The leader., 1897-02-03
That Kinds County Grand .yuv~
Report.

Report.
The following portion of the
Kinds county grand jury report,
referred 20 by our Jackson cores
pOndent III his last weeks letter.
has caused no little stir among
the blind-tiger fraternity and their
sympathizers. Thos. r. Barr, one
of the leading business men and
Pr0lIibitionists of the Capital
City, was selected by Judge
Powell as foreman and the report
shows Mr.. Barr was the man for
the place:
We have examined diligently
into the blind tiger business. We
have had men before us from all
the walks of life, rich and poor,
great and small, and the great pre-.
poDderance of evidence wSuId tend
to prove that prohibition is q sue
cess, and that jackson Is ssdry.n
Bot nevertheless, we who sign this
report, aver chat we have direct
and positive evidence that liquor is
sold here, but there are not enough
of US to find a true bill. We are
sorry to state this, but il is q fact.
There are enough of this jury who
have seen fit to discredit and i'm
peach this evidence and, therefore,
refuse to find all indictment. We
suppose this is their free American
privilege. The amount of blind
tiger business done here we be.
lieve to be greatly exaggerated.
When a man is seen drunk there
are lots of people who imagine that
they can SEE blind tiger on every
corner, and yet this man may be
drunk OH liquor from his own pri-
vate jug bought in Canton or
elsewhere. What liquor is sold
here, is sold very secretly, and
hence in very limited quantities.
We believe that the grand jury
will always be at disadvantage in
running down blind tigers because,
as rule, the man who buys is as
currupt as the man who sells, and
is ready to lie to shield it.
But we think the officers of the
law who have the authority should
occasionally raid these places un-
der suspicion. If this were done it
would accomplish more than all
the grand .juries i'm stamping this
evil out of existence. The grand
jury meets twice year and viola
tors of the law know how to pre-.
pare to meet it, by running wit
nesses off and in other ways.
But II faithful officer, ever ready
to do his duty, like a faithful SEN
tinel always at his post, would
prove constant terror to evil
dOers, for they would never know
when to look for him or his raid.
We have worked this time with
an average of thirteen, and some of
this jury are connected by family
ties with SOME of the men charged.
We believe thet if wUhaf . jury vf
Is or 20 men that we could present
bills on evidence that is as sub
stantiaI as any we could get in
this line. We think the court
makes a mistake when it forces a
grand jury to work with thirteen
men.
AS foreman of this grand jury,
have made this report, and call
upon the district attorney to wit
ness as to the truth of 1t. There
is other business that should come
before this grand jury. but under
The circumstances we would re.
spectfully ask to be discharged.
Yours respectfully,
THOs. p. BARR, Foreman.
In a note to the editor of The
LEADER since our last issue, Mr..
Barr makes the following correc-
ton of a statement in Correspond.
ent Frantz's weekly letter:
''I read Frant's letter in your pa
per. He is wrong in saying was
the only one 20 sign the Grand jury
report. l had eight good men
with me out of the thirteen. The
other side had a minority report to
read, but as they did not do so, it
was not necessary for my men to
sign my report, as it is customary
only for the Foreman to sign re-
ports.