The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-08-21
Notable Grand jury Charge.

Notable Grand jury Charge.
At the opening of court Monday Chief
Judge James McSherry appointed Bernard
Caulitiower foreman of the grand jury
of Frederick county and delivered nota-
BILE charge to the grand inquest. The Judge
said:
But among all the acts ofAssembly pass
ed by the Legislature of 1896 perhaps the
most important is the new election law,
anu it is the most important because it
deals with subject that lies at the founda-
ton of popular government This statue
is designed to throw additional safeguards
around the elective franchise and by
carefully drawn details to guarantee fair
and honest elections. Its provisions are
numerous. 1t may not, however be amiss
at this time to invite your attention to one
of them. In our government the people
are the source of all power. Through the
elective franchise they give expression to
their preferences, not only as to the candi-
dates who seek some office at their hands
but far beyond that; they settle by the
ballot grave political and economic ques-
tions which may be necessary to or
injuriously affect the welfare of the whole
community, just as these questions are
rightly or wrongly determined"
"Our republican government is founded
on the consent of the governed. If the
freedom of the individual voter to choose
the policy which his own judgment or
interest may suggest as the best for him
to adopt be overridden or controlled by
coercion or be influenced by corruption,
the ballot cast under such conditions
ceases to express the voters wish, for
where there is coercion or corruption there
is no freedom of choice, and where there
is no freedom of choice "A republic may ex
is i'm name, but Fin fact and Ia theory is at
an end Where the will of the voter is
subordinated to the undue and unlawful
dictatiOn of another an election records a
result achieved by the dominating in
fuence, but fails to voice the opinions or
the preferences of the electors, and when
as is most generally the case where SIMS
ter methods are resOrted to, the dOminat-
ing influence is eXerted by aggregated
power over the needy and the dependent
the very machinery devised to perpetuate
our liberties and form of government be-
comes the most available and certain
agency by which their ultimate destruc-
ton will be accomplished.
1T is consequently one of the highest
duties of the executive and judicial depart
ments of the State government to enforce
rigidly the statues enacted by the legisla-
tive department for the preservation of
the absolute freedom of the elective
franchise, and upon the courage and
fidelity OF the grand juries rests the
| weighty obligation to bring, when occasion
requires it, formal accusations against
. hr. ,lafa hos
"RecogniZing the vital necessity Of
voter against every sinister and improper
influence, from whatever quarter it may
come the Legislature of 1896, by section
S3 of chapter zoe, enacted: IF at any
election hereafter held in any city or
county any person shall, by force, threat
| menace, intimidation, bribery or reward,
or offer or promise thereof, or otherwise
| unlawfully, either directly or indirectly
influence, or attempt to influence, any
| voter in giving his vote, or prevent or
| hinder, or attempt to prevent or hinder,
| any qualified voter from freely exercising
| the right of suffrage, or by any such means
| induce or attempt to induce, any such
right, every such person shall upon con
| viction thereof, be punished by imprison-
| ment in Jail or in the penitentiarv for nl
| less that six months nor more than five
years"
This is the literal transcript Of section
| IS of article 32 of code except as to the
punishment. Under the code fine and
| imprisonment in Jail We're imposed while
under the act of 1896 the fine is omitted,
but the Imprisonment may be in the
penitentiary or the Jail.
THE terms of this statute are broad
and sweeping. They cover, and were in
| tended to cover, every case that can
possibly arise and they were meant to
reach all species of intimidation which
| cunning ingenuity could invent 1t makes
| no difference in what disguise the intimida-
| ton the threat or other unlawful means
| resOrted to be clothed, and it matters not
how indirectly the attempt to hinder the
voter from freely exercising the right of
| suffrage be exerted; every device is within
the statute, and a resort to any scheme
will incur the severest penalty prescrib
ed.
IF a creditor threatens to call in his
| mortgage debt or to demand payment OF
| promissory note or other claim unless
the debtor shall vote as the creditor wishes
| the creditor thereby makes himself amen
able to the law. If an employer threatens
to dismiss or discharge his employee or to
| cut uoNn his wages unless the employer
| by that threats no matter how cOvertly oI
indirectly made or communicated, render.
himself liable, upon conviction to serve
term of five years in the penitentary, ant
it makes no difference who the employer
may be. He may be IA private individual
or an officer, agent, superintendent oI
boss of corporation or of the firm
These instances are sufficient to illustrate
the scope of the law, though Others might
be given. 1T resort be had to any mean
of intimidation, the guilty party will b,
| anSwerable under the law.
| w neither since the passage of this Law
any of the things prohibited by it have
been done or not am unable to say bu
that the Legislature believed these thin g.
might be done or attempted is eviden
from the fact that they are forbidden to b'
done and that heavy penalty has beer
denounced against those persons VIII,
shall be guilty of doing them. IL is HOPED
this statue will not be violated But if j
should be, as is altogether possible in time
of great political excitement, this Crane
jury, which will not be finally discharged
until the second Monday of December vii
be promptly convened and will be givel
the matter in charge to the end that thu
guilty parties may be brought speedil,
to trial and swiftly subjected to certain
! punishment"
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