The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-04-22

grand jury and it is the story of the ne
gro woman who overheard two men
talking near her window, discussing the
murder, on the night of the crime, dur
ing which one of the men answering to
query said he 'had struck hard enough
to kill" This story has been exploited
and is one of the many suggested in
minds distorted by unpleasant dreams.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE JURY.
As will be noted, the grand jury has
announced that I'VE have Investigated
the Matthews murder case as far as the
testimony before us will permit lis to 60,
and at present have no finding to report
to the court In this respect the grand
jury's conclusion is as the coroner's
jury, with the exception that the cor
oner's jury was more persistent in their
search for clues. It was one of the cor
oner's jury who located Ed Porter. who
was reported to have been shot and
killed as the murderer, and who is in
the aCtlVe neSh today. -'
Having failed to develop the case, it
is possible that this tragedy will go on
the record of great crimes which are
unsolved, and perhaps the perpetrator of
this diabolical deed may shield himself
from the clutches of justice and the law
until he shall have gone beyond the
grave. In this case there are peculiari-
ties which, when analyzed deliberately,
are startling, but, reason as one may.
the motive as the fink IS perplexing. But
as we said at the beginning, the grand
jurors acting on the information before
them, had no clue and groped under diff
ficultles perhaps beyond their control.
THE GRAND JURY ON BLOOD
HOUNDS. =
In their report to the court the grand
jury suggest the necessity of blood
hounds, which, in some cases, would
prove of great value in hunting fleeing
criminal, but blood hounds could not ac-
conplish the impossible The blood
hounds may be ever so thorough and sa-
gaclous in training as to give the most
gratifying results in fields, more or less
open and clear, where once on the scent
they could follow the trail to the end
and capture, but the best dogs would Be
of little value in trailing a criminal
whose tracks have been covered BY.
scores Of people, called TO the scene Of
murder through curiosity. Dogs, unas-
sisted, III a city. could do little good,
and therefore the question Of blood
hounds should be considered in a cor
servatiye sense. The first act on the part
of the legal authorities when murder
has been committed should be to hasten
to the scene, assume charge of the prem
ises, permit no one to go in or out, and
OF secure then and there all the informa-
ton which may be obtained readily, but,
if there is no restraint and everybody be
permitted to go in and out, how can the
best dogs find, take and keep the trail? !?
THE DISTINCT AND FORCEFUL
WORDS OF THE JUDGE.
In his charge to the grand jury Judge
Land said: 'sIt is always ones duty to
submit to lawful arrest, and and forci-
Bile resistance is crime
Truer or more foreeful words could
not have been uttered, but we do not
think their Interpretation to mean that
because man, arrested or about to be
arrested, should try to flee and to escape
should be killed outright. If carried into
execution literally, almost any man
would be at the mercy of an officer who,
if not conservative, moderate and pru-
dent in his action could shoot and kill,
ON the pretext of attempting to escape" "
It will be conceded that when a person
is suspected of guilt and is trying to
escape, that the officer of the law should
get his man. but in this enlightened
century when we are boastful of our civ
ilization, we could not construe and in
terpret this declaration to mean that the
man seeking to escape should be killed,
when he may be crippled and taken
alive. After all, it is a question which
must be left to the representative of the
law who, if he be discreet and if he be
not always ready with his handy pistol,
will moi shoot to kill except in an emer-
gency or in defense of his life, when in
peril. We are led to these reflections on
the belief that an impression has been
created in justification of the killing OF
any man resisting arrest or fleeing from
an officer, when that man could be shot
in the legs or feet or otherwise crippled
and taken and not killed. 1t is a well
known fact, substantially established by
repeated demonstrations, that some men
especially negroes, will run from an of
6cer, thoughtless of his peril in fleeing
which he can not control, and therefort
TO not kill man running from an of.
I