Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-23
GENERAL PREsENrMENT
OF the Grand Jury of Chatham Superior
Court, March Term. 1S >.

OF the Grand jury of Chatham superior
Court, March Term. 1S 3.
The grand jury desires to call the attention
of His Honor. the Judge, to the TACT that tne
recommendation heretofore made by pre-
. ceding grand iurics OF this court, Tor general
/ improvements and better government OF me
. county, in eject have been treated with con-
temut, and those whose duty II Is 70 deYlse
methods TO carry them out seemingly regard
them as foolishuess. Unless there rs some re-
. sp0uslbihty, come penalty. Tor non-compll-
aucc with these demands. why make them:
Respectable citizens, eho are thought worthy
% s.t as members of the grand inquest Of the
county. can certqinly hud more congenial
and profitable employment Tor thelr time,
I'm the court house we Gad q fair inustra-
ton of our cOmu amt. u has been continue
Ousiv pronounced inadequate ana mont for
the purposes for hich II ls used-tha demands
on rs space increasing daily have grown be-
y0nd us capacity OF accommodation.
THE JAIL.
Tie JAM. another and more brilliant illustra-
tiou. condemned by every successive grand
iurr for more than a decade, vet remains an
incubus on the cOunty's hands II Is no an
4 swer to tins unwarrauted delay of many
/ wears 10 say there are no funds provided to I'M
prove or rebuild the court house. Business
methods adopted and brought properly before
the Leg stature. would have solved this prob
lem long since. and Chatham county would
have had court house In coasonance with
/ the progress Of the times.
The jail funds have been provided. why has
( not the new Jail been buIlts Not a bricE has
boon lai1. nor even the site Of the building
been finally determined on. Have we 10 wait
another decade for these necessary improve
meut-e We recommend immediate action in
( both these matters.
The recommendation of the last grand jury
. as 20 draining the land IN the south west
urbs of the city has not been complied
I with. We rec0mufe nd immediate action here
/ for sanitary reasons.
We disapurove OF concentrating Offices Of
TFf mi
Z for reasons of ec0nomv-such as filing TWO
I offices with one person and the salary OF one
Z Of the Olhe0s-OthCrwlse we regard 1t against
/ public policy.
The budget Of contingencies submit
ted u the jury for Che year lSS5 was
/ Tor the sum Of ..-.................. S1ll. $50
/ The jury have seen proper to reduce
] inc amount ..........,-- -..-.--.-- o.i3J
Making the amount NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. $loS, 900
The Treasurer's books AID accounts were
/ examine q. and we found them Systematically
! Kept aud correct. with ha auce on hand of
4 SD 1913 A.. The other county officers Offices
were visited. and their books examined and
/ found correct.
The tally sheets. lists Of voters. and returns
/ Of the managers ana inspectors OF elections.
/ which were sworn to and approved by proper
+ authority. We're pre-en ed TO us. and, as moth
/ ing contrary was brought to our attention.
! we have no reason 20 suppose that any fraud
had been perpetrated. The papers were
| neatly prepared. and in a business like shape.
We recommend that after carefully exam
/ ming into all election pauers and registration
/ books, that the destroy NC OF the ballots IN
future he done in the presence OF the grand
! Jury a body.
The roads and bri 'ges need general repair,
/ and so reported our predecessors. but no
! work has been done on them since their re-
/ port.
we recommend their immediate and thor
/ ough repair.
! r., c,. " T,.,.,,. E-so E,,,..,,,,, l,,.a,,,y
JurY, superior Court cHQthd1a county, March
Term. 1856:
Our predecessors. the grand iuries of the
] past several consecutive terms of the Superior
/ Court, have from time TO time made such
| fun and detailed reports of the condition OF
/ the court house and the jail. and have as often
| suggested and recommended mean and ways
/ to remedy AT least IN part much OF the needs,
! that really, it seems, there is lie that this
| jury can do more than to rel crate their de-
! claratlOns, with, perhaps, no better results
| than has followed their Investigations and
| labor; but that it may not appear that your
committee has been idle ar at all FemlSS in the
/ discharge of their delegated duty. by NEGLECT
ing or overlooking the charge so ably given us
| by His Honor. ia &c Adams, we VIII state
| that we have inspected both buildings named
| above in person, and obtained from the proper
! persons the requirements and wants, First
/ then, we VIII call your attention TO the court
house as the most important, and very impOr-
tant. too! The building is inadequate for the
requirements of the business necessarily to be
| done therein.
The walls are too thick and stubborn to yield
to any further expansion, so the only and true
remedy Gf il is TO be used for all purposes as
| public bulldingl is to take down the present
! structure and build a court house, utilizing
every inch of ground embraced IN lot III Per-
ciyal ward, and present to Chatham county
and to the city of Savannah an edifice worthy
of their judicial and commercial Importance.
But how to accomplish this end is a subject
that has worried the brains oil
your committee, and after mature
reelection we offer for your considera-
ton and recommendation the following feas-
ible plan, to wit: 1t is estimated that it will
require about $4,000 to accomplish this work
We recommend that the Legislature be asked
to authorize the Issue of non taxable bonds t.
this amount bearing per cent. interest
$40 of these bonds payable each year, the
bonds to be so retired to be determined by
lot. This plan will pay the entire debt IN u
years, and so gradually that the public viii
not feel the burden. The additional tax foI
the first year would be but cents on the Sl00
and this would decrease each year. This
can be demonstrated
Failing to accomplish this, we suggest: First
that the proper course to be pursued is TO re-
quest the city authorities to provide accOmmO-
datiOns for the City Court and its officers
which we think could be done very readily
with the room in buildings subject to theiI
control and disposal; then we can provide fol
the superior Court. the Judge, solicitor Sher-
if, Clerk. Ordinary and all the county officers
in the county court house.
Should we fail IN both the foregoing
tions, then we must dissect the old building
and rearrange quarters for the officers. To be.
gin, we take the ground floor. say the north
west quarter. and convert the three small
into two large rooms. By removing
the two very thick vault walls anC
putting up one ordinary division
wall, much space would be gained
GIVE the west room 20 the clerk of the City
Clerk, the other 10 the Clerk of the Superior
/ Court for records and recording. each room
having two windOws; thcn appropriate the
/ southwest quarter 90 the County COmms-
souers. County Treasurer and the Tax Re
ceiver AVID Collector it appearing TO us that
. / an could be conveniently and comfortably
located therein The southeast quarter, OF
Clerks Office, beng relieved of part of lis
stock Of books aud papers which are called
for so frequently by lawyers and others would
be used only for court purposes. We recon-
mend that iron dOOrs be substituted for the
present wooden doors opening into the hall.
way from both the Clerks and Ordinary
Offices For the Ordinarys Office we can tep
or conceive no mode of relief. unless we close
the omen hallway in President street and con.
meet it with the Ordnary's Office by run
ming walls 90 relieve the pressure now endured
by the massive walls inclosing the very valu.
able pa ers aud records in his custody Tho
hallway cast and west could BE- used for en-.
trance and exit. asthe thoroughfares are prin.
. clpaly and almost entirely from Bull ant
Dr9l ton streets. In addition We mos
earnestly sug est that your body insist upor
, having placed in every office. court room anC
jury room In this venerable building q good
! plain, but sCrvicetble wash basin. CONNECTING
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