Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1902-02-22
Grand Jury RenOrt.

true bills. We have endeavored to
make thorough and painstaking inves-
tigation, We have had before us wit.
nesses from every village and hamlet in
the county, men who stand as the best
citizens OF the county. men who we
supposed not only wanted lawlessness
suppressed, but who had the courage to
speak to speak the truth. That we have
found bnt few indictment. we think
speak, we'll for our county as a law
abiding people.
The public roads in the prairie Sec
ton were found to be in better condi
ton than usual at this season of the
year, but in the section west of the Nox-
ubee the roads are reported to be in a
deplorable condition. After due allow
ance is made for lack of labor and fa-
cilities for working the roads in this
part Of the ounty, we are Of the opin-
ion that not single overseer in this
section has done mis- duty; not one has
worked the ten days in the manner pre-
scrined by law We have thought best
to return no indictment against these
men, but unes, there is amendment In
the future nothing else will he left to do
We think, if the members of the Board
of Supervisors for the several districts
would pay especial attention to this mat
ter in the months of August and Sep,
TENDER each year there would be de-
cided improvement in this important
matter. AT present the system is but
little more than farce.
The fail is inadequate for the needs Of
the county The floors are old and in a
decaying condition The room in W 1ich
colOred male prisoners are confined is
entirely too small, the iron cage taking
up large part of the space, We think
there should be another room added tic
the Jail and water closets provided The
present arrangement for sleeping is fol
the bedding to be spread on the floor il
the accumulated dust and filth Of the
day, thus menacing the health Of every
inmate. We believe in economy but il
can reach the point where it is mora
crime. We think economy in other
branches of the public service would
give more money for those things where
human health and human life are in.
vo we'd
The poo house was inspected in q
body Everything seemed 10 be properly
attended to, The unfortunate innate'
are well fed and clothed. The county
provides physician at public expense
for them and it is reasonable to suppose
they have proper attention from this
source. The majority who go there are
nearly dead with disease before hey q
and the most that can be done for then
is to alleviate their sad lot
A committee of our body appointed tt
examine the books of the various county
officers report that they find them pro
perry kept and so far as they could as.
certain, all officers were under good an(
sufficient bond, We would imp eos up
on our tax-assessor the Importance G
getting ali of the educable children OF
the roll. The state distributive fund il
apportioned to the counties upon thu
basis of the edncable children in eacl
and it can be seen at a glance that TIN
least negligence on the part of the asses
sor or his deputies will result seriousl.
to our public schools.
We have examined the dockets of tn
justices of the peace and find many o
them very poorly kept, but they have, a
a rule, discharged the duties of thei
office faithfully. We would urge upo
them to be on hand the first day c
c1urv. Frequently valuable time l
losr by thes officers not reporting SO ii
to give the grand jury the benefit G
their knowledie, There have been sey
eral palpabIe instances of this kind dur
ing the sitting of the present grand jury
While lawiessness of many kind
seems to be on the increase we regrt
that gambling in its various forms
seems to be increasing at rapid rate
The dealing i'll futures has permeate
every cla> If society aud business. Ii
bane, ul effects can be seen on ever
hand, Poker playing tmons the MS
gentry and ''craps among the colore
street Arabs is very prevalent, bnt 1t
impossible to reach it by a grand jury
The first lesson taught seems to be thu
of perjury Men who stand well betor
the world will come before grand jrr
and swear they have not seen any gam
ing for years, when, perhaps, they al
fresh from gaming table and every OIL
knows it. When the rising generatio
is taught that perjury is honorable
surely, we as a people, are on the dowr
ward road to ruin. The grand jury
the last August term had hardly &C
journed!before some of the most notori
GUS gamblers in the state gathered hel
and the public knows that u game wer
on for an entire week. in which a gre'
deal of mrney was lost and won, and y
not hand was-raised by any officer
stop it. This is but sample Of all sue
violations; not to have known that gar
ing was going on under such circum
stances, one would have to stultify h
common sense.
The nefarious work of numerous lab,
agents is menace to the peace of OF
county. So many laborers have BET
enticed away who have entered in
contracts and drawn supplies for II
present year that the patience and end
rance of the people is worn threadbea
and their temper is such that drast
measures will be used to stop it unle
an end is put to it at once. We won