Arizona republican., 1897-12-16
THE GRAND JURY.


 by indicring him for a crime, it may
 be taken for granted that a majority
 of the jurymen are bad citizens. The
 grand jury that completed its session
 yesterday undoubtedly was one of the
 most bigoted and venal bodies that
 ever sat in this county. Of the eigh- teen persons composing it not mcre than a half dozen would be at home in
 a company of broad minded, liberal
 citizens. The foreman and few oth-
 CTS discharged their duties i'm most
 oreditable manner. They were not
 bent on "cinching'' anybody. It was
 not their purpose to help anybody l get even" with somebody else. The 1 others were i'm their element whenever
 a pfcayune proposition came to the front, and there were plenty of these. There were at least a dozen men in the outfit who would have CO., asiderei seriously a proposal to indict the framer of the moral law. The idea that the communfty's morals should be improved was the keynote of the actions of several members whose own moral characters would not sand a three minutes test. There was a tremendous amount of proclamation in connection with the proceed ngs, but the gulf between the promises and the results is wide enough to take in all Arizona. No grand jury that has met in this county in recent years has held so long session and accom- L phshed so little of real good to the community, and no grand jury with possibly one exception has squande-- ed so much of the peoples money.
 The Republican already in is local columns has directed attention to the efforts of Dr. H. A. Hughes of this city to have the editor of the Republican indicted for criminal libel. His es- pecial grievance was the publication of cartoon in, ,dhis paper, July 13 last, which pictured the doctors ccn- nection with the plan to change the reform school at Flagstaff into an an- nex of the territorial asylum. It was a pretty good picture, as pictures go, and we were surprised that the doc l tor should have taken offense at it. i Inasmuch as he '1aid'' for the editor with a gun (wfthout firing, however, | and subsequently, laid the matter be- fore the grand jury we are forced 10 h r,11,, grieved. Before the doctor began cc- quetting with the grand jury that 1 body had taken up the charge of crim- inal libel against himself, growing cut of his attacks in. the Arizona Demo- orah on the governor, and decided to l indict him. Dr. Hughes had strong friends in the jury room. When it be- came certain that his indictment could 1 not be prevented the scheme to in- | dict the Republicans editor was adopted, thd idea being that if he we're indicted also the efforts he naturally would make to get clear would result advantageous to Dr. Hughes. A majority of the l jury endorsed the scheme. copy of l The Republican of July 13 was ex- Inhibited and the jury after a long dis cussion, in which the venality of the territorial press was thoroughly es- found a true bin. The i'm of taking up the grievance l of a person whom they had already indicted did net worry the majority in the least.
 The tale of the loss of the copy of 1 The Republican and the securing of | the town for another copy is told se- where in this number. As a last re- i sort the editor of the Republican was called upon to produce the missing evidence. Here again the moral tur- pitude of the grand jury was exhibi- ed. While the editor was not dis posed to tlhrow any obstacles in the l way of his prosecutors he was unable i to supply a copy of the paper of the i date required. Then District Attorney i Williams, with characteristic zeal, i procured the issuance of subpoanas for most of the employees of The Rs- puDlcan and for the editors of the 1 other city dailies. to appear before the grand jury. Still the paper did | not matertalize- In consequence the jury had to acknowledge itself face to face with a deficiency. The case, i perfOrce, had to be dropped.
 The grand jury adjourned several 1 times while the hunt for the missing Republican was on. The tine ;h de- voted to this case cost the county several hundred dollars. It goss without saying that matters of great importance to the county were neg lected while this ridiculous perform ance was being enacted. Every law yer knows that a case Nike this would | be thrown out of court on a de- murrer. Every member of the grand l