The weekly Arizona miner., 1872-01-27
THE GRAND JURY'S DEFENSE.
Reply to the Card" of The Board of Supervisors, in the Miner of January 9th, 1872.

[ 9th, 1872
 The undersigned members of the Grand Jury, of Yavapai county, at the October term ot the District Court, feeling that the Card " published by the Board of Supervisors of Yavapai county, docs us, as body, gross injustice, make tue TOT lowing statement of facts, which any citizen ol the county can easily ascertain to be correct who will trouble himself enough to enquire, or who will examine the premises:
 The Supervisors of Yavapai county published in the ARIZONA MINER of 9th card accusing the Grand Jury of presumption and want Of sense of justice, in reporting the Board guilty of neg iect oi duty resulting in cruelty and nhumanity. II tue Grand Jurors in the discharge of their sworn duties were guilty of presumption in re- porting on sworn evidence and in accordance with the facts brought under their own obscrva- tion, they are excelIed in that line by the gentle men composing the Board of Supervisors who evidently consider the Board supreme, and its acts above all question.
 l Certainly full panel of Grand Jurors ought to discharge their duties without presumption as well as three Supervisors.
 l The same evidence" so sarcas,ically alluded to in the card, appeared to us to be full and plcte, and of a nature could not overlook, and we then believed and arc now certain that the said evidence established the facts reported. We did not understand that the Grand Jury was sit ting as court, but only as body before whom complaints might be made concerning alleged crimes, nusances or abuses affecting the public. As to the nature and amount of evidence rcQuir ed to establish facts in connection with such com plaints, the Jurors are supposed to be competent | to determine.
 | It is well known that the evidence laid before grand jury must not be made public.
 The Supervisors state under their official oath that there has been no application made for blankets that has not been complied with and that there has been representation of suffering of prisoners caused by the want of bedding | otherwise, that has not been promptly provided for
 Such a statement is a shallow, vain attempt 10 cvadc the question and the points at issue.
 Perhaps no formal application for bedding was made to the Board of Supervisors at a regular meeting of the Board but the members of the Board cannot deny that the officers having charge of the jail made application to individual mcm- bers of the Board for bedding and clothing in order to prevent suffering, which was sure to o. cur at any time when a prisoner should be placed in the jail, even for a single night; nor can they deny that such applications were refused, and the officers informed that persons arrested were cx- pectcd to furnish their own bedding; nor can they deny that persons confined in the jail, for weeks, on suspicion of crime, have been forced to do so; nor can they have forgotten that the tl,.,r q purchase the articles asked for the bills for the same would be rejected by the Board.
 Our inspection of the jail showed the fact. tl;St for the four cells, the only bedding provided bS the county consisted oi one mattress and two blankets. at the same ,lme two prisoners were in confinement. This state ot affairs seemed to us disgrace to the county and to demand a remedy ; and seeking for cause VIC found it as shown in our report. We believed that the county Super vsors should at all times have the cells in the county jail so provided with bedding as to pro- tcct prisoners from actual sutiering--from cold, moro especially, as there is arrangements made for heating the cells.
 It is well known fact that the officer in charge of the jail has divided his own bedding with prisoners arrested and lodged in jail for singlc.night, for disorderly conduct while under the influence of liquor, and yet the Supervisors charge that no nhumanity should be imputed to them.
 The condition of the ja today, shows that the Board of Supervisors have completely ignor- ed the report of the Grand Jury. The rccom- mcndation that at least one cell should be so strengthened, by driving irons and spikes into the limbers that it would be secure against the cf- forts of prisoners outsiders to cut throug with saws or augcrs, as had been previously done was uuhccdcd That the necessity for such action eX- istcd was soon proven by the escape from the iail of prisoner convicted of murder, for whose return to the sheriff large reward is now offered Yet, up to this time no steps have been taken to render the jail more secure.
 If. under these circumstances, the Board Of Supervisors of Yavapai county can stand above suspicion and rcproach at home relying on their known character" to which they allude in their card we doubt not their merits will be justly appreciated by those at a distance, The fact that the Grand Jury was selected rom the citizens of the county, instead of being drawn by lot as heretofore is sufficient evidence oi the standing of its members in tue community Believing that as jurors acted honestly, in dcpendcntly and manfnlly, without fear or favor, with no other desire than to do our duty toward our fclow-citizens, to them we submit our case without further comment and without fear as to their verdict.
 G.TS s. CURTIS WM w. COMPTON A. S CLoCGu JAMES FINE