The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-18

gard to the law or evidence. and then sent out under officers, to be sold The officers always got what they could for these so-called convicts, making 1t a point
 to get as much as possible, above. the fine
 and costs. The amount of the fines and
 costs vas then paid to the justices of the peace. and sometimes to the mayors of incorporated towns, and the constables
 put the rest of the purchase money in
 their pockets, as profit. Sometimes the hirer had an arrangement by which he could get hands in this way, having paid
 the justices of the peace a monthly sal- ary. If the purchaser was not thus in- terested. his profit came in getting the la
 Dor for almost nothing, and 1t was more valuable because the persons bought were
 made to perform their tasks by corporal
 punishment. The systematic commission of these crimes in these two localities has gone on for several years. The State au-
 thorities. as we are Informed by State officer who was summoned before us, and
 as we know of common knowledge, have been powerless to punish the offenders.
 because of their Influence. the timidity of
 witnesses, and the unwillingness of jurors drawn in the immediate vicinity, to do , their full duty. We have no means of as- certaining the number of persons who
 have been thus kidnapped and imprisoned
 in these localities during the last few
 years. The number. however. is some
 thing over seventy-five during the past
 two or three years, as near as we can
 judge from the dockets which have been
 in evidence before. us. In some of the
 towns in the two counties to which we
 refer, the charters give authority to the
 Mayor and Aldermen to hire out persons
 convicted in the Mayors Courts, any
 where in the State. No attention seems
 to have been paid to these provisions.
 When persons were convicted, they were
 turned over to some constable, who i'm
 mediately hurried them off to market, and
 sold them to one or two peonage farms,
 whose owners were in need of hands. In such cases, the dockets show no record of the disposition of the defendants, but,
 on the contrary. showed that
 the fine and costs had been
 paid in full and the de-
 fendants discharged, when the facts were,
 to a penoage- farm and when there they
 were lost to the world. The most noto-
 rious of these offenders have pleaded
 guilty and your Honor is acquainted with
 the facts, as to cases tried in the court.
 In finding indictments we have endeav-
 ored to bring to justice, as this was the
 first enforcement of the Federal law, only
 such persons as were guilty of real op-
 pression, or consciously and knowingly
 violated law. We have not preferred in-
 dictments in technical cases of peonage
 where. persons who had made fair con-
 tracts for labor, and had been defrauded
 by laborers. have sought in some in-
 stances to compel performance of the con-
 tract by threats or force. as we are sat-
 isfied the investigations of these cases,
 and the punishment of those indicted, will
 forever put an end to the shameful con-
 dition of things which we are forced to report in the two localities. We have dil-
 igently sought to ascertain, as far as the
 time ad facilities at our command would permit, whether like condition of things exists anywhere else in the district, and
 are gratified to report that the two local- ities named are the only places where such a state of things or anything ap-
 preaching it exists in this district. While the grand jury has been informed of iso- lated instances of peonage. and has in- vestigated them, in none of these cases has 1t found sufficient proof to warrant an indictment. We set out the facts in this report without exaggeration on the one hand, or extenuation on the other. We think the truest friends to our people are those who tell the exact truth, as to these matters. The great body of the
 people in his district. save the very few who are lost to all nense of justice, and wish to profit by oppression, are violently opposed to these practices.
 Our experience as to these matters causes us to concur In the recommenda- | ton once made by the grand jury of this County, that the power of justices of the peace and notaries public with ex-officio | powers. to impose punishment to hard labor should be taken away. All places | where County and city convicts are kept | should be placed under the direct control | and supervision of the State authorities. | The provisions in the charters of cities and towns which authorize convicts to | be hired out anywhere in the State to anybody, should be repealed. As long as these provisions stand. the absuses to which we refer will crop out, and the evils may probably lead to Federal leg islation, unless taken in hand by the State authorities. If these practices con- tinue, they will continue to be redressed | by the courts of the United States. and
 1t Is especially desirable, for many rea- 1 sons. that protector to the person and liberty of the citizens of Alabama, who are also citizens of the United States. should 1 as to these matters, be given in the courts of the State. We feel assured that | the investigations conducted and the in
 dictments found by this grand jury have given the death-blow to what is called peonage, and are gratified to believe that while executing the laws of the United
 States. we have, at the same time, per- formed high duty to our State.
 We desire to return the sincere thanks
 of the grand jury to your honor for the advice and opinion given us. which has greatly aided us in the discharge of our duty. We are also indebted to MT. Reese, , the District Attorney, and his assistants, Messrs. Judkins and Sternfeld. all of l whom have attended on our sessions and l given us valuable aid and advice. It is also due to Captain H. c. Dickey to commend him for the fair and conscien- | tious manner in which he has aided In | our investigations, and the energy he
 has shown in securing information and at | tendance of witnesses. The MarshaPs of | flee has been very prompt in the service | of subpoenaes for witnesses, and giving
 attention to the wants of the grand jury. | Having fully performed our duties, and being advised that there Is no further | business to be laid before the grand jury, | we now respectfully ask to be discharged | for the term.
 J. T. Moses Foreman.