The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-03-09
DISTRICT counr.
EnipanneIing OF she brand Jnry-fhs
Able Charge Of Judge Aidridse--
Tie BeiI-Puneh and sunday
Laws, Gnming, Etc,

The Grand jury, composed Of the follow
Ing gentlemen, were empanneled and swornl
@. A. Alexander, w. NJ, G. Hill, lioFaIio
Leonard, Samuel Uhl, George W, Owens, IL
G.. Penn, John McComas, d, s, Carver A.
w, Caster, Il, G., Adkins, j. u, franklin,
John Chenault
Judge Aldrdges charge TO tho Grand
jury We give be Ow It was listened 10 with
marked attention by the bar as well asby the
Grand Jury and many enoomiums we're utter
cd by the former ut ils conclusion That II
is Couched IN clear, vigorous, torse language
Is apparent on " face, II Is thorough and
exhaustive, covering tho entire penal code In
the scope and showing 10 the members oilho
Jury the urgency and Importance Of their be-
ing yglant, prompt and active 10 the assist
anoe they are called upon 10 render the co lrt
and the officers Of the law In the suppression
Of crime. Judge Aldrldgo, since he hash n
on the bench, has made for himself most
enyiable reputation both asa jurist learned
IN the laws lore, aud rs IN impartial, patient,
industrguA Judge. He most justly ranks
with the best on the District bench In the
State, and his rulings upon the law invariably
when they come under tho supervision Of
the higher courts, meet with respectful con-
sideralon.
In his charge, Judge AldrIdge first alluded
10 popular prejudice against the Grand jury
system, maintaining that "the system, II faith
fully executed, was not subject 10 the objec-
tions urged against Il. The institution OF the
Grand Jury was over thousand years old.
Was wreslcd By the people through blood
and toll from the Crown Of England and was
erected by them us "A bulwark against the per-
secutonS OF the kingly power. II was long
stride towards civil liberty when those de.
vout Anglo-Saxous declared that no man
should DO called upon by the Government to
answer an infamous charge-one whose pen
atty involved the deprivation Of life or liberty
OF person, unless an indictment had first been
presented by a Grand jury drawn from the
body Of the people. II should be The pro-
TO ton Of the weak and innocent against per-
secution by the strong and vicious. It's errors
are ever patent. If bill Is presented
against an innocent man aud nole prosequi
Is intended all know it, but how many nno-
cent men are protected by 1t, and how it has
oflimes been shield TO turn away the wrath,
envy and malice Of evil and interruptions
neighbori, no one ever knows.
The law requires Grand jurors to diligent-
ly enquire into and true presentment make
of crime. They are not 10 indict upon mere
suspicion but must be satisfied TO reasonable
certainty that party Is guilty before they
are authorized to find bill. The best Grand
jury ia not the one which finds the greatest
number of bills, but the one whose bills are
most successful upon the final trial.
The Grand jury occupies double attitude,
one to TIE State to see that crime Of every
description is ferreted out and br ught.to jus
tice, and the ether to the citizen TO see that
the fair escutcheon OF his name is not tarnish-
cd nor the burdens Of defending course
thrown upon him unless he has committed II
crime.
You are required TO keep secret the pro-
ceedings Of the Grand jury room. To ali the
world your lips are eifectually sealed as If
you were dead, unless you are brought into
court to testify to those proceedings, This
you would do under the direction of the
court The object of this provision is two
fold. First, 1t protects you. The law in
tends that the responsibility OF the prosecu.
ton of an indictment shall rest equally upon
the shoulder of twelve men. If criminals
upon the outside could know how you voted
and conversed in your room, then he who
had served the State most fearlessly and faith
fully would be hegreatest sufferer by reason
of the vengence of vicious and desperate
characters. Secondly, 1t secures the arrest
of the parties indicted; and, thirdly, it protects
the witnesses who come before your body.
You are also required to present persons with
out fear or favor, affection or hope of reward
in other words to present them impartially.
When you enter the Grand jury room YOU
become the representatives OF calm, dspas-
sionate intelligence. Your friendship and
your enmities are all left at the door of that
room, and you know all men simply as cti-
zens of the State of Texas, amenable to the
criminal laws of the State"
The Judge then called the attention of the
jury TO the various classes of crimes prevalent
in the county.
In abiding to tho bell-punch and Sunday
laws he stated shat il was not within the
province Of the Grand jury TO inquire whether
these losses were expedient or not. The de.
termination of that question was lodged with
the Legislative department of the Gov
eminent, and so long as they remain
the law of the land they must be faithfully
executed" He hoped that they would leave
no stone unturned to bring all violators OF
these laws to justice. The State could not
tolerate the infraction of any of her criminal
statutes, for by so doing public confidence is
destroyed and the whole system of criminal
jurisprudence undermined.
In reference to the gaming houses, he stated
that "these dens of iniquity. were daily So
ducing TO their boards the noble and gener-
GUS youth of the land. Good men, who
would otherwise grow TO be ornaments of So
ciety and the support of prosperous and
happy families, were not only wrecking their
own lives at these haunts of vice, but were
bringing shame, disgrace and poverty upon
the heads of those whom blood and marriage
bonds had bound to them. These places
should engage special attention Of your
body, and you should leave nothing undone
which would serve to eradicate them"
The civil docket was called and number of
cases set for jury trial. Owing to the burn
ing of the court-house,;in which anumber OF
papers we're destroyed, and the confusion
caused in the pleadngs, the docket will not
be as large as it would have been.
The Grand jury is composed Of men
the first in the county.