The leader., 1905-08-02
REPORT OF LAUD.
ERDALE GRAND JURY.
HOW It RESPONDED TO JUDGE
COCHRAN'S ABLE CHARGE.
Highly Praised by the Court for lis
Good Work.

hensiye Charge in Wednesday i
Leader will be interested in the
following report of the Lauder
dale county grand jury, showing
how it responded to the strong
appeal madesto it by the court:
To the Hon. r. +. Cochran,
Judge of the Tenth Judicial
District of the State of Missis-
sippi:
THE grand jury desires to
commend to the public the persls-
tent and courageous efforts of
your honor to establish the maies-
! ty of the law, and to dissipate the
tendency to the open violations of
law through makeshifts and sub
terfuges. We sincerely believe
that if the law-ablding people Of
the county will line up with the
court in his effort to put down
crime in all of its forms, the day
will soon come when the haunts Of
the wicked and the miserable
dives Of iniquity which shape the
destiny of our youths to misfor-
ltune and ruin, will be transform
led into homes uf industry and
happiness and good citizenship,
and chastity will take the place Of
lhoboism and harlotism. We find
there is a strong disposition to
shield this class of offenders from
surprising sources, and when we
find that from that class comes the
most startling menace TO society
land the moral safety of those who
Ecome after us, we can not. be too
! profuse in our praise of the court
for its manly efforts to stay the
impending danger to society that
must surely result from nonen-
| forcement of the laws of our State.
In making our report, we beg
! leave to say that we were forced
to adjourn leaving considerable
unfinished business, but during
1.-THE seventeen days we have been
lin session we have examined 284
] witnesses, and returned 2l8 in
| dictments. The majority of these
indictments have been for unlaw-
| full retailing, and we are much
surprised that this growing evil
is not confined to the city Of Me-
ridian alone, but is found in all
parts of the county. An inspec-
tion of the indictments will show
that quite a number were return
ed against vendors of a drink the
sellers claim will cheer but not
inebriate, but which appears to
us to be a cheap kind of beer. y
Eve find that the city goveM-
ment has been permitting an open
traffic of this drink without in}er-
i ference. The mayors docket OF
the city of Meridian shows that
frequently a fine would he entered
Eagainst thu keepers of tile houses
lof sill-fame and some Of the small
fry (mostly Regrocsl for detailing,
| but the wholesale dealers in this
line seem to have escaped the eyes
of the city government, but this
lgrand jury has found ample evi-
dence to return several bills
against these wholesalers, and,
while we do not make the specific
charge, yet this oversight may
have been caused by the liberal
dispensing of intoxicants among
| the police force about holiday
times, fact to which nearly all
testified, and, while none knew
i for certain where these intoxi-
cants came from, but with one Oh
two exceptions, all believe that it
came from the same dealer. 1t
was the intention of this grand
Jury to carefully examine the
j dockets Of the different justices OF
the peace of the county, but for
/ the lack of time, we were unable
to 90 into this matter, but we
we're confronted with the fact
while investigating other matter
that there was at least one grave
miscarriage of justice ID COM
/ mitting trial; in one case, the wit
nesses for the State testified be-
fore the grand jury that they we're
| present in justice court but were
! not introduced, when, If their tes.
timony had been before the court,
lat least one party would have been
| bound over and required to give
4 bond to answer an Indictment
4 found by this grand jury, but
at this trial be was discharged.
We recommend that your hon
or at the next session specially
charge the grand jury on this sub
/ ject, and also specially charge
| them to look into the question Of
4 the condition and treatment Of
Iconvicts on the county roads, an.
lother subject this grand jury had
to omit on account Of limited
ltime.
/ After your honor's second
lcharge on the question of yagran-
Icy, we summoned before us every
member of the police force in this
lefty Of Meridian, and, after close
Eexamination, only obtained the
name of one woman of this class,
and while the city code requires
the policemen to familiarize them
selves as far as possible with the
names Of the different inhabitants
of the city, yet it was a very no.
ticeable fact to this grand jury
THAT the police bad overlooked
this part Of their duty in the ten
derIoin district, and. while they
knew the names Of the landladies
they we're wholly ignorant Of the