The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-04
rEooRDDR COPIES CHANGE.
Remarks Interpreted as Referring to the Dispute--Dnties of Grand Jury Set Forth.


 Dispute--Duties of Grand Jury Set Forth.
 New York, April 3.--Recorder Golf of Part of the general sessions, where the late Judge Maritime was to have held court this term to-day charged the members of the April grand jury, after they had been sworn in by him. Charles H. Isham, who has frequently served as foreman of the grand jury, took the oath with twenty-two of his fellow jurors; none affirmed. After reading aloud and explaining the sec tions of the code governing grand jury proceedings as prescribed by law, Re border Golf said;
 Now, gentlemen, most of you have served as grand jurors before, and therefore you are thoroughly informed as to all your functions, duties and privileges. The responsibility of the doings of your body first of all falls upon your foreman, and next upon the man whom you elect as secretary. It devolves upon you to dispatch the busi- ness before you with as much celerity
  held by your body should be limited to the matters in hand, and not be ex- tended to the voicing of abstract theo- ries or hobbies. It is not sufficient for grand juror to have his name on the grand jury and to let his friends and neighbors know that he is grand juror. The duties prescribed by law must, first of all, be thoroughly per formed. Therefore, it is highly improp- CT for a grand juror habitally to absent himself from the sessions of the grand jury. Every grand juror who falls to attend to his duties thereby retards the progress of the law and of the com monweal. If you have to absent your self owing to sickness or the sudden stress of private business, you should obtain leave of the court, or make prop CT arrangements with your foreman. If possible you should every day dis patch all the work set out for the day, so that witnesses may not have to come a second, third or fourth time, lest wit nesses become reluctant and discour- aged and lose their regard for the ad- of justice.
 ''The district attorney informs me that there is nothing of special mo- ment to which your attention should be drawn by the court. There is one thing, however, which I wish to caution you against, and that is not to let yourself be used as a vehicle of private strife or grudges. If a person, however, lodges a complaint with you and afterwards repents of his cation and wishes to his complaint, 1t would not be proper for you to permit him to thus withdraw his charges. The grand jury is here only to inquire, not to exercise | mercy of Judgment. That is function of the courts alone. The grand jury is the grand inquisitor and inquirer It will prove most true to it's ancient uses and traditions by confining itself strict ly to the functions prescribed for it by | law and not by letting itself be drawn | Into an expression on any personal | no matter how much such | differences may be a matter of public | ,lamor or notoriety."
 These last sentences were understood | by all the court attaches, who had | gathered in unusual numbers in the l court room, to refer to the pending | struggle over the appointment of court | attendants between the judges of the | general sessions. When the charges | were ended George Gordon Battle, the | assistant district attorney, who is at- .aohed to the grand jury, said: "The 'ecorder's charge is one of the clearest | md most careful of grand jury charges hat I have yet heard. I am very glad | hat he laid special stress on the neces- iity of rapidly getting through the work Iet apart for the day, for it is undoubt- ,dly true that the state has lost many | good witnesses by the frequent delays suffered to occur by former grand ju- 'ies."