Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-12-13
EVILS no BE SUPPRESSED.
FOrcibIe Charge of Hon. Henry B.
TOmpkins.


In the Superior Court yesterday morning,
after the grand jury had been empaneled
and sworn, Judge Tompkins delivered
lengthy and forcible charge. which had not
only the careful attention Of the jury, but
of the numerous spectators that crowded
the court room. After making the usual
charges upon the subjects required by law,
the Judge proceeded to comment at length
upon two great evils OF the present day
the practice of carrying concealed weapons
and the violation of the laws in regard to
the keeping open of tipplihg shops on Sun
day-and charged the grsndjury upon their
duty in regard to these matters in the fol-
lowing forcible manner;
l wish also to charge you about the carry
ing of concealed weapons. celebrated
Greek historian has said "thst the carrying
of concealed weapons Is always an evidence
Of bsrbarism" Besides this, it weakens
the courage of man TO depend upon such
means for his defense. A man who is or
has been in the habit of carrying
a pistol or a knife as q means Of defense or
protection, when he Is without them be-
comes timid. But II l should talk until
sunset could not convince you more forci
bly than you know yourselves of the i'm
propriety of such conduct, and you should
do all 10 your power to put an end to 1t.
can promise you, for the court and for the
Solicitor General, that we will carry out to
the best of our power whatever the grand
Jury may inaugurate in the direction OF the
suppression of this practice; and il we can
once get public sentiment aroused against
It, or convict and punish few addicted to
the habit, it will at least do something to-
ward putting stop to it.
Again, wish also to call your attention
to the law against gambling and gambling
houses. There is law against these prac-
iices, which law some people may conceive to
be wrong, but that is not for US to say. We
are here to execute the law whatever It may
be. The law says there shall be no keno or
gambling saloons. Cannot such Institutions
be put down This has been attempted In
other cities in Georgia, and If not stopped
entirely, It has been largely restricted and
the evil mitigated to a very great extent.
Besides the manifest wrong Of any person
Being allowed to derive his support from
the misfortuues and misery OF others-as
those who gain livelihood from the bust
ness of gaming always do-the drunkenness,
the quarreling, the fighting and general
debauchery OF youth which results from
these gambling bells are reasons persuasive
and potent why they should be effectually
closed up.
It does seem to me that the grand jury,
in the exercise Of their large powers, should
at least take it upon themselves to protect
the Young men who frequent these places,
even IL they do not think 1t necessary to
punish the older men who patrOnize them,
and those who own and run such establish
ments..
beg now to call your attention to that
which l tbink the greatest evil Of them
al!-.he keeping open of tipping houses or
barrooms on Sunday. The law, under
section 1885 OF the Code, expressly pro-
hibits this. Lately an eminent divine Of
this city stated to me that If the better class
OF our people could know the amount OF
misery and suffering that is Inflicted upon
helpless and innocent women and children
by fathers and husbands who waste their
earnings in liquor shops on Saturday nights
and Sundays it could but cause radical
reform. This gentleman said that the keep
ing open of hotel bsrs and some Of the bars
of a more decent kind, however
reprehensible, was comparatively small
abuse. But that the bars OF a
lower kind, hid away in by streets and alleys
! and on the outskirts Of the city, where
working men aud negroes go on Saturday
nights and SUNDAYS and spend all
| their money were the greatest curses.
| These are the ones that cause
misery. He knew of several cases where
| respectable, hard-working laboring men,
not meaning TO get drunk, would be enticed
there for companionship and get to drink
| iug, spend all their wages, get drunk and
get into difficulties. I think the rea-
sons for closing these barrooms are
very obvious, when we reflect that
working men go into these places
when not employed, and more for the com
partnership they find there than with evil
| design, and yet get to drinking, and so in
| fict outrage upon their families and often
commit some crime. By the rigid enforce
ment of the law such places ve been
closed on Sundays at Macon, AuG Sta and
Atlanta. Why cannot we do the s. here ?
/ Are we more lax In our morals than he resi-
dents Of other cities, or are we less mindful
| Of the duties imposed by the laws2
And in taking these matters in hand, gen
| tlemen, YOU cannot but feel that you are not
| only enforcing the law which you are sworn
| to do, but are doing yourselves and the
people a good which shall be far-reaching
and lasting. Another very strong reason
/ why this matter should receive our special
| attention is that we are in town, fortunate
| ly or unfortunately, where we have a great
many more colored people in proportion to
population than any other cityin this State,
| and it is our duty to protect everybody who
1
| These cOlored people ought not to be
allowed to spend their money in this way
\ at low drinking SALOONS on Sunday, even II
1 they want to do so and can be trusted to do
so quietly. Why is it there is
| always so much more crime committed
between Saturday night and Monday morn
| ing than at any other period Of the week,
except it be because the proprietors
| of these low shops are permitted
to sell intoxicating drinks at the
very times Of the week when the law says
they shall not keep open. This county Is put
to thousands and thousands Of dollars ex-
| Dense Just because few men want to make
money at time when their licenses do not
allow them TO keep open and sell liquor,
| and I have heard that some of these very
| liquor dealers would be glad to have the
law enforced, because they would get the
rest that closing on Sunday would afford
them. But, they give as an excuse that they
cannot close up because somebody else in
| the same business keeps open. Even II you
cannot effect a complete revolution In this
matter, you can at least cause this Sunday
tipping to be carried on with much more
secresy and order than it is, and thus keep
a great many from going where they know
| the seller is liable to be arrested.
Among your other duties as grand jurors
you are to look after the public buildings of
| the county. / believe that for several years
the grand juries have reported the court
house and also the jail as inadequate to
the wants of the county and the
purposes for which they are used.
l do not know that these reports
have as yet done any good, but there is no
harm in repeating them. You may after
a while get public sentiment interested, and
thus do something. There is not a city or
town in the State with over two thousand
inhabitants but has for their purposes bet
| ter arranged court house than we have.
Both the court house and the jail are really
disgrace to this community.