, 1889-11-28


purvlew of this statute, in this coun-
ty, | charge you particularly to fer
ret them out, and to spare no pains
to bring them to the bar of this
court to answer for their fclonies;
all to the end that the law may be
vindicated, and that this city may
not become the dumping ground of
all the other cities of this state for
this class of population.
THE RELIEF FUND CASES.
"There is one other matter to
which i wish to direct your special
attention.
"Sometime since an awful calam-
ity befell this city, rs you well
know. BY the great fire OF last Au-
gust millions of dollars In property
were swept away and hundreds of
people were rendered homeless and
moneyless in u few short hours, and
almost before they were aware of
their impending danger. Almost
before the news Of the disaster could
be transmitted over the wires, our
neighboring cities and towns with
a spirit of sympathy and generosity
hardly paralleled and never exceeded
stricken community supplies of
money and provisions for the suffer.
ing and destitute until the aggre-
gate ran up to many thousands of
dollars.
"Such steps were taken by our
citizens as were thought to be suffi-
cient to guarantee the application of
these supplies to the sacred purpose
for which they were given.
"But it has been charged In the
public press and I'm the magistrates
courts that much of these supplies
have been plundered and squandered
by those who had no sort of claim
upon them and by those standing In
such relation to the city by reason
of official position and otherwise,
that the charge has become public
scandal and disgrace, involving the
good name ofthe whole city as SUCH
In short, the charge is that these
provisions were deliberately stolen
from those having the rightful Gus
tody
"Some persons charged with this
crime have been recognized to this
court, and it will be your duty not
only to investigate their cases, but
to sift this matter to the bottom,
and If you find they, or anyone
else, have been guilty of the crime
of larceny, or any other crime
known to the law, in connection
with this affair, 1t will be your i'm
perative duty to return indictments
against the guilty parties. 1t is q
duty we owe ourselves, as we'll as our
generous neighbors who contributed
these supplies, that we should purge
ourselves as far as may be of this
scandalous charge.
"Owing to his connection with
the defense Of the parties charged,
before he was appointed prosecuting
attorney, Mr.. Ridpath will not be
with you during the investigation
of these cases. Some other attorney
of the bar will be appointed to at
tend and advise you during that in
vestigation. | say this after having
conferred with Mr.. Ridpath, and
having his concurrence that such Is
the proper course to take.
"In this matter, as in all others
that may come before you, l have
no doubt that you will do your
whole duty.
"You have the distinction, gen.
tlemen, of constituting the first
grand jury for Spokane county, un-
der our new state government. Let
this fact, as we'll as the obligations
of the oath you have taken admon-
ish you, that good government and
the welfare of the people depend
upon a strict and impartial enforce
nient of the laws
At the conclusion of Judge
Blake's charge to the grand jury,
court adjourned until l1:30 to-day,
when the petit jury will be impan-
eled.