The leader., 1905-05-24

4 u -
on the street, nor are you used to
having a man open blind tiger
just across the road from your
residence. This is the worst blind
tiger ridden town in my district.
Whether the local officers cannot
control it or whether they do not
try, / do not know and / do not
care. 1t is not for me to criticise
these men. But it remains for
YOU people to enforce the law, and
/ it ought not to make any differ
ence who violates this law along
this line, whether it is the gentle
man who runs the drug store and
sells Peruna or SWift's Specific or
Kings Kidney Cure, or whether
it is negro who goes around
loaded with pint bottles in his
clothes, or whether it is a man
who opens up a blind tiger on the
street corner3 since theylare all
violators of the law and ought to
be indicted. | want you, gentle
men of the grand jury, to devote
your attention especially to this
class of crime, for this is the
worst blind tiger county in the
district. There is not another
county in the 9Th district where
there is so much violation of the
law along this line as in this eoun-
ty. | do not mean to say that they
don't flourish elsewhere, but do
mean to say that they seem to be
a little more public here and a lit
tie more numerous than anywhere
else.
You have got nice town here
and there is but one way to keep
it nice and that is to get rid Of all
this blind tiger business. Your
town is improving and you are
progressive; and if you gentlemen
want to make this town one you.
will always be glad to come to-,
you must get together and stop
this blind tiger business. It does
not matter in what shape this
liquor business is run, it is curse
and nuisance and hurtful to any
commgnity, and it is against the
law to sell it in any county here
local option obtains. Brookhaven
is town that belongs to the
whole county; Bogue Chitto is a
town that belongs to the whole
county; and you, gentlemen, have
just as many rights here as the
mayor of the town. OF course,
you have not his privileges as an
ofice1s but you have just as many
other rights and privileges, and
you should feel just as much in
terested in the town as the mayor
does. 1t is where your county
court house is located and it is
where you must come to transact
your official business. You want
to keep 1T morally clean and pleas
ant, so you must investigate this
class of crime. In this town, es-
peciaIly, there is good deal of
complaint from che newspapers
about soda water and things Of
that kind. / do not want to per-
|secute anybody, but if any of
these gentlemen, whether in a
drug store or running soda water
founts, are selling anything that
is Intoxicating, you must indict
them.
| want you to Investigate the
officers, both county and munich
pal, and if they are not-doing
their duty, | want you to indict
them. And ] want to say to you
that,the officer who goes around
the corner or out Of the way to
keep from seeing a violation of
the law, is just as guilty Of neg
Ilect Of duty as the officer who sees
a violation of the law and does not
make an arrest.
And now, if you gentlemen are
bothered with any Of these blind
tiger people out in the country,
whether white or coIored, who
are carrying on these practices, I
want you to investigate each case
and rid the people Of these nui-
sances.
There is another species Of
crime that is very prevalent all
over the county and that is the
habit Of carrying concealed weap-
ons. Pretty nearly every person
/ you meet has pistol ii his poclS-