The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-02-04

explained away. Witnesses were not
to be called merely to dispute evi.
dence OF witnesses sworn. One side
alone was to be considered unless there
twas reason to believe that the charges
could be explained away.
Represents All Parts of the County
A grand jury represents all parts OF
the county, and if the members will
iObcy the statute that requires them Ia
inform the jury of transgressions al
the law that they Know of. Ii grand
'jnries obeycd this statute, there would
he fewer transgressiOns of the law
Grand juries sometimes seem i'll too
great a hurry to get through and GO
home or to save expense TO the county
ibut this is wrong. Sufficient time
lshould be taken to look into everything
| Must Keep Proceedings Secret.
| No official should be present during
discussions of the grand jury, and each
member should keep secret how the diff
ferent members vote, in order that
juries may act more Independently and
lfearlessly. A grand juror shall not
be questioned as to his acts as a
juror, except in case of charge of
perjury. No Indictment should be re-
turned unless at least twelve Jurors
concrrred in it.
Some Plain Talk.
Having charged the jury as TO the
law, Judge Quinn addressed it in a
very serious manner, and gave it such
a charge as has never before been
heard in this county. lie said, in sub
stance:
II regret very much to be compelled
to call your attention to certain mat
tiers that seem to exist in your COM
immunity If there is one thing above
| all others that the citizens are deeply
interested in, it is the faith that they
irepOse in the courts and the machinery
Of the law. A conviction seems to have
arisen here that seems to have called
these into question, and to such an
extent that q mass meeting has been
| held by Il dissatisfied community, be-
cause it believed that in some way,
somehow, the wheels of justice in this
county have been interfered with. 1t
can be said that this feeling exists
here, notwithstanding the fact that
we regret it more than anything else,
land this sentiment has given rise IL
some terrible accusations on officials
OF the court, county attorney, jurors,
and all connected with the machinery
of the law.
Make Thorough Investigation.
| "No one regrets this more than |
county. Such condition has never
arisen before, and l hope never will
again. l refer to this because you
have your duty to perform in cOnnec-
ton with these matters, and you are
| to do it without fear or favor. You
should subpoena those persons who
have made charges and examine them
and compel them to repeat their seatc-
ments and to give the source of them,
and then follow this up no matter
where it leads.
| eff the wheels of Justice have been
hanpered by outside interference, we
ought to know it and determine who are
the guilty parties, and the only place
to determine it is in the courts. There
fought not to he any interference with
| the courts, and every man should stand
| in the same light as every other man
1 before them.
"Whcn crime has been committed in
1.-THE county, the grand jury should make
such a thorough investigation that the
guilty parties may be brought to JUS
| tice. You should be governed by the
Testimony OF the witnesses and not by
lrumors. You must not for one mo-
lent 60 out upon the street and fill
yourselves up with gossip, and come
back and act upon that. but you
should go to the bottom OF every ono
Iof these charges. If you find that
Iany criminal laws of the state have
been violated, you should do youl
duty.
Duty of the Courts.
"Courts are established to minister
the law and enforce its execution, the
law is the only standard by which
Judges and jurors can be governed, and.
lin acting either as grand or trial
Jurors you should be governed by the
law and by the evidence.
THE only protection to life, liberty
land property OF the citizens is in a
prompt, honest and impartial enforce
ment of the law, and, if either
grand jury or trial jury, or the court
itself or any of its officers, intention
ALLY and wrOngfully disregard the law,
!or Intentionally neglect in any way
TO do their duty then the law becomes
useless, so far as the investigation into
crime is concerned, and our court houses
and jails might as well be torn down
and the Offices of judge, clerk and
sheriff and all other machinery neces-
sary for the administration of the
law abolished.
ut is necessary and essential to the
preservation of society, that law be en-
forced, especially where acts of vio-
lence have been DONE If we should
preserve society and the rights Of
.,,I