The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1900-05-18

Ar. Foreman and oeati1nen oftts Grand Jury:
In addressing your predecessors for many
consecutive terms, have had little to say be-
, | yond congratulating them upon the compare.
tive good order which has characterized ouI
county for 81 long, and urging upon them d
prompt dispatch of the business In hand and q
speedy Adjournment.
To charge u grand jury when otr-nses liable
to come before 1t consist mel ely OF infractions
of this law or that one, is very diff rent from
such acharge when the offense to be- investigat-
ed and passed upon by the grand jury is an as
sault upon law itself. The former has been
my only task heretofore; the latter task CON-
fronts me today.
confess stand appalled, before the respon-
J sbility resting upon this entire court.
You are entitled to have the responsibility
clearly explained to you and your duty clearly
defined. The sources from which material ap-
propriate to Il proper charge touching your
present service are exhaustless. To select
properly from this great mass of material and
then to arrange the material selected so as to
enable your minds to follow NY mind. RI quires
degree of knowledge and of judgment and a
power of expression-the want of all which, at
this moment, painfully realize. Therefore
beg of you to bear with me patiently. and, by
the quickns 50 of your apprehension. supply the
defects of my own power of expression.
1 think it may help you in understanding
your duties as grand jurors If you will carefully
bear in mind the relation which you now hold
in regard to the rest of the community. The
State Is society organized the State cannot act
directly, but only through its representatives
The Legislature represents the State in its law
making attributes, and the grand jury. as a
component part Of the court. represents the
State in the enforcement of the laws. AS rep
resentatiyes of the State, your duties are very
different from your duties as individuals. AS
| individuals you may, without blame, be in
| tluen"cd by your own wishes and desires and
| interests, by your natural love and affection,
| or even by hope or fear or by promise of re-
| ward; as jurors you have foresworn all the at
! tributes Of your individuality which might con-
| fict with your duty, IN your representative
capacity of presenting "all thing truly as they
may come to your knowledge"
You probably noticed the expression ] have
| already used: IAN assault on law ITSELF" and
| meant exactly that; an assault not upon thia
law or that law, but upon law in the abstract,
may say, upon law as The basi; of Cr-
lnized society. For example: A combina-
ion to kill man in the peace of God and the
tate, is u crime; and if the purpose of the com.
biuaton is carried intn eject, it is murder, but
it is not necessarily treason. On the other |
hand, if Il combination IS enter, into to kill an
officer of the State for the purpose of prevent
ing THAI officer from performing some duty due |
from him to the State, then the crime involved |
in the combination is wEgng war on the State |
or treason.
A very common d. tniIion of law is: "A rule |
of action laid down or prescribed by a super
ior." Now we must admit that organized So
ciety, which we call the state, is superior to
the individual and can prescribe laws for all
the individuals composing the State. By the
same definition, what is called mob-law is not
law at all; it is not rule of action laid down or
prescribed by anybody; it is simply the will If
combination of men put into execution. A
mob is not superior to any body, and therefore
is not capable of prescribing rule of action to
anybody.
Men qualified for civilization, living in CON-
munity without law, and without recognized
superior capable of prescribing and enforcing
rules of action, may with prcpriety prescribe
and enforce quasi laws FOR SELF protection: but
under any organized government, any comb.
nation of mtn, other than the Jaw-making
power, attempting to override the law of the
land and to substitute for it any rule of action
not prescribed by superior" is treason to
the State. No organized government can af-
ford to treat lightly any attempt, however
feeble, which tends to impair or destroy law.
To impair the basis Of an organization is to i'm
pair the organization itself; to tolerate mob law
s to endanger organized government wherever
such government exists.
The delays and uncertainty of law are often
urged against it, without due consideration.
ia pba orc IF h,,p |
trivances. and some delay is Necessary for the
safe execution of human law. 1t requires
some time to think; it requires more time to
reach the sober thought, !" which 10 mostly not
the first. 1t requires more time to gather the
necessary facts and to compare thoughts one
with another.
Mob-law may have both speed and certainty;
and SO has the cannon ball, which flies direct 70 |
its goal, 'shattering that it may be and shatter-
ing what it reaches" The safe administration
OF law calls for 1.-THE open, the fair trial and the
impartial judge In the box, and on the bench"
If other communities prefer mob-law and
cannon balls, they can ha I'VE them by all means;
but as to this community. it is entitled to the
safe conservatism OF the law; it has a right to |
look to you and to me for protection from the
horrors and perlls OF mob.law. charge you,
as earnestly as am capable of doing. nat it is
your duty to afford that protection, and
charge you to perform the duty, according to
your oath, without fear, favor or affection.
Neither you nor know yet where your duty
may lead, but if you must needs perform your
duty in sorrow, do it honestly, bravely and
manfuiy, and you will be susta aimed by q good
conscience and the ultimate approval of your
fellow ci liens.
I charge you as a matter of law that while a
person charged with a crime is in the custody
of n sheriff, awaiting hearing by the proper
officer. he is. while 80 held, whether guilty or
innocent of the offense charged, in the peace
OF God and of the State" If, while thus in
the peace of God and of the State, the persc n
is taken by force from the custody of law. 10y
Il mob, sni hanged, the ofense thus commit
ted is murder. III the force used to overpower
the sheriff involves an assau upon his person,
his own life and the lives of the
inmates of his house, then the offenss is not
only murder, but in effect of levying of war on
the State. If you find that such IN outrage as
I rave referred to has been committed, it is |
possible as well AS probable that these gagged
in the outrage may claim that they are SO cx-
cessively good and this sensitive goodness was
so stirr.d up by the mere charge of crime |
committed by somebody that they could not
contain themselves, but must needs rush into
murder and wage war on the state rather than
await the tedious process of the law which
their righteous soul revolted against. May
Col and you protect us from goodness
which goes forth in darkness and disguise TO
exploit itself. If mob-law in the hands CT
good people i3 so cruel. what can we expect If
it should get into the hands OF bad people:
If it be true as reported, that an outrage has
been committed in the presence of a consider