Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-05-30

together in the western part of the county
for the purpose of driving settler from his
land. This, under certain circumstances,
may be an offense for any unlawful COM
bination of two or more persons to injure
person or his property, de-, or to
do an unlawful act for the inn
poverishment of another, although nothing
be done in prosecution of it to complete the
offense. For the good name of cur county,
hope it is untrue, but, nevertheless, mat
tiers of this character must not pass un-
noticed.
Another matter that question may pos
sibly arise before you on the course of your
Investigations, all1de to the crime of per-
jury. practice at the bar for nearly %
years has daily convinced how lightly the
solemnities of an oath sit on the conscien-
ces of witnesses in many cases; in fact, SO
prevalent is it that if the great Jewish king
were to listen to an ordinary trial, his wrath
| would never subside. The practice is slow
ly but sarely undermining all confidence in
the result of trials, and the in
| tegrity of judicial decision, as
founded on false testimony. The statute de-
fines, ETC., Statute ready.
THE INSANE ASYLUM.
am come to very delicate, yet serious
portion of my charge, and one that would
| willingly omit, and one in which you, gentle
men, are to act very prominent part:
Recent events transporting in your juris-
| diction connected with charges against the
officers or attendants of the hospital for the
| insane have attracted the attention of the
press and people of this State, and excited
| feeling throughout the community as to the
| truth or falsity of such charges, to the high
est pitch. Your action in The premises is
| watched with strong feelings of interest, not
only by the people OF large, but by the per-
sons charged, and by the friends of the un-
| fortunate insane in the ward and under the
| control and power of the persons accused.
So grave and important are the charges and
accusations conceded to be to that the Leg
| islature in its wisdom deemed it to be to the
welfare of the State that they should be in
vestigated by a committee of one of it's
| Houses, with which, however, you have
nothing to do.
| Charges of the gravest nature-not less
| than the deliberate murder of one, at least,
of the unfortunate wards of the State have
been publicly made and subscribed to by re-
sponsible parties signing their names there
to, and published broadcast over the length
and breadth of the land. You will not suffer
such charge to be passed over lightly or
ignored in the interest of any person in
your midst by making trivial matter of it.
The law proposes to know no man. or set of
men, however much they may have deter
mined to stife inquiry, nor does it stop to
inquire the cost of an investigation of crime,
charged with circumstances of horrid bar
barity and criminal recklessness of the life
| of miserable. demented. human fellow
being.
Isay to you, gentlemen of the grand jury,
you must investigate these charges that the
responsibility rest not upon the court for a
failure to perform duty the people of the
State demand of us. The accused are EMIT
| led to it. We must commit no error here,
OF it must rest where it belongs. That no
charge of crime of the magnitude of this go
uninyestigated.
Thatno guilty man escape or acts of crime
CLOSED over. The law must nay, with your
assistance. it shall be rigidly enforced; retri-
button melted out to all violators, and the
rights of the citizen protected. You are the
ministers of this court in criminal accusa-
tions; it is powerless without your active,
diligent cooperation. It is for you to de-
termine, in measure, whether the guilty be
punished, and also as well to see that no in
| nocent person suffer under the damning
temptation of crime, maliciously charged
without cause. From my chsr. 90 to you, you
cannot be misled. The law in one respect or
other has been violated within your jurisdic-
tod. The grossest of crimes committed,
dishonoring our State in the eyes of the civ
illzed world, or one Of the most outrageous
calumnies circulated to the injury of limo
cent individuals that wicked and corrupt
men could invent.
The law lays it down that the killing of q
human being without authority of law is
either murder, nla1lslaughter, or excusable
OF justifable homicide, according to the
facts or circumstances of the case.
First-Nurder, when death ensues from
the premeditated design to effect the death
of any human being.
III the second degree when perpetrated by
an act dangerous to the person and evincing a
depraved mind, regardless of life, although
without any design to effect death.
There are many ways for the destruction
of life. It is not the way, but the result O.
means used. If man deliberately do
thing calculated to endanger the life of an.
other, and death results, he is guilty of HON
icide.
When physical force is used to compel
party to do an act, whether it be from per
sonal malice to the deceased, or from bruta
maignity of conduct, such as carries with il
the plain indications of heart regardless O.
social duty, and fatally bent on mischief re
sulting in death, it is murder.
If man do an act which is the primary
or proximate cause of another's death, he il
guilty of homicide and it is no extenuatior
whatever to plead the person was dying, no
even in ertreneis. 10 illustrate:
If tho deceased was suffering from a
disease of which he is likely or certain t
shortly die; yet if his death be accelerated
by hurt received from another, it is al
much an unlawful killing as if the party wa
in perfect health and his death caused by til,
hurt alone.
Again, if man be sick of disease which
by the course of nature might possibly enc
his life in half year, and another Civ,
him hurt which fastened hi
death by irritating and promoting
the disease to operate more violently O
speedily,it is an unlawful killing accordin,
to the circumstances under which the hur
was given.
No matter how feeble the condition of thu
diseased may have been, however short his
thread of life. the law will not permit the
use OF any means to abridge it unlawfully
Ihsgd-Omitting the statutory defnitiop
Of the three first degrees, every killing of
human being by the act, procurement O.
, culpable negligence of another where sucl
killing is not excusable or justifable, or il
not murder OF manslaughter of some othe
J degree, is manslaghter in the fourth
} degree, to relieve party from the charge o
murder, the act must not be one eminentl,
, dangerous to life, and there must be no evi
dence of a mind deprayed, regardless O
human life to reduce the grade of man
slaughter.