law." It 

 was argued that " due process of law " implied 

 trial by an impartial jury, that being a privi- 

 lege secured by Article VI. 



The particular complaints in this case were 

 (1) that a statute of the State had been so con- 

 strued as to deprive the petitioners of a trial 

 by an impartial jury ; and (2) that Spies was 

 compelled to testify against himself. The de- 

 cision of the court upon the question of what 

 is "an impartial jury" within the meaning 

 of the Constitution is highly important. The 

 law of Illinois and other States upon this 

 point has been an attempt to harmonize the 

 institution of trial by jury with the conditions 

 of modern life. In a day when everybody 

 reads newspapers it is impossible to get a 

 jury of twelve intelligent men who have 

 formed no opinion with regard to a celebrated 

 case. The statute of Illinois was construed by 

 the Illinois courts to mean that, although a 

 person called as a juryman may have formed an 

 opinion based upon rumor or newspaper state- 

 ment, but has expressed no opinion as to the 

 truth of the newspaper statement, he is still 

 qualified as a juror if he states that he can 

 fairly and impartially render a verdict thereon 

 in accordance with the law and the evidence. 

 The test question is not whether the juror will 

 have the opinion he has formed from the news- 

 papers changed by the evidence, but whether 

 his verdict will be based only on the account 

 that shall be given by the witnesses under 

 oath. The Supreme Court held that the Illi- 

 nois statute interpreted in this way is not ma- 

 terially different from that of the Territory of 

 Utah. As that was a Territorial statute, passed 

 by a Territorial Legislature for the govern- 



ment of a Territory over which the United 

 States has exclusive jurisdiction, it came di- 

 rectly within the operation of Article VI. This 

 act had been before the Supreme Court, and 

 no doubt had been raised of its constitution- 

 ality. The other complaints of the petitioners, 

 viz., that Spies had been compelled to testify 

 against himself, and that Spies and Fielden, the 

 one having been born in Germany and the 

 other in England, had been denied rights guar- 

 anteed to them by treaty between the United 

 States and their respective countries, were 

 considered in detail by the court, but are too 

 frivolous to be deserving of more than a 

 mention. The court overruled them. The 

 court unanimously refused to grant the writ of 

 error. 



The only recourse of the Anarchists there- 

 after was to the interference of the Governor 

 of Illinois. Linge, Engel, Fischer^ and Parsons 

 refused to join in the application for pardon, 

 and demanded their liberty as a right. A re- 

 quest for pardon was made by Spies, Fielden, 

 and Schwab. On November 10 Linge com- 

 mitted suicide by exploding a cartridge in his 

 mouth with a lighted candle. On the same 

 day Governor Oglesby announced his determi- 

 nation upon the question of the commutation 

 of the condemned men. Fielden and Schwab 

 having joined in the application for pardon, 

 and their guilt being of a somewhat lighter na- 

 ture than that of the others, had their sentence 

 commuted to imprisonment for life. They had 

 conducted themselves in a less defiant manner 

 than the others during the trial, and the com- 

 mutation of their sentences was favored by 

 Judge Gary and District-Attorney Grinnell. 

 Spies, Fischer, Engel, and Parsons were hanged 

 on Nov. 11, 1887. 



INDIA, an empire in southern Asia, subject 

 to Great Britain. The Secretary of State for 

 India, who is a member of thS British Cabinet, 

 exercises almost autocratic powers, as Parlia- 

 ment usually concurs in the decisions of the 

 Government with regard to Indian affairs with- 

 out serious discussion, yet he is largely guided 

 by the advice of the Governor- General, who is 

 assisted by a council. The Governor-General 

 in council has power to make laws, subject to 

 the approval of the British Government. The 

 Secretary of State for India is Viscount Cross, 

 appointed Aug. 3, 1886. The Viceroy or Gov- 

 ernor-General is Frederick Temple-Blackwood, 

 Earl of Dufferin, who succeeded the Marquis 

 of Ripon on Oct. 28, 1884. The Council con- 

 sists of the commander-in-chief of the forces 

 and six ordinary members appointed by the 

 British Government, who with from six to 

 twelve additional members appointed by the 

 viceroy form a legislative council for making 

 laws and regulations. 



irea and Population. The area of British In- 

 dia is 911,075 square miles, and the population 

 on Feb. 17, 1881, when the last census was 

 taken, was 201,888,897. The feudatory and 

 independent states, all of which are under 



