The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1899-09-23

Ooeoo ~ 90 ~ ~ ~ 90
ing idlers coming, God knows whence,
and whose objects no one can tell. Our
villages are FILED with idlers. who ccn-
gregste at street corners, and who lead
life that is mystery to all. Idlers
who dress more showily and who liye
with more comfort and plenty than they
who toll for their daily bread. Glance
at the first paper that falls under your
eyes; its columns are filled with ac-
counts Of murders, of rapes and robbie
ries- accounts which alarm the law
abiding citizens. but which are read
with delight by the idle drOnes Of our
villages and highways, in whose hearts
they arouse perhaps the aspirations af.
ter crime. there lying dormant; and the
result. gentlemen.-whO among us can
say that he is safe in his home? Who
knows what may befall him during the
dark hours Of night when the honest
man seeks rest. but when the assassin,
the robber and the burglar prowl like
wolves in search of their prey and of
booty? But yesterday 1t was that this
community was shocked by the afro
cious murder by unknown assissins of a
deserving young man in the dark hours
of night. Do you believe that such aw-
full deeds would be committed il we had
not idle drones in our midstp Do you
not think like me steps should be taken
to root out the evil of IdlenessP II our
laws have made it an offence, why
should not these laws be enforcedp
1t may be that under Section 1878.
just read, that Won cannot indict Ger
tain class of idlers. and that your duty
may be confined to calling the attention
of certain officials to the existence Of
that law; but under Section 1880, it lies
in your power to enforce that vagrancy
law, by indictment.
There is another demoralizing cause
of crime to which l will call your atten-
ton. allude to the morbid sentiment
tally displayed for condemned felons.
allude to the readiness with which ap-
plicatiOns for their pardons are signed,
not only by our best citizens, but by the
very jurors who have convicted the ap-
plicant for pardon. The greater the
crime the greater. it would seem, the
sympathy shown to the felon. Does 1t
not strike you. gentlemen. that pardons
of this sort, by the wholesale, discredit
our courts and destroy the effectiveness
Of any jury trials. Instead of recon-
mending the pardon of felons who can
never become good citizens, would not
the juries be wiser and more consistent
by acquitting them when tried? Does
it not strike you that these recommen-
dations must of necessity cast odium on
our courts, being travesty Of justice in
the minds of the thinking men Of the
community. 1t were far better that
there be no courts. IL their DEGREES are
to be reversed by the board of pafdons
on the recommendation of the very ju-
ries upon whose verdicts those DEGREES
have been rendered. II when it Is known
before hand that a conviction will be
followed by an immediate pardon, must
not this be an incentive for the commits
sion Of crime by those who are but too
willing to iOut the law, and snap at the
sacredness Of our courts. You, grand
jurors, are not responsible for these cry
ing abuses and communicating results,
but as the representatives of the people,
when you shall make report to the |
court. ask you to scar this pernicioIs |
practice with burning words of rebuks;
| ask you to enter your solemn protest
against it, in the name Of society which
It endangers; in the name of justice
which il travesties; in the name of the
1oung generation which it demoralizes,
is that misplaced clemency brings con.
empt of the law, and proclaims immu-
,ity from its penalties.
call your attention to this crying
Ibuse not only as the Judge Of this dis
rict. but with the earnestness of a law :
hiding citizen, and of father.