St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-10-22
DISTRICT COURT.
The Opening Yesterday Morning
Large Attendance of Attor-
neys and Others.
The Largest Calendar on Record Called and
Cases Set fer Trial.

The district court room presented an ami
mated appearance yesterday morning, at
least two hundred attorneys were present,
and the distribution of copies of the calen-
dar took place as sort OF preliminary -four
ish of trumpets. Court opened promptly at
10 O'Clock with Judges Young, Lochren ane
Koon on the bench.
Eighteen of the twenty-three grand jurors
were on hand. Samuel Colburn was repre-
scented as dead, 7. D. Styles and B. S. Bull
as excused, Joel B. Bassett, w. B.
Henry as absent. A special
order was issued for the appearance of the
last two jurors, and Judge Lochren dismissed
the jury until o'clock.
The calling of the calendar was next taken
up, and occupied the attention of the court
until O'Clock The calendar is the longest
on record, containing LOIS cases. or these
211 were set for court trial, and 273 for jury
trial. The other cases were either continued,
settled, or ordered stricken from the calen-
dar.
IN THE AFTERNOON.
At 2 o'clock the grand jury reassembled.
l.
having been filed by Uriah
Wilson and E. Davenport, twenty-one
answered to their names. Anthony Kelly
was made foreman; Deputy Sheriff L. c.
Shepley as bailiff.
The charge to the grand jury was then
made by Judge Lochren, who said:
The necessity for arranging on the first
day of the term the large amount of business
time for any instructions relative to your
duty as grand jurors, even II such were de-
sirable. Nevertheless these duties are i'm
portant. The fact that mankind is so con-
stituted that there are always many whose
conduct is not regulated by respect either for
the law or for the rights of others, and who
are only held in check by punishment or the
fear of it renders necessary the frequent as
sembling of grand juries to ascertain what
persons have violated the criminal law, and
by accusation set in motion the machinery
for their trial and punishment, if found nee
essary. Criminal prosecution in this state
can only be maintained upon accusations Dy
grand juries, and it is well that this is so, as
it renders unjust and malicious prosecutions
of citizens practically impossible, and al
though il has been the fashion of certain the
orists TO disparage the usefulness of juries,
and grand juries, it is certain
that they, of all our institutions,
afford the best securities to the liberties of
the people, and further, that they most
strongly tend to preserve the confidence of
the people in and their respect for the adj
ministratipn of the law in courts of justice,
coming as they do at every term by selec
tons from the body of the people to participate
directly in the administration of justice in
civil and criminal cases. Then they not
only observe how justice is administered but
they take part in its administration. 1t is
safer for people, and an intelligent people
rapidly understands this, when they can
keep not only the law-mskng power but the
power of administering the laws and apply
ing them to individual cares measurably in
their own hands, participating therein di-
rectly SO far as it is practicable. So long as
juries and grand jures faithfully and con-
scientiously perform the duties devolving
upon them no substitute will be sought for,
none can be found upon the whole so well
adopted to the discharge of such duties. and
it may be safely said that whenever juries
and grand iuries habitually fail to discharge
! their duties faithfully, the people from whom
they are selected and whom they there
fore fairly represent are lacking n
that intelligence and virtue which is essen
tial to make a people fit for self government.
As the criminal laws are enactive to preserve
order, repress violence and protect the per-
sonal property and rights Of citizens, the
whole community have q vital interest in
their rigid enforcement, and as no person
can be put upon trial for any serious infrac-
ton of those laws except on an indictment
by grand jury, the importance Of your du-
ties is apparent. Law, il allowed to be vio-
lated with impunity, ceases to protect and
ceases TO be respected; confidence in its
power to protect and punish is lost. As a
consequence, criminals are emboldened and
crime increases and the instinct Of self-pres-
eryation causes them to be met by the vio-
lence OF mobs and by private vengeance.
With shame ii must be admitted that
this state of things exists in this coun-
try to an extent that renders
our civilization reproach among the en-
lightened nations of the earth. Our news
papers contain almost daily accounts of
lynching aud private veugeance-the out
growth Of lack of confidence in the admin
istration of the laws which has certainly no
parallel in that country from which our laws
and our institutions are in the main copied;
but when juries and grand juries so seldom
fail to vindicate the law to its fullest extent
that its power to protect and punish is suffi-
GENTLY relied upon that the law may be re-
spected and feared, relied upon by the peace
full and terror to evil doers, it is necessary
that the grand juries perform their duties
fully, fearlessly and without favor, sitting
the evidence in every case carefully so as to
svoid the Indictment of innocent persons
yn untruthful testimony, bat allowing 10
really guilty person against whom satisfae-
tory evidence is found to escape being called
to account.
Your duties and the mode of your proceed
ure are set forth in those portions OF the stat
utes which am required to read to you, and
TO which I now call your attention.
The judge then read extracts from the stat
uteS defining the duties of grand Jurors. He
alluded to the different degrees OF murder,
10 the sale OF intoxicating liquors 10 minors,
to the offepses of gambling and keeping
houses Of ili-fame and the dire effects Of the
latter upon a community, saving that no
grand jury does its duty unless it attempts
TO rid the community Of these pests
After the grand jury had retired the setting
Of eases was begun aud was continued 10
O'Clock before the work WAS concluded
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