The leader., 1902-05-07

of the people in the county, am sat
isfied you are going onward and up
ward on the great highway OF pros
perity.
l can remember when in other parts
Of the State they used to speak oi
this part Of the country, and the south
east part of the State as the COW coun
ties and the piney woods and tar
heelers and all of that sort of thing
as terrible reproach; but, gentlemen
today this section of the country has
become the most prosperous part Of
the State, and what used to be tern
Of reproach is now good advertise
ment for the investment of capita
from other places. You want peace
able county; you want, gentlemen, tt
leave to your children, a country where
every body can live in peace, and where
every man can pursue his usual avoca
tion without molestation from any
body else.
Now it remains with you, gentlemen
to determine whether or not you will
have that sort Of people; whether you
will have that sort of county. You
are the only authority recognized by
law by which men guilty of felony car
be punished, because unless you pre-
sent them there is no other authority
known to the law which can bring
them before the courts. You ought to
gentlemen, and doubtless do remem
Der that you are an important part
the most important part Of the court
1t is not my court. 1t is not the dis
trict attorneys court. 1t is no par
ticular mans court; but it Is the peo
ple's court. 1t is your court. 1t is
the court that the honest people OF
the county look to for protection, sc
in the discharge of your duty you
ought to divest yourselves as much as
possible of all things that might lead
you astray from the true and correct
path of right. You ought to know nc
man, high or low, rich or poor, in the
discharge of your duty. Don't let ii
be said that some man, because he
was strong politically, or strong finan-
cially, or strong for other reasons was
able to escape the punishment of his
crime at the hands of the grand jury
Don't let it be said that any man who
is weak or feeble and without influ-
ence, was punished because he had no
influence with the grand jury. Don't
let any private malice, gentlemen
prompt you in the discharge OF your
duty. If any man comes before you to
indict party because, and for that
cause alone, that he did not like him
don't regard his complaint, If 1t is only
that motive he has and there is nothing
else in it, and don't let any man in
fiuence you in the discharge Of your
ka se, tn N nf hn
party, and don't let man persuade
you to fail to indict party simply
because he happens to be his friend
The good people Of the county, gentle,
men, are at last on top. There is nc
doubt about that. l believe you will
have a smaller criminal docket at this
term than at any other time during
the previous history of this court
since have been connected with it.
l believe we have had but one killing
in the county since the last term oil
this court, and this by a man who
don't live here. We had to import a
criminal into the county. That breed
gentlemen, seems to have been ex-
tinguished or reformed.
1t is true it seems like harsh treat.
ment to have to hang man or to send
a man to the penitentiary; to have to
infiict the penalty of the law ON, a
party; but, gentlemen, when the
preachers cannot save them by moral
suasion, when the schools do not edu
cate them to the proper morality, then
the courts have to come in and use
little force. And you are the fnal
arbiters to whom the people have &c
appeal, when every other method is
exhausted, to vindicate the law.
l shall expect you, gentlemen, te
look into the various crimes and mis-
demeanors in the county, because
kwhile, as ] have stated, We have 70
formed considerably, these sort Of