The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-26
Mr.. J. S. COLLINS REPLY
TO REV A. M. WILLIAMS.
Jury Commissioners Says Some
Things to Trinity's Pastor.

Jury Commissioners Says Some
Things to Trinity's Pastor.
Editor Morning News: Kindly per-
init the use Of your columns for the
purpose of making a statemeit to the
public relative to the jury commission,
and in answer to Rev. A. NJ. Williams
attack in a speech delivered in Trinity
Church, Sunday, last, rejecting upon
that body. / was appointed1A mem
Der of the jury commission without
any solicitation on my part and enter
ed upon my duties with but one idea,
and that was to perform them in a
conscientious, straightforward and i'm
partial manner. l attended the first
session of the board and 1 discovered
for the first time that there was but
one member who had served heretofore,
who was in a position to give the mat
ter any of his time. There was one
other member, though, appointed pos
sibly two years ago, who was called
from the deliberations of the commits
sion on business to New York.
The first act of the board was to
select a chairman. Mr.. w. s. Rock
we'll being the senior member of the
board and having had previous exper-
fence it was determined without the
slightest friction that as a matter of
courtesy he should be made chairman,
and this was consumated without any
difference of opinion; whereupon we
Immediately entered upon our duties of
the revision of the jury list The
chairman of the board, with the assist
ance of the clerk of the Superior Court,
who is an ex-officer member as L I'M
derstand it, gave us the benefit of their
judgment as to the actions of our pred
ecessors, and without discussing,
which l cannot do under my oath, the
acts and doings of the commission, 1
can say truthfully that the work was
proceeded with without fear favor or
affection for anyone.
l was personally present at fourteen
out of sixteen sittings of the commits
sion and l never saw the slightest dis
position on the part of a single MEM
Der of the board to deViate in the
slightest degree from his duty as a
commissioner and in accordance with
the law under which he was acting
There may have been, in the course of
the examination of the digest, the
omission of the names of certain gentle
men from the jury list, and the adj
dition of others in their place, upon the
theory that 1t was necessary, under
all the circumst ances, to remove some
in order to place others on the list.
In this the commission may have erred,
although l have no positive recollec-
ton of this being done, nor did l give
same any thought whatever. 1 did
conceive it to be entirely proper that
where numerous jurors had served for
many years, many of whom had re-
Quested to be relieved from duty, that
they should be relieved and others put
in their places, and possibly, some
gentlemen on account of over age OF
for other reasons, may have been re-
moved; but any attempt to make it
appear that the jury commission used
its authority in anything but a proper
manner is unwarranted and untruth-
full.
l note with deep regret a most I'M
warranted attack upon the jury COM
mission in the speech made by Mr..
Williams in Trinity Church. Person.
ally l have the highest regard for
clergymen and feel that it is their duty
to better. if possible, the moral condi-
lions which exist in any community in
which they may reside, and am not
averse to honest criticism, no matter
whether it emanates from one denomi-
nation or another. but when a clergy
man takes advantage of his position
and makes statements which are alb
HCANAOAy " 4NHO0N AOunQdllOn, L
him no better than anybody else, and
no less subject to being required to
account for his acts and doings. Mr..
Williams, from some cause unknown
TO me, has thought proper to criticise
severely the jury commission, and to
make statements which are not only
unfair. but unchristianlike and untrue.
Now, Mr.. Williams, you intimate,
more than intimate, in your Sermon
That citizens who believe in furnishing
gambling and violations of the liquor
laws, We're purpOsely eliminated from
the jury list in order that there should
be no more prosecutions for such vio-
Iations of the law. This was the i'm
preston you evidently intended to
convey. Do you know who are on
the new grand jury list, as made UP
Dy the present commissioners? Did
you make the slightest effort to find
out who are in the box from which flu
ture grand juries viii be drawn?. Did
you make any honest endeavor to as
certain whether there was any foun-
dation for your charge? Or did you
simply out of a desire to turn a
point seize on what you considered a
grand opportunity to roast" some
one-to earn some applause from I'M
thlhklng persons not aware of the
true conditions?
Is it not true that you did not
make a single effort to get at the
lacts? That you did not care what