The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-02-18
0Western Montana News

county attorney. The county attorney
may al all times appear before the
grand jury for the purpose OF giving
information or advice relative to any
matter cognizable by them, and they
NAV subpoena witnesses. No other
person is permitted to be present be-
fore the grand jury and no person
must be present during the sessions OF
their deliberations.
III YOU want my advice, outside or
what the county attorney may be able
TO give you, anu you want to consult
the Judge, you must ask thc JGdSe 20
come to your rooms and not consult
with him alone. on the streets or any
where else, outside of the grand jury
room before your entire body.
Every member of the grand jury
must keep secret whatever may have
transpired in the grand jury room. You
have taken a solemn oath to do certain
things, and one of them is to keep Sc
cret the meetings of the grand jury
You are not permitted to talk upon the
street about what is going on in the
grand jury room, save and except In
the grand jury room. You should not
tell any one what business you are en-
gagged in investigating, what witnesses
have been examined, or anything
whatever in reference to your duties
or your business. The obligation OF Sc
crecy is imposed upon the grand jury
for the public benefit and not for the
benefit of persons that appear before
you. Under no circumstances will you
discuss to any person or persons any
thing that occurs in your grand jury
room.
1T is the duty of the grand jury to
investigate the books of all officers of
the county. and IL is their duty and
they are empowered to employ an ex-
pert to assist them in examining the
books of all the officers Of the county
If they deem ii necessary; and such an
expert is allowed s. per day for his
services while actually engaged in
such examination.
1T is not only your privilege, but
duty, to examine very thoroughly the
records of all the county officers and
make your report thereon-whether
you find them correctly kept, or wheth-
er incorrectly kept; and when there
has been any violation amounting to a
felony, IL will be your duty-if you
have sufficient evidence-to find an in
diu.ment against such party; and you
are required to investigate every single
office in this county. from the district
court clerks office to the Office of the
county coroner.
1t will be your duty to examine the
county Jail and the number Of persons
in there and the number of persons on
the books. You must examine carefully
the records of the assessors office,
the county clerks office, the auditors
Office. the coroner's office; in fact. every
office there is.
1T will also be your duty to investi-
gaze and make an examination of the
poor farm. or the premises where the
county poor are kept under the present
contract; see the manner in which
they are kept, the medical attendance.
and report exactly what you find; and
If any of those parties are negligent or
not complying with their contract, it
will be your duty to report this to the
court.
And, another thing. In reference to
cases that are triable here. There are
a number of cases under our constitu-
ton which you will have nothing to
do with. You can find no Indictment
except for felonies and one class of
misdemeanors. A felony. as defined by
the statutes. is a crime the punishment
for which is Imprisonment in the state
prison. There are a number of misde-
meanors which do not require the party
to be confined in the state prison, and
the Jurisdiction is in the office of a
justice Of the peace. Anything within
the jurisdiction of the justice Of the
peace you can find no indictment for;
and the only thing which you might
find to interfere with your findings in
this regard, is the malfeasance in office
of county officers. You may in such
cases inquire as TO whether there has
been any violation of the law.
THE statutes of Montana now and
for years past, have required that
every taxpayer in the county and state
shall return to the assessor, within a
certain time. a certain blank, which
the assessor furnishes to them, filled
out, containing a correct description of
all of his property, real and personal.
The law requires that that shall be re-
turned under oath. A party may have
$500 worth of property and may only
return this blank filled in for $500. That
party is assessed at $500, when he has
$500 upon which he should pay taxes
If that should be the case, that man is
guilty of a misdemeanor only and
which, in itself, is not an adequate
punishment.
The law requires that these shall be