The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1872-01-06
PALMER AND REED.
SHARP PERSONALITIES.
PALMER AHEAD.


furnished it, / have been so pressed with
business in the prosecution of criminals,
that have not had time to write you till
now.
received your letter dated Nov. Goth
which was not mailed till the 22d or 23d
ultimo. In it you complain that did not
correct Judge Williams when he charged
the grand jury. On the next day after /
received it, / wrote and mailed you re-
ply, explaining the whole matter. / did
not keep copy of the letter, but / well
remember the substance thereof. i
stated in it that the time Judge
Williams was delivering the charge
my attention was diverted by u
person who wished to speak to me about
case to be presented to the grand jury, and
that did not hear that part of the charge
Of which you complain and that when |
read the charge in tho papers, saw that
the Judge must have misunderstood me,
and that spoke to him about it nd that
if you had been wrongcd by the &c. If
mine whether of omission or commission),
| sincerely regretted it. As heard moth
ing from you, supposed you was satis-
fled with my explanation, till / saw the
correspondence. in question published as
above. But it seems you were not salts
Il L
or say TO satisfy you, But with all due re-
spcct, / submit that there is no real or
substantial difference between Judge Will
liams charge and what told him.
told him that l had seen statements in
the newspapers that you had written me
your letter of the 30th of October, before
| received it. The newspaper paragraphs
gave the substance of that letter. viii
you not agree with me that the giving Of
Tie substance of the letter is equivalent to
giving your letter in full? / know Judge
Williams had no intention of doing you
any wrong, for he is gentleman of I'M
improbable integrity, and has q kind
heart, and would not, under any circum-
stances, knowingly wrong any one, high or
low, rich or poor.
After / received your letter of October
30th, j wrote to you that the case in re-
lation to the unfortunate killing of Col.
Grosvenor should be fully, thoroughly,
and impartially presented to the grand
jury, and that would prosecute to the best
of my ability any and all persons who
might be indicted. / also suggested to
you that / did not think had any right
to advise the grand jury upon the effect
Of the evidence in any case. am still of
that opinion, and am fully sustained by
the laws, in quotation hereafter given.
That letter you did not see fit to commune
cate TO the general assembly in your mes
sage, although you furnished your first let
ter to me. The suppression of my letter
might create the impression in the minds
OF persons who are ignorant of the facts
that il was the desire of the officers of the
law here to suppress a full investigation
Of the case. The grand jury was composed
of the best citizens of this county-men
who are the peers Of any in this state
and they gave the case q careful, candid
and full investigation, and found no bill
against any of the parties accused. For
| their action / am not responsible and if
the result does not please you, know Of
no way to remedy it.
! beg lo"vo to refer you upon the ques-
ticn of the duty of states attorney in a
grand jury room to vol. |, section i95. of
marion criminal Laws sixth edition
! But 1t is his dutyiduring the discussion
| OF the question to remain perio .tly silent
unless his advice or opinion in matter Of
law is requested. The least attempt to in.
fuence the grand jury in their decision M
on the effect of the evidence, is an uniusti-
liable interference and no fair and honor
able officer will ever be guilty of it, 1t is
very common, however, for some one of
the grand jury to request the opinion of
the public prosecutor rs to the proprietv
of finding bill. But it is his duty to de-
| cine giving 1t, or even an intimaton on
the subject, but in all cases to leave the
grand jury to decide independently for
themselves
hope you will not withhold this letter
from the public. Respectfully yours,
CHARLES ii. REED, States Attorney.
| STATE % ILLINOIS, EXECUTIVE Dgr.Rr vFyr)
SrHNGfIELD, December %, ISL.
Charles II. Reed, Esq:
DEAR SIR; Your letter of December
10th is before me. You inform me that
1.-THE morning papers of last Saturday
| contained some of the correspondence
which has passed between you and me IN
relation to the unfortunate killing of the
late Colonel Groyenor' and that las this
correspondence came from Springfield, |
suppose you furnish it,"
The papers to which you refer were fur
nlshed by my direction to the reporters of
| the Tribune and Times but they do not re-
Ter TO what you so gently call the untortu-
nate killing Of Colonel Groyenor, but to
| question OF veracity, to which you and
Judge Williams are the only parties. You
'"y 80 '''S iN'NNI OclpIc me tHul on the
| next day after ] received it my letter of
the 2Olh), ! wrote and mailed you reply
explaining the whole matter"
received no such letter; and upon
| inquiry Of Gen. Harlan and others about
my office, he and they informed me that
| none such had been seen here You in
form me now that you stated in your last
| letter that you did not hear that part Of
the charge Of which | complain, and that
when you read the charge in the papers,
you saw that the Judge must have misun-
derstood you, and that you "spoke to him
"Dou. ~ but you do not inform me
whether you did or did not in the last let
ter assert, as you do now, that there is
no real or substantial difference between
Judge Williams charge and what (you)
told him. Your statement that the
Judge mis- understood you, and an argu.
ment coming from you to prove that he
did not, If found in the same letter, would
read so badly, that any friend of yours
might be excused for "suppressing it,
1t is quite clear TO mo from your closing
paragraph, that your purpose in writing
the letter before me was TO change or
obscure the real question, which is :
whether you or Judge Williams made
false statement? and the means YOU have
chosen and by which you hope to achieve
TINS result are insinuations directed
against Inc, and eulogies upon Judge
Williams and the grand jury. will not
press the issue of veracity, as it is entirely
between you and Judge Williams but 1
| WIZ not allow you, u states attorney,