, 1872-12-10
THE GRAND JURY.
The Supreme Court Reprimanded for Re-
cent Rulings.
Why Indictments Were Mot Found Against Rail-
road Officials.

At the opening Of tho Criminal Court yes
terday morning, the report Of the Grand Jury Tor
the December term was read to Judge Rogers by
1Ir. T. ". Hall, as follows: j..
The Grand Jury having disposed Of the docket for
the December term before separating desire to say
brought before them. Doubtless it is waste Of
words and time for . Grand jury to complain to q
court Of justice Of what they hssr s and KNOW % during
needed while the administration Of the city ordinances
and State laws not enforced That such Is true is
become notorious and theme Of general CONVEX
Eaon among all classes It appears almost useless Of
ato for Grana @ 3aFy to- to na a. against
getic Sates Attorney grows hoarso in the discharge OF
lis arduo,B dudes and all perform their duties faith
fully and we'll. But still public justice fails to get its
dues Life is held cheap in Chicago, and will continue
so while chief 1aw officers suffer mere bubble Of
the Law to grant pardons and upset the verdict Of tho
jury in such grave Offences No have Witnessed this
very recently, and to minds it bodes no good to
the people, whose servants they are. assassius and
1n.,reEers % are allowed ' to 60 free or are confined
hend that sooner or later tho people will take the Law
III their OWL hands, and administer it IN their
complaint to your Honor in behalf OF the people, and
trust that our chief rulers will henceforth look oi
A melancholy case Of the death Of citizen, N. B.
Taylor recently, by being run By locomotive Of
the Illinois Central Railroad Company, before US.
This was sad occurrence caused by the care}essness
and mismanagement Of the officers Of the Company in
running their trains at speed Of Is miles IN hour
herring and were much inclined not only to ndict the
engineer and conductor Of the train, but also all the
officers Of the company who had authority. It was
proposed to inct the engineer alone but upon reaec-
he only tho servant Of the Company, carrying out
the instructions Of his masters, and should not be
punished for their acts We wiah most sincerely that
against the President and superinteadonts Of tint
Company for ! making sueh rules and regulations IN
H0r MN mt ri$t H..
nances regulating the speed Of locomotives HIVE
not the Mayor and Chief Of Police the power to pro-
to enforce the execution Of the ctys laws? Are not
the Offices OF Mayor and Chief Of Police created to
that tho laws are enforced, not violated7
We respectfully make this complaint alao and hopo
city oflcia1s will find time to compel this power
ful corporation to obey the laws.
We further recommend that the Justices Of the
Peace and the Judges of the C2ura who take bail IN
criminal cases, exercise extreme in taking bail
and accept only good and responsible partes 50 that
the defauted bail may bo collected. Respectfully,
T. ". HALL, Foreman.
When the foreman had finished the reading Of
thoraport, Judge Rogers took occasion to protest
against the allusions to the chief law officers,
by which, ho said, it was evident that the su-
preme Court WAS meant. Ho disapproVed both
Of the language and the spirit of tile report, SO
far as it related to this matter, and also to that
portion referring, by implication, to
Vigilance committees: He proceeded
to say, in effect, that Cook County was blessed
H1IA d. oPAt6AI,- IaEaHAo 4A1A|ta1Js HA1tAA
administered tho laws Us they found them, and
the state of things complained Of was the fault,
not Of the Courts, but Of the lnwH. The State
Of illinois could boast Of 8 Supreme Bench Of
eminent ability, and whose Judges were fearless
and conscientious enough to perform their du-
ties and administer the laws without being af-
fected by popular clamor, and it i'll becam 0
Grand Jury to. reflect upon SO eminent
and distinguished d Judicial body still less to
encourage vigilance committees, which ware lit
tic better than nurderers themselves, as, With
out due process Of Law, they we're as apt to hang
the innocent as the guilty. Judge Rogers pro-
ceeded at some length in the same vein admin
istering what was evidently intended as severe
robuke to the Grand Jury, the foreman of which
seemed much taken aback by the unexpected
treatment Of tho report. After having boon
thanked By the Judge for the manner in which
they had discharged their duties, the Grand Jury