The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-02
JUDGE THOMAS CHARGES JURY July Term of City Court
 Began Yesterday. NEW JUDGE ON THE BENCH The Jurors are Reminded of Their Sacred Obligation. Charged That They Must Deal With Rich and Poor Alike-Mr.
 Thomas H. Howe is
 Foreman.
 

The July term of the City Court con- vened at noon yesterday when the Grand Jury was organized and was charged by Associate Judge W. H. Thomas.
 MT. Thomas H. Howe was appointed foreman of the jury, which is com- posed of the following citizens. Thomas Howe, J. l.. Blakey. Abner Phelps. A. L. Barnett, F. M. Boykin. W. T. Chand- Ter, W. l.. Chambliss. c. c. Freeman, W. c. Ray, Jr., c. c. Cobbs, c. A. Chisholm, c. E. Allen, c. M. Robert son, John MizelI. J.. W. Chastain. w. E. Fleming, J. P. Kohn and w. J. Sellers.
 The court appointed MT. Terry M. Richardson Special Solicitor during the absence of Hon. Tennent Lomax in the Constitutional Convention. Messrs. William Whiting and George Jones were appointed bailiffs of the Grand Jury.
 The charge to the Grand Jury by Judge Thomas consumed about an hour. It was the first time the Asso- ciate Judge had officiated in this ca- pacity. His charge was pronounced by those W hoheard 1t to be admirable Judge Thomas carefully went over the ground and outlined to the members of the jury the duties which they are expected to perform. He handled the subject in somewhat of an original manner, and held the closest attention of the jury.
 Thewxcellent charge of Judge Thom- as was the subject of much favorable comment about the Court House yes terday afternoon. He forcibly remind ed the jury of its duty and his vigorous language concerning the violations of law in Montgomery county deeply inn pressed his hearers.
 Judge Thomas charged the jury as follows:
 Judge Thomas's Charge.
 Gentlemen of the Grand jury-The oath you have just taken completes your organization under the law into a Grand Jury of Montgomery County.
 Before entering upon the duties you have thus assumed. it may not be out of place to take a retrospective glance at the origin and importance of this a most material part of the judicial ad ministration of our criminal law. Un- like the provisions or the Great Charta. 1t was mot forced from an unwilling King, but tks growth of personal lib- erty in Anglo-Saxon times, the self protection of a self protecting people.
 
 Wessex. England. under the rule of Ethelred II, who was encouraging the reforms and institutions of his grand father, the great King Alfred, we find that in criminal cases the twelve senior thegns were sworn in the County Court to present mo innnocent man and &C., quit no guilty one." Whether or not this be the actual origin of the Grand Jury, 1t is certain that three and a quarter centuries later, under the reign of Henry II (116S). in the assizes (courtsl of Clarendon and Northamp- ton, twelve lawful men of each hum dred with four from each township were sworn to present those who were known or reputed as criminals within their district for trial. after exami- nation of witnesses against them" Two notifications of a later time brought this jury system to it's mod ern condition: and the security to life, liberty, property and personal reputa- tion that its proper administration guarantees. has found for it a place in the fundamental law of all English speaking people. For the Grand Jury Is the bulwark of protection that beats back the oppression of the weak by the strong; shielding those accused without just cause, and where secret complaint may be made of public wrongs, or which no one dare com plain publicly"
 It is then not only with an apprecia- tion, but a reverence for the wisdom of more than a thousand years. that you should enter upon the discharge of this sacred trust of citizenship. most responsible duty to yourselves and families, to the establishment of jus tice and domestic tranquility, and to the maintenance of the dignity of our great State.
 To do this, you will deal equally and justly with all classes; the rich not more favorably than with the poor, the strong not more carefully than the weak, the black man not more readily than with the white man, and the ig- norant will then have the same ad- vantage as the learned. It is in the proper discharge O. your duties that the strong will be made weak in his wrong doings. that the rich and pow erful will be powerless to use the ad- vantage in an improper manner, that the weak, the ignorant and those not influential, will be strong and wise and enabled to maintain their personal lib- critics and public rights. The even bal anced scales of justice should not be af- fected by the color of mans face, by the bulk of his material wealth, by the might of his influence. but by the purpose of his heart.
 A careful consideration of the oath, that in taking you invoked the witness and help of Almighty God. you cannot "a ii fo know the right from the wrong.