The leader., 1905-07-26

my policy, they must keep their
names of of the assessment rolls;
mean the criminal docket. The
biggest humbng that the devil has
lever yet gotten off on the people
Is that the good people should be
taxed to pay the expenses of
criminal courts ID order to keep
terminals from oyerthrowing
civil government.
sAnother trouble I'M the way
of the enforcement Of the crimi-
l nal law il your public officials.
# every public official in this
county, from constable up, would
do bis duty, there would not be
| the slightest trouble in enforcing
the criminal law. 1t ii the i'm
lperative duty Of each and every
one of them to assist the courts
in the administration of the Grim
inal law, and Notwithstanding
this solemn obligation resting
upon them, it is still true that
too many Of them are in league
with the devil and endeavoring to
throttle the courts in the admin
istration of the law. They will,
every one Of them, tell the peo-
1 pie when they are soliciting their
votes, that they are against crime
land criminals, but just as soon as
they get in office, too many Of
them 60 over to the devil and be-
tray the people. Iknow a pub
lie official who will pray in
church on Sunday, run with the
DEVILS crowd on Monday, and
while with them criticise the
Judge for saying SO much about
crime because it hurts the county,
and always holIers to suit the
crowd he is with. It seems to
me that such a public official is a
religious snollygoster, moral
hermaphodite, apolitical Siamese
twin, one-half God Almighty and
the other half devil; one hand out
to catch the votes of the good
people and the other hand out
raking in the votes Of the devils
crowd, endeavoring all the time
to bring about dog fall be-
tween God Almighty and the dev.
il in the enforcement Of the Grim
inal law. What ought to be done
with such an official fraud and
humbug9
1t is the imperative duty Of
every good citizen to 60 before
your body and inform against
criminals without waiting to be
summoned. know that the de-
vii whispers into the ears of the
people that if they do this they
will be regarded as informers,
but | want to say that any man
who will listen to any such sug-
gestions is wearing the halter Of
the devil. If your house is on
fire you will use superhuman eff
forts to extinguish the flames; you
will call on your neighbors to as
sist you in your efforts. The
criminal is endeavoring to de-
stroy the security to your home
and your family, and why should
any man hesitate about discharg-
ing his duty to save his home and
his family from the ravages Of
the agents Of the devil? If every
man in Lauderdale county who
claims to be good citizen, would
lgo before the grand jury and in
form you of the violations of the
law in their respective communi
ties, we would run the devil out
of this county at this term of the
court.
aAt the very threshold Of your
investigations you will meet with
the perplexing problem Of the
integrity Of human testimony,
and you will there encounter the
devils first line of breastworks.
1t is a sad fact that perjury to-
day is ,sapping the moral man
hood of the people and throttling
/ the administration of the crimi-
nal law. The otfense is d felony
under our statute. punishable by
imprisonment in the State peni-
tentiary, but the law is simply q
dead letter in the criminal code.
This is true for the reason that il
lis not enforced, just as all stat
utes will be if not enforced. a
witness summoned before your
body who desires to shield d Grim
inal does not hesitate to commit
1 perjury, for the reason that he
feels that he will never be prose
cuted for his crime. I do not
remember that / have ever seen d
man convicted Of perjury. He
is the most insidious foe ever yet
commissioned by the devil; be
seeks to balk and thwart all judi
cial inquiry after the truth, on
which the very fabric Of our So
ciety rests. ! instruct you to
make special Investigations to dis
cover the commission Of this
lcrime, and | want to assure you
that every perjurer convicted III
this court will receive the maxi