Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-08-01
OFFICIAL CORRUPTION.
Report of the Grand Jury.

AAotfhlS, July OIL 1905
J. To the HOB. William Hunter, Judge OF Il
A Criminal Court OF Memphis:
Your Grand Jury would respectful
= submit the following:
In obedience to instructions and OF
Osths, We have made diligent inquif
d into the administration OF public justic,
q = report upon which has already bee
@ submitted 10 your honor examined To
: public records, inquired into the di:
:, bursement of public funds, examine
the county Jail, as well as the count
. hospital, examined the holding of core
nsr's iGquests and the burial of pau
e pers, the acts of Police Commissioner
: and public officers generally; in all @
. which we have acted without fear or IA
vor, and in reporting upon the sam
deem 1t no duty Of ours to indulge II
Q soft phrases aud honeyed words Of com
2 plant, but to report facts as we fine
e them, expose ineffiCiency and corruption
[ wherever found, regardless of publ,
opinion or political party interest, and IL
f., So doing We may be compelled to reeorC
unwhOlsome truths, of which 9 suffering
: public are already too well aware, with
out being able to do more than suggest 6
: remedy. We find a lavish expenditure
of public revenue, while county war
sell At but half their nominal value, the
Jail overlooking with prisoners, the
courts sTRmped with bu iuess, while Gu,
streets are promenaded by bands OF
youthful Migrants, who, having no legit-
! innate calling, are thoroughly versed in
the dialects OF perdition, the mathe-
mstics Of crime and ruin, snd the alge-
bra OF hell, left to plupder the public OF
be fed at the public expense. Ne work
house for our Juvenile offenders, our city
is left TO the mercy OF the most adroil
thieves, because Of the ineompetency o.
courts 10 punish.
Crime must be condemned wherever Il
exists, but We must condemn still more
the constitutions BY which 1t ia engendered.
BaWdy houses and gambling bells y
are the machine shops that manufacture
aud turn out upon the community the
" finished article" for which the Tipping
| houses furnish the raw material. De-
| void OF principle, devoid OF conscience,
devoid OF all the nObler feelings that con-
| stitute the man; ruined in fortune, ru-
| ined in character, no act is too dishonor
| Able, 10 Crime too hideOus for their cor
Fupt, depTaVed morals. To nbaWdy
houses" and gambling bells y may b.
traced and is traced nIne-tenths of all
| the crimes that make up Our criminal
records all over the land. Ths law. max
~ EfSHCA Vi OAA OeesNC las WlHclI UEO
! vided that these cesspOols Of iniquitv
which send forth their corrupt spawn a.
multitudinous as The frogs tina. infested
Egypt, shall not exist; but that they do
exist, and have extsted, aud that, too, by
consent Of those whose sworn duty it is TO
destroy them, is fact too well substau-
tisted 10 be denied.
Il has also become universally con-
ceGed thst In Memphis a man NAV
COLO Unit the most fOll murder and fla
grant felony known to the laws, and vet
go unpublished if he but possess 8 suffi I
cient mOnied influence. Who has not
heard 1t said that with ten thousand dol !
lars the most stroeiOus, wilful, premedi- 1
tsted murder may be committed, and /
the perpetrator go unpublished ? AS men /
are deferred from the commission O! (
crime, more by the knowledge of a sure /
and speedy punishment under the laws, /
than by their religious belief in punish .
ment hereafter, IL has been found 4
necessary, in all countries, to visit upon .
the offender extreme penalties, even to .
the forfeiture of life, rs a warning to .
others who would in like manner offend, /
Take the history Of Shelby county for /
thirty years, in which, and during 1
which time, we are safe In saying hun
dreCs of murders have been committed,
and who ever heard of a hSif-dOzen ext
BUTTONS, save by the military 2 To what
is this attributed Surely no one will
pretend that the seyerest penalties Of the
law mas not been Oftener merited !? Or,
that society would not have derived q
benefit had il been Inflicted ? Is it to
the corruption Of courts or is it the
latitudinRrian construction that the laws
admit off,
This grand jury Is Of the opinion that
little old time law y would work hem
eft to this community. The deplorable
condition of things at present demands
that less time of this court be consumed
ia frivolous discussions of technicaiities
OF law. A little less law, and more JUS
tics, is what We stand in need of now,
We are aware that these remarks are IN
palataOle to those who may fancy an al
fusion to themselves, but that we have
more courts, more lawyers, more law
and less Justice than any city Of our size,
no one will deny.
While the law has wisely provided that
no one shsIl be lightly deprived Of his
liberty or life, 1t hes, With equal wisdom,
provided, that he who would contemplate
the commission of q crime, shall be de-
TERED thsrefrom by the knowledge of
sure and speedy punishment. And the
IMMUNITY with which men are being shot
down upon our Strt cts, calls loudly upon
this court and its juries to infiict the Sc
verest penalties OF the laws, that by this
means, possibly, mems lives may be re- I
leased from a state OF constant jeopardy,
and the moral ear of the community be {
not so often shocked by detailed accounts
of mt iercus deeds by bloody assassins.
As 10 war, society becomes democrat !
ICED, and crime increases fROaa the neces-
sary suspension Of the practical opera ,
lions Of courts OF justice so In peace, I
society Tegains its wonLed tone and
maximum of morals, and crime dimin- |
ishes Ii proportion to the wisdom OF the
lsW-making powers 10 Lnake efficient /
and wholesome laws, and the compe- I
tency Of the court 70 vlndieate the I
seme.
This court began the present term with I
more than three hundred and sixty in
iictments for felonies Of different grades. (
While there are few cases that may be /
disposed OF in one day, there are many [
that will require from ave to ten DAYS, {
we are Of opinion that the lowest posi- 8
bic average will require three days to !
each cause thus 1t will readily appear
that more than three years will be con- 6
sumed in dispcsing of the docket as il I
SbOOo a. LIE EOEl IgSucem6nbO OF L0l5 term; I
while otfsnses are multiplying daily, III
additional indictments having already /
been returned by this grand Jury.
With q jail full 10 overlooking, and Z
new offenders daily appearing; that the |
Innocent may have 8 speedy acuuittal, [
and the guilty an early conviction, 1t Is
early demanded OF this court that It I
economize In time, that It may {
be furnished with all the appliances nee
essAry 10 facilitate its business and that /
IN the midst Of great political tumults I
and CONFUSION, It bear itself above all
party and party nfuences-guarding |
Iealously tbs judicial "ermine, % that its '
dignity be not prostitHted 10 serve the =
base purposes of political demagogues. ]
II there ever was time in the history
OF Shelby county that called for imme- e
diats and decisive action, 1t Is now. Upon
the moral status Of our society depends ,
the future prosperity of our city. Let '
criminals know that Memphis is not a I
safe harbor, that the lswe must and will
be enforced and prove this by practi- /
eel vindtestior, and our word for u, that
y fey asp'h' the PpAns morals VII