Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1908-03-05

ever heard in this county. He
said:
1T may not be amiss to look this
situation with which the court is
confronted straight in the face. 1t
perhaps may not be SO much OF
All offense viewed from one stand
point, to sell a glass Of beer or a
drink of whiskey. Greater crimes
than that are committed every day.
and if this question was simply
one of dealing with the sale of a
single glass of beer or whiskey, the
Court wovld not be confronted
with very difficult proposition.
This court has been in session
quite a length of time. The judge
Of this district. Hon. E. B. Goss,
ordered a special term and called a
Grand Jury. That Grand Jury
has acted, They have investigat-
ed certain condition that have ex-
listed in this county. They found
certain indictments. In some in
stances the parties who were in
dicted were found not guilty. |
have now been holding this term
for period of about two weeks
and half, and I think that nearly
all the trials involving violations
of law, as indicated by the Grand
jury have came before me. l have
tried to patiently and carefully un-
derstand the situation which has
confronted, not only the Court,
but for some time the officers Of
the law in this county, which was
presented to the Grand Jury, and
later sifted by the accurate rules
of evidence which obtain in the
trial Of a case before petit jury.
Is this controversy, which appears
charged in these four indictments,
simply question of selling a glass
of beer? l think not. There is
something back Of all the acts
charged here taken as a whole.
OF course each case has it's own
peculiar condition and the actors
are very different. but taken as a
whole this means III the largest
sense q defiance of law. In many
instances of the grossest and worst
order. Take the Buford matter
for instance. What has been
before the court here from day to
day? The court has seen in one
instance that property has been
destroyed; persons have been in
jured. The jury in that case said
the defendants tried were not
guilty, yet the fact remains that it
was done, and these places against
which the law inveigs SO strongly
are the very nesting grounds of
of such acts Of violence as we all
know was committed in the village
Of Buford. Do you wonder that
the Legislature in it's wisdom has
said that all places where persons
resort for the purpose Of drinking
intoxicating liquids as beverage
are common instances? Why
have they said so? Because they
know, and the experience of ages
has demonstrated that those places
are the very ones where crime Of
all nature is conceived and from
which it is carried out. So you
can see, gentlemen, that this is not
simply the question Of the sale of
glass of beer. Not by any means.
We have very much larger pro-
position and the Court is confront
ed with condition which has ex-
listed in this state, which is blot
upon the fair name name of North
Dakota. I love the state of North
Dakota, I love its fair name and
so do you. You regard it Just as
high as do [. Far be it from me
at this moment because l have the
power to punish to lay one straw
upon the backs of you four men
that you ought not to bear. But
when the court sees after having
sat here for two weeks and half
that these dens and places have
brought the fair name of Williams
county into disrepute by virtue OF
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