St. Paul daily globe., 1889-01-09
DEFINED THEIR DUTIES.
The Grand Jury Is Vigorously
Charged by Judge Kelly.

The members of the grand jury of
Ramsey county organized for the term
yesterday and chose S. M. Carey as their
foreman. They were then addressed by
Judge Kelly, who defined their duties
in the following language:
Gentlemen of the grand jury: AS re-
CURED bylaw, have read to you those
portions of the public statutes which de-
fine generally the duties and powers of
the grand jury. Those duties and pow
serS are no doubt familiar to many of you
from similar services in the past; but
inasmnch as the happiness. peace and
security of every community depend
largely upon the reasonably strict en-
f6rcement of law, and both the punish
nent and repression of crime can only
come through the careful, thorough
and conscientious discharge of its
duty by the grand jury, 1 will
say a few words in addition
to what you have already heard
read. First of all, / wish to disabuse
your minds of the too general notion
that the duties of a grand jury are
merely perfunctory-to pass simply
upon matters brought to your notice by
others, but not to inquire into all public
offenses committed and triable Withiu
the county. Grand jurors under their
oaths should be viglant and fearless.
What other grand juries may have done
or may have omitted to do will not re-
lieve you of the obligations imposed on
you by law. You should encourage no
prosecution put in force from mere
spite or
FROM BAD MOTIVES.
"You should omit none which public
t,1nr aIc nd nd
The records of this court are full of the
histories of human wrecks which would
have never happened had the law in its
integrity been enforced. An ounce of
prevention is often worth a pound of
cure. In this connection other grand
juries have reported to this court how
their investigation has led them to trace
75 per cent of crimes committed to
abuses growing out of the liquor traffic.
The last grand jury, referring to an
other evil, uses this language: 1T
is made apparent to us that
pool-selling and pretended horse
racing is being carried on
extensively in this city, and long train
of evil, misery and crime follow there
upon, misleading the young. accuStom-
ing the innocent to gambling. making
dens of iniquity for the vicious and evil
ulSpOSeQ. w nile III is unfortunate lildG
our statutes fail to meet certain special
ties in this gambling vice, yeti call
your attention to this language of the
last jury, and the attention of the
prosecuting officers of the county to the
language of the supreme cOuit in State
VS.. Shaw with reference to common
gambling houses-39 Mo-, Rep. 305. If
the public press is to believed. almost
within the shadow of this court
house, and elsewhere in the city,
houses of prostitution are shame
lessly kept in defiance of law and
to the constant destruction of the young
manhood of the place. By the same au
+ thority it appears that every sunday in
the year laws, written in these statutes,
are openly violated by persons who en-
gage i'll liquor selling on days devoted
by the law to rest and to the worship of
God. The unhappy result is apparent
each Monday morning i'll the increased
police court business. The law that en-
forces public morality and decency is
not harsh. Only those who violate the
plain precepts complain. | have spoken
plainly to you, gentlemen; you repre-
sent the county, and yours is the re-
rnnSihilitN y