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jpr If aa. fl HMBHHhmk. *h IfT ®if' ■ r <&\. JHHHHSKi ■ ||| 'I —MpF"" ■ **BW|& o^H Ik V" * #*'■ j^^r .• : • : , "' ■ jf Smiling Savings Bond Winner One of the winner of savings bonds in the Sentinel’s recent New Voter Registration Sweepstakes contest is Mrs. Beatrice Rus sell, 18 Hesketh St., Chevy Chase, who re Montgomery General Hospital Finally Lays to Rest Ghost of Old Stock Certificates By Lila Thomson Sentinel Reporter One upon a time, as the story books go, there was a dream. It. was back in 1918. As dreams go, it wasn’t a big dream, except as dreams are relative to the area in which they occur. But in 1918, in the then thinly populated rural Olney-Sandy Spring areas of Montgomery, the dream of seven men who gathered and discussed the need of a hospital in the upper Coun ty, was mighty indeed. The seven who dreamed were the late Dr. J. W. Bird; Charles F. Kirk, Olney; Alban G. Thom as, Ashton; Mortimer O. Sta bler, Ednor; Clifton H. Devill bies, Laytonsville; Lewis W. Barnsley, Rockville; and Allan Farquhar of Sandy Spring. But how to raise the money for so ambitious an enterprise In the rural middle areas of the county was a knotty ques tion. In the year of the dream, however, a corporation was formed, a charter was Issued, and on a few acres of land In Olney the idea Montgomery County General Hospital be gan to grow. The group of stalwarts who believed in the ultimate success of the venture and the need it would fill in the community, with Dr. Bird in the vanguard, set out to raise $60,000. Six thousand shares of stock were sold in the community at $lO a share. There was no thought of prof it by the investors and none was promised. Nonetheless, the 1918 community investment in Its hospital set in motion a maze of legal problems which pursued and beset the hospital for 44 years and caused the corpora tion to be known as a “me too’’ organization. It was only last summer that ways and means were devised of untangling the red tape extant in its original charter and in the original shares of stock. When Montgomery General opened its doors and its 28 beds in 1920 in the middle of the flu epidemic, the fact that within a year its corporate structure would send it racing between the Collector of Internal Rev enue and the Maryland General Assembly in attempts to prove it was not in business for profit of Its stockholders, was unfor seen. The Collector of Internal Revenue and the State of Maryland, however, assumed FUEL OIL BURNER SERVICE COAL QUALITY FUELS PROMPT DELIVERY Serving Montgomery Frederick - Howard Prince Georges Radio Controlled Trucks E. C. KEYS & SON •404 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring JUniper 9-1771 wives the bond donated by Maryland Nation al Bank from T. S. Mason Jr., the bank's cashier at the Rockville Branch. Kd Mervis Photo the position that a corpora- ! tion with stockholders and i outstanding shares of stock contemplated profit. The fact that the stockholders wanted a hospital and not profit had to be proven the first time in May, 1921. At that time, a special ruling was made by the Federal collec tor exempting the hospital from taxes paid by profit-making stockholder corporations. It was i touch and go but the hospital | finally proved its point. The first move to prove the j intent of the stockholders was j not the last. Year after year, i the Maryland General Assembly ! had to pass special exemptions laws for Montgomery General. The matter of proving its non profit status was a constant neck weight. Whenever statewide laws were passed exempting non-profit and charitable organizations from certain forms of taxation, it was necessary for the hospital to chime in "We’re non-proft, too,” and prove it in order to benefit. The "Me-Too” title was the re sult. Special legislation was re quired, among other things, to exempt hospital property from taxes. When the sales tax came along, it was required to pay sales tax on its purchases until special legislation was enacted. In the matter of bequests willed to the institution, a 7*2 percent collateriai inheritance was col lected until the General Assem bly agreed to extend an exemp tion. In the beginning, hospital ac tion on tax and other matters was not too difficult. A stock holders meeting was called and a vote was taken. But as the years went along and the found ers of the hospital passed from the local scene, problems began to mount. Attendance fell off at called meetings and, in time, no one came at all. With the passing of the origianal stockholders, the le gal questions of ownership and location of the stock Itself were paramount but remain ed, largely, unanswered. The further question existal of how tile corporation would continue to function and get on with its business without l '*. ■• - n -riT 7~iw>.ii',nii I aHL LIVING CHRISTMAS TREES Drive out to our nurseries end make your personal selection from our acres of healthy growing spruce. ■a." We will deliver it the day you specify before Christmas. IV Plant it after the holidays and enjoy its beauty for many years to come. Gift certificates for trees, shrubs or rose \ bushes, make vnnderftd enduring gifts. J A. Gude Sons Co. Nurseries Two Miles