The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-11-21
FEARFUL EVILS
ARE CHARGED BY
THE GRAND JURY
SAY PRISONERS HAVE BEEN
WHIPPED IN JAIL TO ExTORT
CONFESSIONS.
PROFESSIONAL WITNESSES USED
Local Money Lenders Who Are Col.
lecting Usury From Poor People
Come in For Scoring.

Inc forrest county Grand Jury,
empaneled at the beginning of the
present term of the circuit court. fin
ished its labors late Saturday after
noon and made its report to the court.
The report shows that 3O1 witnesses
were examined and forty indictments
returned, and some very strong rec
concentrations made looking to the
correction of certain evils which have
been found to exist in the various de-
partments of the county government,
This report is perhaps the most
comprehensive document ever pre-
sented to Forrest county court, and
shows that the instructions of the
court were followed to the letter. The
following extracts will prove of inter-
est to citizens of this county:
ITO the Honorable Paul B. Johnson,
Presiding Judge:
1--WE the grand jury, for the Novem-
Der term, after completing our labors,
beg to submit this, our final report:
1--WE have examined 301 witnesses
and have returned 40 true bills; we
have investigated all violations of the
law that have been brought to our
attention, but find it very difficult to
obtain evidence on retailing, cocaine
selling and vagrancy.
Justices of the Peace.
1--WE have examined the dockets of
the justices of the peace and find that
the settlements made with the chan
cery clerk are correct. Some of the
dockets are well kept, while others
are kept in very careless manner.
We have examined many cost bills
and find the objection that many wit
nesses are used in minor offenses.
where a few would have answered the
purpose, and find almost invariably
that professional witnesses are used
at each trial. This does not apply to
all the justices of the peace of the
county, as We find few exceptions.
I'VE would respectfully suggest to
the justices of the peace to instruct
officers not to bring in an excess of
witnesses hereafter. We would also
recommend to the county attorney
that he be present at all trials in JUS
tice OF the peace courts to see that
justice be done to both sides; in this
way the evils attendant upon justice
OF the peace trials may be obviated to
a large extent.
Money Lenders.
I'VE find on investigation that there
are several firms in the city doing a
business of money lending, and we
believe that they are charging
usurious rates of interest on small
loans, made mostly to negroes. In
some instances from 80 to 60 per cent !
being charged. We find there Is no
privilege tax imposed on this business
and are unable to determine that they
are criminally liable for usury. We
recommend that steps be taken to
abolish this business, as we believe |
it to be menace to the community,
and would suggest that a legal bureau
be organized by the attorneys of the |
city which would furnish free legal |
advice to victims of money sharks,
in order to enable them to defeat the |
usury practiced by these people by
means of civil suits.
County Farm.
I'VE have visited the county farm
and find it fairly we'll kept as to clean
illness and sanitation, and find that the |
prisoners have sufficient food of its
kind. We have investigated the !
whipping of convicts and find many |
cases where men and women have |
been whipped numerically, and we
recommend tosthe board of supervis-
ors that they have this evil stopped |
and introduce some other mode of |
punishment for infractions of the
rules. We find that in some instances
the convicts are. worked more hours
per day than required by law.
County Jail.
I'VE have examined the county Jail
Continued on Page Five.)
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