The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-04-09
JURY SERVICE
A SACRED DUTY
so SAYS SAN ANTONIO JUDGE IN
NSTRUCTING JURY.
Good Citizens Should Not shirk Jury
Duty as Safety of Society Depends
on Suppression of Crime-Triumph
of Good Government.

of Good Government.
Good citizens sometimes forget,
in the chase after the almighty dol
lar, the duty they owe their state
and themselves to serve on juries,
said Judge Edward Dwyer of San
Antonio in transmitting to the grand
jury a special charge which conveys
a telling reminder of the high i'm
portance of jury service.
eff good citizens evade jury serv-
ice, said the Judge in the course of
his charge. 'and when made to serve
become disinterested and sulk and
imagine they are being imposed upon,
and give a half-hearted service, tell
you the community is in danger and
yiolator of the law laughs at your
officers-whOm they know are pow
erless without the law-abiding, re-
spectacle citizens willingly serve on
the jury and see to the proper en-
forcement of all laws.
The machinery of this Govern
ment is so framed that the citizens
must enforce the law, first on the
grand jury, then on the petty jury,
and if they evade service by puerile
excuses they hav no on to blame but
themselves if thir laws go amiss. Most
citizens imagine they are losing time
and money by giving a few days of
jury service to their country but they
are penny wise and pound foolish,
for in that short time, if unselfishly
given, in enforcing their laws and
helping to uphold good government,
they are aiding to make safe their
lives, their liberties and their proper
ties.
Triumph of Good Government.
Again, the upright citizen has
high regard for his oath and when
ever he answers questions either for
jury service or from the witness
stand, is most careful to speak truth
fully from his heart and good con-
science. And when taken on the jury
the good citizen will try the case ac-
cording to the law and the evidence,
using his best judgment and good
conscience in arriving at a verdict.
Grand and petit jurors must leave
their friends and prejudices outside
Of the jury room and must find things
truly as they come to their under
standing. Then will crime be les
sened and good government triumph
You have been selected from the
vast citizenship of Bexar County as
representative citizens to constitute
the grand jury for the March term
of this court.
You have been chosen as men
that would measure up to your re-
sponsibilities and faithfully discharge
all duties as grand jurors. To be so
honored is no small compliment for
from you must emanate all felony in
dictments before such violations of
the law can be prosecuted. | charge
you, therefore. to do your full duty in
the interest of good government and
society.
No Compromise With Crime. =
There have been, | am sorry to
say, various crimes committed since
the last grand jury adjourned, which
will require your immediate atteff-
ton, including murder, rape, assaults
to murder, burglary, robbery and
against the laws of God and man and
protect the life and property of all
good citizens. There must be no con-
doning or compromise with crime.
You are not sitting as board of par
dons, but as part of a judicial ma
chinery to see that justice is done be-
tween man and man and the State of
Texas, and that alone is possible by
seeing that all violations of the law.
without exception, are promptly and
speedily punished. There is too much
murder-too much rape, too much
shooting on the least provocation, too
many burglaries and thefts-and you
must help us to stop all of this by
consistent and certain prosecution.
When the offenders of the law are
made to learn that the grand jury
will indict and that petty jurors will
convict when not excused or iustifi- /
able, then and not till then will crime
cease to be so rampant and the citi-
zens be secure of life. liberty and
property.