The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1889-01-29
Grand .yury HsresensrMemt.

10 wing general presentment:
Having made an examination Of the fin !ncisl
condition of the county, We find bat little difer
cnce in the affairs OF the county. Since the pre-
sentiment Of the last grand jory, due 10 the fact
that the aborious work imposed by the recent law
upon the County Assessor OF taXls, has made It
impossible for him 10 have his books ready for the
Collector, uutil within the past fw days, the result
OF which has been no taxes collected for the year
1888 We find, upon examination OF the books,
since the last presentment, there has been paid To
the County Treasurer, from all sources, only S3SS
81 ia scrip The bonded Indebtedness of the coun-
ty has been decreased to iocty-tour thousand five
hundred dollars ($44 oOO.)
The fearful condition of our pablo roads make
it necessary for the grand jury To call attention oi
the County Commissioners 10 this important mat
ter The grand jury realizes the difficulties in the
way of sccuing the proper working o. the reads at
the same time good roads are of such vital impor
lance to the welfare of the whole county, that they
desire to urge upon our County commissioners the
necessity OF positive action upon thcr part to Sc
cure the desired end, to wit: good roads, which
onl, be had by first putting the roads in good
condition afterwards a careful looking after same
to- prevent recurrence OF their prc>cn' fearful
state. Many of the public highways run through
very rolling sections, where high and hard hills are
to be worked The ordinary impl, mcnts used by
our farmers in the cultivation of their crops, are
not sufficient to do effective work upon the roads
and though many of our people may be willing to
do all in their power to work their roads properly,
they have not the means at their command to do
so. In view of the condition OF affairs, this grand
jury do recommend and urge upon the County
Commissioners the importance of their making inn
mediate appropriation of county funds for the pur-
chase of complete outfit of road tools, such as
road plows, scoops, grubbing hoes, &C. which are
necessary to do the WORK which our roads now
need The grand jury also suggest, after the pur-
chase of necessary tools, that they be inventored
to the Sheriff, who shall be held accountable for
same; the County Clerk to bring receipt of the
Sheriff for such tools as the Board Of Commission
ers shall purchase. 1t shall be the duty Of the
Sheriff. at road working time, to give to the differ
QUESTION for taking from said supervisors their
receipt tor such tools they may receive from
him The grand jury further recommend that the
Board OF County Commissioners do employ man
Of intelligence and exp Hience whose duty it shall
be to see that when the people arc called out to do
road work, that the work being done by them shall
beprOpcrly and effectively done, in all cases con-
ccntratiDg the labor upon the portion of the road
most needing the work that the man employed
shall be known rs County Supervisor of Roads,
and who, with consent of tie Board of County
Commissioners shall have authority to call all ell
liens liable TO do road work upon the roads, when
in his Judgment it is best that necessary work shall
be had.
1t is the earnest wish of this Grad Jury that the
Board of County Commissioners shall show to the
people (whOse interest 1t is their duty 10 o III after
their appreciation OF the importance of this work
by their immediate action.
We desire to call attention oflhe Board of County
Commissioners to the presentmcnt of the last
Grand Jury, referring To the mlnncr in which the
County Auditor keeps the different accounts of his
ence to the same matter of which there is a record
on the minute book in The Clerks office. This
matter, the Grand Jury desires, should claim the
attention OF the County Commissioners at once,
wit hout q further repetition on their part
We hereby give statement of the criminal cases
brought to our attention, and our action there
on: We had siXty-one cases presented to us of
which We found true bills in twenty nine: ofthese
sixteen were for larceny, with true bills for twelve
and four dismissed thirteen for aggravated assault
one true bill and twelve dismissed; breaking and
ont arin fnr tLrnn
missed and one transferred TO Gadsien county, as
being of our jurisdiction; carrying concealed
weapons two, true bill for same; assault to kill,
five found truc bill for three; two dismiss ed.
manning animals five, all dismissed Forgery two
cases, true bin for one, one dismissed. Malicious
mischief, three cases submitted, ali Dismissed Pass
ing counterfeit money, only one case, true bill
Arson, one case, true bill found. Fraudulent con
version, one case, true bill found Altering mark
one case, true bill found Murder, six cases three
true bills and THREE dismissed.
In investigating the above cases we examined
one hundred and fifty witnesses. BY reference 10
the above statement it will be seen that a large
number OF commitments arr made 10y Justices of
the Peace in trivial cases, without sufficient evil
dence of guilt, and frequently too many witnesses
are bound over, entaiing excessive cost on the
county and State. This to the minds of The Grand
jury, shows that the Justice Of the Peace are either
incompetent too careless in tx aiming the cases
hat come before them.
We have carefcly examined the Jail building,
and found the same III good condition, with the tX-
ception OF triiins defects which can easily be rem
edied at small cost. Tue he tag arrangement is
q pod, and OF sufficient capacity to keep ne build
ING comfOrtablc The interior of the Ill is kent
clean, with the exception of stains from toh ,cc,
Juice on the walls ana floor, which could bc obviated
by placing small wo Jdcn spittoon> filled with
sand convenient TO hc Prisoners The water closets
"a were Informed T., the man in charge of The
Jail, IRE constantly getting Out o. order, and also
ne pump to tue wcil that forces The water 10 Tie
top 81 the building where the tank is situated, This
shond at on e he attended 10. The proximity Of