, 1870-04-27

Of perjWy CT staznG him ln th6 fafe !:
no tear ot being cs11sd 10 account Tor ny IAiae
oasnh Q. ~ fs!sass9ai msous ~; sHsgs sSsT aas,.
hle excstscence upon the 1Jstem OF American ~,
tlsprudence. And. with III respect for the g isgal
Hr. :Unde voo9, must beg leave to dltler from
him tn one ui his ststenentA- ! deny th4t gsenG
{aTes, a. a cnnr1cD thing, arc nzst instrumental
c1iujnsis. They merely take the initiative, hut
acs 1t second hand on parties Already arrested.
bound over, or imprisoned for alleged offences Of
unmped-up ind malicious charges, thsy generally
tare the lead, ! freely concetie-
where q rnnn has violated tho criminal STATUTES
con eotnmitted murder ia ii, degree, the grand ja1y
dogs not In the nrst instance, discover tho crime
OF cause the arrest OF the CRIMINAL except IN rare
rested, pss ttnes ont Of l,oco by yuuE con5tsbt-
la.y, BY Jour poee hy your Justices Of the Peace,
BY the common people. The parties whom the
class of people that do not seek to escape. or do
not feel guilty Of any crime It Il the class Of peo
pie who are Gullty Of mere Eenial offences, or OF
petty Offences constructive offences thai are noSed
out ant Indicted ~ your gTeat snd estar grand Jury
inqu1stors- The grand tnrJ naT be Useful % ndct,
LA nuisance, dead e14 Or pig On the highway;
ulan1s: Who v1otste s{mp<u1ry laws, or hook acYoss
thclr neghsors fences on SUNDAY, but for presery-
Ing the RI acc oser your breaches Of criminal Law,
for nrst discovering authors OF feiontes, all expe
t!ence shows them TO be useless lumber and sur
plusage IT, the legal 1naehtnety, with can safely
knd properly he rescinded-
AZ INF colleague frOln Cupl tAr. Anthony well
SAID. "hn indictment OF . citizen, whether he tn
umIhantly prurc his innocenc' bttorc twelEe men
Of not, Is stigma fastene.! 1pon h: that viii tol
loW him to The G1aye-" We know thu, is true, all
of us- Where Is the man, among y0ut ac1ua1ns-
acce, who has been Indicted by one Of these lark
stas-chatnber tnqustlons, and aequltted afterwaEd
OF the offence charged asalns< hun. that has not
been intnreti by II:
1t Is proven, BY the experience OF two states Of
this Cntnn, that grand lurtes may he dispensed
with. nne OF Them is the Land Of Stsaay fi8ls-
tta, where they 60 a. deeply 2uii Critically 1nto
questions affecting the rights OF Citizens and the
government Of society as tn aay state In this
tellctLt StatIs In the West. Cs'.a OF these have
alnlisheh grand tuItea lnnE ngo.
Michigan has ha4i the experience OF lifetime.
without the costly enc0nosance of Il grand Jury
Eysten1, and, when tne convention caate ueW
sousa.uton conn!s q {eafs M a.. aSo "a i as "
eighteen yeaIs ea1se them 70 replace that system
In the heW constitution: II 10, hsvt not oeAfu
| ot it
CUES that the grand lury systsm Is So sa,eSuas =,
=, the assertion. A safeguard for the rignt.
! Of the Citizen! That Is not IL purpose I'M
/ tuEr-tEc pe,lf Jury + the EafeEuArd. The sE2ns
jn1 ts the dagger that strikes man In the dark
No, sir. It Ia safeguard for rights or llhcEty u
| lanit III tribuuaI, where character may II. sEoTl
| ava. IL renGtful Mtscrcants and lnn,ecnt sc!tt
zens nuEE luto dungeons with Tie stigma of Eui
inhflft'ly marked nron them, though 4 Jury u
aza tried hy huncst sunlight In the presence Of til
| accnsers LIDO hope tnat this useless cos:s,
harmful piece Of legal machinery E1ay be ellMil
ateta rum our new constitution