The Springfield herald., 1897-08-06
OVERS is INDICTED
BY HIS OWN GRAND JURY.
He Il Charged with Failure to Properly
Enforce tho Laws of the state-Says the
Findings Arc Insult to tho Court and
the Indictments tho Result of tgno-


the Indictments the Result of tgno-
rance.
Leadville, Colo, July 81.-Crowds Of
people thronged Harrison avenue,
Leadville's principal thoroughfare, to-
night. One and all are discussing pro
and con the sensational ending of the
special session of the special grand
jury empaneled by Judge Overs about
first report nt o'clock this afternoon.
was again called In session at 8 and
met tonight at S o'clock, when 1t was
discharged. The meeting was full of
sensational Incidents. the greatest of
which is without doubt that of the
finding of two indictments against
Frank w. overs. the judge Of the Dis
trict Court, who empaneled the jury.
OF course, at this time the men who
have been indicted have not yet been
molested.- and therefore their names
have not been made pIblic. How
ever from the report made by the jury
it is evident that the leading county
and city officials and some of the lead
Ing citizens here who have figured
conspicuously in the political world
have been indicted and will be mr.
rested as soon as capias can be issued.
Although nothing can be learned
definitely as to the number of indict-
mcnts returned, it is thought that
there are between thirty and forty,
and from the tone of the report of the
grand jury, several Of the county COM
misSioners. the mayor and other
prominent city and county officials are
included in the list of men indicted.
In Its report the grand jury says:
I'VE earnestly and diligently tried
In the limited time. and with the very
limited amount of unsatisfactory le-
gal assistance that could be placed at
our disposal to investigate all the vio-
lations of the law which have come to
our knowledge. While lawlessness is
unfortunately very prevalent, We fail,
after careful investigation. to find that
1t Is more so than during the two pre-
vious years of your honor's admins
tration. We cannot attribute the
present lawlessness to other causes
than such as have prevailed for n long
period of our city's history. The most
potent of these causes is the general
acceptance by the community of the
dangerous doctrine that the statutes
of the state are to be enforced or not,
according to the Judgment or consent
of officials who have sworn to enforce
all the laws. This doctrine has been
pushed to such nm extreme that for
many years the whole community has
been made to aid and abet crime md
count on the filling Of the public cof-
fers with money raised on the demon
aliZation nnd debasement of human
beings.
I'VE regret that under your hon
or's instructions the only way open
to us to arraign this dangerous doc
trine is to bring indictment against
men who individually are entirely op-
posed to 1t. and are victims of perni-
clous precedent.
with regard to gambling, the re-
cent vigorous action taken at the in
stigation Of the court leaves 1t as our
main duty to make plain where the
responsibility Of this crime ultimately
rests. We have endeavored to show
this in our indictments. As your
honor states in your charge. the find
ing of gambling paraphernalia In
actual use is sufficient evidence to
bring in an Indictment for gambling.
We believe that with regard to own.
ers and agents of houses knowingly
rented for this purpose. The court has
sufficient evidence to proceed against
them In the regular way.
While we agree with your honor ms
to the dnmoralizing effect of gambling.
we believe it to be our duty to exam
inc into the legal ather than the
moral aspect. We note your instruc-
tions not to overlook any form of vio-
lntion of the law. and in this connec-
tloh call your attention to the open
and fragrant defiance of the law with
regard to Sunday closing of saloons.
We feel 1t our duty to exercise our con-
demnation by indicting those whom
we hold to be primarily responsible.
There are also certain places in the
county. not under the Jurisdiction of
city officials, where this ldw is sys-
tematically detied. A short distance
outside of the city limits. at place
called Ellesmere, is not only the Sun
day law defied, but wine rooms and
other Objectionable features have
made the place known as the first
stepping stone for the downfall of
young women"
The report then goes on to state that
contrary TO law they find that the couh-
ty commissioners have been trading in
county warrants. The warrant book
shows that this has been carried on to
such an extent that from one fund
alone the amount of $4,000 has in one
year phssed through the hands of com
missioners, or their employees, or mem
that considerable sums of county
money are voted for work and supplies
for which no steps are taken to secure
bids, and that the Same has been Il
/ heavy loss to the county.
They further find that the supplying
of provisions has been allowed to one
member of the Board of County Com
missioners without any contract, and
that this business alone in one year
has amounted to 81 900. They further
find that money has been voted to indi-
viduals with recklessness, nnd In one
instance $500 was voted to regular
salaried official for extra services, the
jury being unable to find any itemized
bill for such services, or to find that
the bill had passed the inspection Of
the finance committee.
The grand jury visited the county
and city jails. They found the county
jail in fine condition, but that the city
jail failed to reveal n single commend
able point. 1T is n badly constructed,
foul and malarious den, utterly unfit
for human occupancy, n disgrace to n
civilized community, constant
menace to the public health, and we
recommend nothing short of absolute
condemnation and demolition"
The jury also found serious laxity
in the care of sOmp of tho nrisonprc In