North of Rockville. Md.. on State Rt. 35S (Old 240) Hears: t:3O-S:00 Monday . Saturday; Closed Seadoy PO. 2*6141 the voice of its legal owners. Early this year Montgomery General's director, Charles D. Jenkins, and its attorney, J. Hodge Smith, embarked on a search for the missing stock and its present owners so that a stockholders meeting could be called. What Jenkins and Smith wanted to learn at such a meet ing was this: Would the present owners whoever they might be, agree to cancellation of their shares so that the hospital cor poration could reorganize and end 44 years of beating paths to Annapolis for special legisla tion? Original shareholders, in many 1 cases, had willed their stock to | I heirs. Some of these also had passed it along. A few had turned in their shares as gifts, to the institution they helped to found. Some had even been for gotten by the original holders and had been tucked away among old papers and in safety deposit boxes. Director Jenkins did the spade work. Two-thirds of the shares were required to vote the stock out of existence. There might have been a chance i that some stockholders would not be informed on the intent of the founders. When the July II meeting of the corporation was called, Jenkins had assembled exact ly 1,263 proxies. The proxies voted for cancellation of the stock. Recently, the Maryland State Tax Commission approved an | amendment to the hospital char ! ter which made the cancellation j legal. Approval also changed | the name of the hospital from I Montgomery County General Hospital to the less weighty one of Montgomery General. In ad dition. it settled once and for all, the question of the hospital’s status as a non-profit organiza tion. It will do one thing more. With cancellation of the stock and non-existent voice of the stockholders, the hospital will be able to revise and update its by . laws and functions without the j maze of red tape which has i hamstrung its operations for so many years. • SMptaeii CdiJtffi §aM Thursday. November 29, 1962 ■■— —— Jurors As Lawyers Old Law Binding On State Juries By Bill McAda Sentinel Reporter The brevity of the instructions given jurors in two recent Montgomery County rape cases stirs anew the cen tury-old argument over the almost unique Maryland con stitutional provision which requires jurors to act as law experts. ‘ Men learned in the laws of this state are hard to find who will say the antiquated law paralleled only in Indiana—pro vides an accused the due pro cess of law guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. \ The Maryland State Bar As-. a sociation voted last summer in j t favor of repealing the old state j i constitutional requirement that r juries shall be judges of the law as well as the fact. Many | c attorneys admit privately the t inequities of the provision but 1 are reluctant as individuals to s take a public stand. Some con- 1 cede the law is “antiquated” i and should be repealed. The basic inequity of this pro- t vision is best told in recounting > the instructions given jurors in the rape trial of James and John Giles and the rape trial of Joseph Johnson, jr. Shortly before noon, Dec. 5, i 1961, a 12-member Circuit jury listened intently as Judge James H. Pugh gave these guide rules which the jury was to use in! deciding the fate of the Giles brothers: “Now, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the form of your verdict in this cae will simply be ‘Guilty on the first count,’ or j ‘Guilty on the first count with out capital punishment,’ or ‘Not Guilty,’ as you shall find from the law and the evidence. “You will make a finding as to each defendant under that instructon.” He gave the jury no advice or instructions on the law in the case. On Sept. 25, another jury heard an Anne Arundel County (Circuit judge give these instruc tions in the separate trial of Johnson: “Now in this case you are the ; judges of the law and the facts. You have heard both the law and the facts, argued to you. "Now on the first count you can come in . . . with three ver dicts. • Either ‘Guilty under the first count;' ‘Guilty under the first count without capital pun ishment;’ or ‘Not Guilty under the first count.’ ” He, too, gave 1 the jury no advice on what laws apply to the case. In the first case, the Giles brothers were found guilty and sentenced to die. In the second case, Johnson was found guilty with no recommendation for mercy. He has been sentenced to death. The key phrases in holli of these charges are "... you shall find from the law and the evidence,” and, in the sec ond charge, "... you are the judges of the law and the i facts.” Both give the jury members an onerous task which many attorneys would sidestep. This type of charge, chosen by the I judges in preference to a care • fui and factual explanation of ■ the applicable laws, leaves the I I laymen of the jury to decide be ! tween the delicate shades of law. It is true that the jury hears ; a running discussion of points ■ of law during the trial. But this has questionable value since op - posing lawyers develop their * cases on the basis of laws and < previous court decision which ) are most advantageous to one side of the case. Jurors’ minds are showered with a