The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-02-06
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY.
DALLAS, January %, 1877

DALLAS, January %, 1878.
To the Hon. Silas Hare, Judge OF the Grim
inal district Court of Dallas City, presiding
within and for Dallas county:
The grand jury empannelled at the
present term OF your honorable court,
ut the conclusion of their labors, re-
spectfully present this, their report, and
ask that the same he placed upon the
minutes of the court, and published Tor
the general Information OF the county.
While we understand that our inqui
ries could be- limited 10 the inreslIga-
ton OF violations of the law, we have
deemed it eXpedient to 20 further ana
| examine the condition OF the county
generally, its revenues, the resources
| from which they are derived, the man
her and prOmptness i'll collecting, the
channels through which thcy are dls
| trIuuted and the economy USED IA
! their di,tributiOn.
! The public buildings have received
! our attention, and the conduct ana et-
! ficieucy OF our officers, both couli ana
municipal, have been thoroughly ana
closely Investigated, and we must mere
express our pleasure and satisfaction at
the prosperity and general government
of the county. Our jails, city and coun-
ty, as to their condition and the cohdl-
ton of those confined therein, nave
been diligently inquired into, and we
:. commend the officers in charge for the
neat and orderly manner i'll which they
are kept, and from the prisoners we
learn only of kind and humane treat
ment. But, as has been suggested by
former grand juries, our county jail lar
from meets the requirements of the
| Dhrn., only nSp6 1OT
the confinement of prisoners, and here
from forty to fifty men, black and
white, of all ages, and for all crimes,
are huddled together from term to term
of your court. The law recognizes
distinction between offenders, reg
Iating. that distinction by the
grade of the offense, and we think this
distinction should be drawn even be-
fore conviction; yet in the Dallas
county Jail the prisoner incarcerated
for a simple assault, and the prisoner
who has been committed for murder
make down their pallets together The
jail has always been thought to have
been insecure, and with the number Of
prisoners constantly confined in 1t no "
there is no doubt of that fact. A strong
guard is required at all lines TO pre-
vent escapes, and the expense OF tins
guard, with the food, clothes, etc, fur
nished the prisoners, entails an ex
: pense upon the county OF not less tnai
I one hundred dollars per day. Whli'
this enormous expense must enlist tn'
| attention and astonish the taxpayer
of the county; as it has US, and caus'
them to cast about for means TO relieve
, themselves of this burden, we, in con
terminating our Indebtedness, can SCI
no escape from it except by the legisla
ture of the state creating the county o
Dallas district within itself
, We find from an eXamiDation OF TN
tax rolls that there is due the county
and state for the years 1871, 1872, lSH
and 1874, 10y the delinquent taXpaye"
: OF the ronnty, the sum of sixty inoH
saBd dollars, jg:it twciity-seven thuu
sand q liars O. which is due the coun
: t.. THE cnlii sicr and III ficieucy o
? fhr prarent ie, lass has rendered th
, collect OF - these tu&u cxtremei,
difficult, but ,Te aaust urge upon on
sheriff immediate activity in their col
lection, ard that he les regulaiin
the colIectinn of special taxes shoui
lie literally followed and compile
D with. We would suggest to the count
. court that when scrip is issued in pay
ment for work done on the roads, sai
scrip should express upon its face tha
v II is drawn OH the road fund, and tbs
n this rule should he strictly followed !
n all drafts on any special fund. Th
Justices Of the peace throughout IN
counfy have IL in their power to r.
D lieve the grand jury from much of IN
d work that now comes before II. a
petty cases in which they have concnl
rent jurisdiction with the district coul
v should be tried and finally disposed
= by them.
!, We have examined the conduct an
= efficiency OF our officers. and tab
D Pleasure in expressing our satisfaction
N with them. Their books aud ofiic'