New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-02-09
THE GRAND JURY.

The superfiuous appendage to our Grim
inal Court has recently suffered in the
public estimation to such an extent as to
almost demand its retirement. Some OF
the States of the Union have, we learn,
abolished them altogether as useless. And
if the reason assigned can have any weight
here, the same action will speedily follow.
About six. months ago We called attention
to the fact that the report of the grand
jury of that term was made up Of one part
relative to their duties, and nine parts of
stump speech on all manner Of subjects,
with none Of which the jury had any pos
sible concern. The cause of this neglect
of proper duties, and interference with
business foreign to the purpose Of the
panel, is that there is general political
epidemic now raging here. Carpenters,
blacksmiths, hatters, tailors, linen diapers
and grocers have to a great extent laid
down their tools of trade and turned pol
iticians and statesmen. Trade and COM
merce must suffer and droop, that patriot
ism may thrive.
The late grand jury was getting along
fairly enough, but unluckily for their con-
tinuance, they departed from the modern
custom, and failed to bring in the expected
stump speech, and were dismissed in dis
grace, and men more in accordance with
the spirit of the time selected. 1t is true,
there has been an interruption in the work
Of presenting indictments against offend
ers. The morning papers for the past
twenty days have contained reports of
numerous transactions requiring the atten-
ton of the grand jury, but only one case
that we have heard of has been presented
to the notice of Judge Abel, and that was
the matter Of the accusation against Lieu
tenant Governor Pinchback of having a
hand in the assault on Chester, on the
night of the first of January. At the same
time, too, Canonge was under bonds to
appear before the Criminal Court and Mr.
Pinchback had been arrested and bonded
over by United States Commissioner for
the same offense. This looks like over
doing one side and leaving the other un-
done. Let us refer the present grand jury
to the law defining its duties. And in do
ing SO we will premise the quototion with
the assurance that the section is unre-
pealed. We regard this as necessary, be-
cause the jury does not seem to have
very clear idea of what is law and what is
not. We quote from the Revised Statutes:
Section 2l4O.-Any grand juror, at any
term OF court, when grand jury is I'M |
paneled, who shall fail to inform the grand |
jury of any violation of the criminal laws |
OF this State, or of any crime committed in |
the parish for which he is impaneled as a |
grand juror, since the sitting of the last |
preceding grand jury in that parish, which |
may have come to his personal knowledge, |
or OF which he may have been informed, |
upon due conviction thereof, shall, If it be |
an Otfense not punishable in the Peniten- |
tiary of which he has not given informa-
ton, be fined in a sum of not less than fifty
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars: |
and if it be an offense which may be pm
ished by death or imprisonment in the Pen-
Tertiary, he shall be punished by imprison-
ment III the Penltentary, at hard labor. for
not less than one nor more than five pears.
We commend the careful attention of
the grand jury to this section, and ask
them if they have discharged their duties
under it. Are there no cases unpresented
to the court that require their action?