barrage of seemingly conflicting laws, cases, and court opinions which do mroe to confuse than clarify. In a friend of the court brief written to support an abortive appeal in the Giles’ case, an at torney for the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union ad- \ monished the court thusly: “. . . We must make the in quiry what effect the power of the jury to decide questions of law actually has on a defend ant’s position. For if its ef fect is such as to work a funda mental unfairness, the rule vio lates the due-process clause (of the Federal Constitution). Pass ing for the moment the fact t Holiday Fashions From . . . For Fashion-Wise Juniors . . . HOLIDAY ELEGANCE for your enchanted evenings . . • the coming holU \ day season arrives for parties and festive dances /’ll ' n our won<^er^u l collection of party dresses. Be | ,ur. to 100 our largo s,lection of one of a kind CLASSIC SHEATH ... WjßF' with uncomplicated lines for pure figure flattery. Wrist length and half SWEATERS the one gift she can always use one more *** A% 1 See our collection of the newest and Evry 1 sweetest . . Italian Knits .. . Bulkies ... I Evenino Shetlands .. . Cashmeres. Beautiful prints V or solids in new holiday shades. % Until k | Sixes 30 to 40 Chritmo>^^L * See our large selection of—.. Junior, Junior Petite, Christmas Gifts . . guaran and Preteen Sizes • . ■ i wWjjrwJ l l SA. 4-9121 E. MONTGOMERY AVENUE, OPPOSITE COUNTY COURT HOUSE, ROCKVILLE New 4-H Officers Miss Beth Rueger was elected I president of the Glenmont-Glen ■ Allen 4-H Club at the Novem ber meeting of the group at the home of Miss Mary Eckhardt. Other officers named were Cindy Murphy, vice president; Betty Ann Dunn, secretary treasurer; Suzanne Wilson, council member; Miss Eckhardt, project leader; Rose Tlaia, game leader; and Brenda Murphy, re porter. that a jury of laymen Is utterly incompetent to define such subtle legal concepts as ‘force’ and ‘consent’ in the context of a prosecution for rape, (we) con tend that the basic difficulty with (the article) is that it de stroys the rule of law." Quoting further, the brief noted remarks written in an opinion by Mr. Justice Story, concerning competency of a jury to decide legal points. “Every person accused as a criminal has a right to lie tried according to the law of the land, the fixed law of the land; and not by the law as a jury may understand it, or choose, from wantoness, or ignorance, or accidental mis take, to Interpret it.” The brief charges that under this state’s Constitution, "the jury is virtually encouraged to disregard the law, and to In dulge its own whims and preju dices.” When the Maryland Appeals Court recently rejected the ap peal of the Giles brothers' at torneys, one of the state’s most B1 Javcees to Sell Seat Belts Automobile seat belts will be sold and installed by the Mid- Montgomery County Jaycees at three locations Dec. 9 for $5.95; each. The three locations will be Olney and Ashton Esso and Burtonsville Garage. Hours will be 10 a.m. to dark. The Jaycees are selling the belts now at the Sandy Spring Store, Olney Foods and Burtons ville Pharmacy for installation Dec. 9 or a later date that can be arranged with the purchaser. The Jaycee effort is aimed at outspoken opponents of the pro-1 vision was missing from the I appellate court bench. Missing from the seven-judge court was Judge Stedman Pres cott, a critic of the state rule on the power of juries, who had disqualified himself because of his son’s participation as de fense attorney. Statutory law makes rape a felony and rape Is forceable as sault. If concent Is involved, the story is different. Testimony in both trials con flicted as to whether the school girl Involved offered her con sent. Here, another vital point taken from the Federal Consti tution—was not mentioned to the jury. The prosecutor’s case must be “proved beyond a rea sonable doubt.” In both jury findings, the con flicting testimony apparently failed to inject "a reasonable furthering automobile safety and is aLso being held to raise. funds for community projects. * Among the latter is a Christ mas shopping tour due soon for children who otherwise would not be able to give presents to their family and friends. In addition, the 35-member group headed by William G. Kimball sponsors a minstrel show in March, a local talent show in April and a teen-aged driving rodeo in May. In July the group assists with the an nual Montgomery General Hos pital supper. j doubt” in the minds of a single I juror. In neither case was the jury told by the judge they could not convict if they felt there had been consent or If they entertained reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused. The century-old state Consti tutional provision seemed a necessary safeguard for the peo ple of Maryland when framers of the document put their work ! together. Maryland, previously under the oppression of the Crown’s judicial abuses, wanted a safe guard to make certain judges appointed by government did not bend the laws to deal with political undesirables. For this reason, a jury of peers with the power to inter pret the laws was provided. : Progress by the judicial sys tem apparently has outstepped . Colonial Maryland.