The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-28
A rORCEFUL CHARGE
JUDGE LAKELAND WANTS THE
STATE LAWS ENFORCED.
Almost Every Phase Of Crime, Includ-
ing blind Tigers, was Touched
Oa-GrnnA Jury Em~
pannelled at Linden.

Linden. April .--(Special. Cir
cult Court convened here yesterday at
noon, Judge J. 7. Lakeland. presiding.
Solicitor o. L. Gray IL also present and
assisted In Organising the grand jury.
The grand Jury was completed and
duly organised at 1870. with w. w.
Wynne OF Tombigbee as foreman and
y. l. Quinn OF Linden as baiiiff.
Judge Lakeland delivered q strong
and forceful charge to the body. COM
pleting the charge at 12:45. In his
able charge to the grand Jury, Judge
Lakeland touched upon almost every
phase of crime and also admonished
the twenty-five jurors as TO the great
danger to the citizenship OF the county
In casa either OF them should violate
the sacred and binding oath he had
just taken
After dwelling at length upon the
sacredness Of the iresids and the care
that the grand jury should exercise to
see to II that every citizen Is protected
both A. to life and property interests
they should not istz6yen kinship. by
either blood or ne Hare. with any
law-brsaksrs. deter them from present.
ing any known crime to the body.
though kinsmsn could be excused
from voting upon bill against q
relative. They should present all
known violations Of the laws Of the
land to the grand Jury without fear.
favor or affsction. and keep secret and
invioIate all matters coming before
that body. together with the names
monsd to testify. so far as possible. :,
He said from appearances. the work Of
no grand jury In any county 10 kept
secret or shrouded as II should be.
The court then delivered very In
terestfng and comprehensive special
charge upon several important mat
ters. such as the investigation of all
cases Of q criminal nature appearing
upon the doekets Of the various JUS
tees Of the peace In the county. the
reckless driving Of automobiles upon
weapon cases. etc. go after the pis-
tol-toter.' said the Judge, for in a
civilized country there 10 absolutely
no excuse for a man or youth going
around with a deadly weapon In his
pocket" Many other forms OF crime
were also brought to the attention OF
the grand jury, such as the combination
of citizens In some places to control
the price Of farm products or other
commodities. the violation OF election
laws. betting on elections. violations of
the kNfn0 law tlo AAeA~P1Sb A&Ws ShO
prohibition law. rowdyism and disturb
ances OF public worship. either at
church or while people are on their
way to or from any form OF public
worship. religious work or instruc-
ton.
while charging the grand jury upon
the point Of violations Of the prohibit
ton laws. Judge Lakeland hit blind
tigers very hard and near beer came
in also for hard rap. He asked for
an investigation Of the condition Of the
fine and forfeiture fund Of the county
and related several cases OF other coun-
ties where that fund Is now in a much
more satisfactory condition than IL Is
in Marengo. The bonds of all county
officers should be investigated to see II
the citizens are duly protected against
diabolical prosecutions and malfeas-
anee in ONCE.
The fudge related an incident where
q Keeper Of a blind tiger In certain
county In this judicial circuit had ped
died his mean whiskey among the con-
gregations OF q certain protracted
meeting. He said the man used a
buggy for q tiger and had the vehicle
ntted, out IN splendid style as q regu-
lar rolling saloon. At the church he
was received an an efficient member,
but after services he would lead the
way to HIS little jinrickasha tiger and
proceed to tank up all the rowdies Of
that section on bust-head booze. Con-
ditions there soon became 30 intoler.
able that honest. iaw-abidinK people
were forced to stay away from church
services for fear that fights and blood
shed would occur, and the innocent be
made the victims Of untoward acts.
That blind tiger man soon received
sentence to the coal mines and the COM
munity has been in . much better con-
dition ever since.
When court had been convened after
dinner the Judge ordered the grand
jury to be brought again before him
and he delivered strong special
charge to them on the subject Of gam
ing This charge was one Of the
strongest arraignments Of the Ranb-
ling element that has been heard here
for years. Recently great interest has
been shown by the church people Of
Linden In trying to break UP the ganb-
ling dens that are said to be conducted
at different parts Of town. The action
Of the grand jury along this line Will
be closely watched as many unsuspect-
ing youths are alleged 20 have been
trapped by the cunning operators Of
gambling halls here within recent
months.
The present week Of the court will