A Judge Refuses to Seat Jurors Because Tacoma Has No Money to Pay Them

Tacoma, May 22.—Special.—Superior Judge John Stallcup proposes to make a record for himself while in office, and he is making it. He it was who brought suit to restrain the city from paying interest on the light and water bonds, alleging fraud in the deal. Yesterday he created another sensation by vacating the order empanelling a jury in his department, doing so on the grounds that as the county has not the money to pay jurors he has no right to compel them to serve in his court.

Judge Stallcup's action was a surprise to everyone. The other two judges do not propose to go without their juries, and are said to be astonished at Judge Stallcup's action.

"We have no right to create any more debt," said Judge Stallcup today, in explaining the order. "We are now in debt to the constitutional limit and have no money on hand to pay jurors with. The constitution puts a limit to our debt making, and we must run our government within that limit or else we are incompetent to mete out self-government.

"The great drawback to our local government is the system regulating it. The law does not provide us with a clean system of self-government, and there are two principal defective features that bring about the present conditions. The first is this: The sale on account of delinquent taxes should occur each year, so that we could have money on hand to run our government for such year, instead of taking place two years after taxes become delinquent.

"The second defective point is that there is never any distinctive fund for any specified or district purpose. Another serious drawback is that no one is willing to buy tax certificates, so that our local government is without money to run it until the money is paid in by the taxpayer himself."

Returning again to his order doing away with a jury, Judge Stallcup stated that it is merely a matter of common sense; that he would use no jury unless the jurors saw fit to serve for nothing, because the government had no money to pay for such services and has no further power to increase the present indebtedness. The result of doing away with the jury for term 2 will be that instead of forty men to choose jurors from there will be but thirty-two jurors in attendance. Those cases that actually require a jury and have been set for hearing in Judge Stallcup's department will either have to go over or else be transferred to one of the other departments.

The panel discharged consisted of sixteen jurors and was summoned to appear for duty May 27.