The St. Johns herald. (St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona Territory [Ariz.]) 1885-1903, 1885-02-12

On Thursday last, the court, Hon.
Sumner Howard presiding. called
the grand jury into court and gave
them what might be termed q sup
elemental instruction, in substance
as follows:
GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY 1t
has come to the knowledge of the
court through some Of your mem
bers, that you, as q body, have re-
fused TO find indictments against
persons, for, as is said in one in
stance, that the county viii be put
10 costs over Z small mater. Now,
charge YOU that all persons or
corporations doing business or hav-
ing property within this county are
entitled 20 protection, and that,
whether the offence be of small or
great moment, a corporation, rail
road or otherwise, that pays large
taxes into your treasury is especial
~ entitled to your prote't ton, An
offence committed against its prop
erty is just as heinous as though
committed against an individual.
If you find that any person has fc-
loniously or burglaEiously taken
coal, or other property, from the
possession of the Railroad compa-
nv, it is your duty to find an in
dictment against such person with
out regard to the costs that the
county may be put to. It is not a
good policy to look at the question
of costs. Crime must be punished.
1t may seem beneficial in a partic-
ular case but in the long run it
works al injustice to good morals
and society. 1t may be that YOU
have misunderstood my charge to
you, given at the time you were en-
panplcd, | charged you then as |
charge you now, when two persons
claim certain property under color
Of tile, and one peaceably takes it
from the other, he should not be
indicted. They should come in on
the civil side of the court and by an
action in replevin or other suitable
c;3il remedy, at their own expense,
litigate the title to the property and
aot put the county to expense by
indictment. 1t is upon this matter
that | then charged you as to costs.
l repeat that where a person takes
the property of another (be that
other a person or corporation) un-
lawfully, it is your duty to indict if
the offence amounts to a felony.
| have also been informed that
YOU have refused to indict persons
belonging TO the Military of tile
United States, assigning as a reason,
that you did not want to fight or
come in contact with the Military.
| charge you that a member of the
while within the jurisdic-
ton. of this court is amenable to the
criminal laws ofyour Territory and
if any member of the Military Of
the United States, whether he be an
officer or the lowest mental in its
within the exterior bound
aries Of this county, has committed
an offence, which is punishable by
the laws of this Territory, and the
fact is shown to your satisfaction,
that there is reasonable grounds to
believe that an offence amounting
to felony has been committed, it
is your duty to indict such member.
[ want no foolishness on the part
of this grand jury. There must be
no childs play. You may retire to
your rooms and if you do not do
your duty as found in the statutes
of your territory and the instruc-
tions given you by the court, I shall
you and call another
grand jury that will see that the
laws arc properly enforced. The
for a failure to perform your
duty lies in the statute, and the
court viii avail itself of that rom
edy,