The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-15
Did They Tell Grand Jury?

in its quietness and order
 Did They Tell Grand Jury?
 "A good many of the signers of this petition appeared before the Septem- Der and January grand juries. Why is it that they did not tell to the grand juries what they are now alleging.
 q expect to make 1t my business to see that every slgner of this pe- tition is summoned to appear before the April grand jury to give all the evidence in their Knowledge concern burg beat. By saying that l will see that they are summoned l want to say that they will be there.
 The signers of this petition are like the citizens of many other parts of the county, Birmingham included, who delight in giving me all the informa ton they can, but maintain that 1t is ''graveyard' and always say Don't mention me in it; I don't want to be known Now what is the sheriff to do? If he arrests man for selling whisky. he is doing it for fees; if he doesn't, he is not doing his duty. He is between the devil and the deep blue sea: he'll be damned if he does and he'll be damned if he don't The courts hold that there must be two witnesses to such a sale of whisky before they
 
 and even then sometimes 1t is difficult to convict It is even more difficult to get the witnesses.
 Since I have been sheriff of Jeff ferson county there has not been more than half a dozen citizens of Jefferson county who have been to me and hao the nerve to swear out warrants against a blind tiger operator for illegally sell ing whisky The sheriff has never mad recommendation in tha of blind tigers from the citizens of Jeff ferson county.
 Do People Want Law Enforced?
 DO the people of Jefferson county want the liquor law enforced? If so, they haven't shown it by their CO., operation. and 1t takes cooperation and public sentiment to enforce any law.
 Since December 1, 1911, I have had five of as true, rageous, trustworthy and reliable deputies as can be had anywhere devoting practically their en- tire time to ferreting out the many re- ported crimes in Lewisburg, Arcadia, Coalburg and Cat Mountain, namely, Henry Cole, John Potts, J. C. Harts- field, F. H. McDuff and c. T. Helton. made two trips to Montgomery and induced Governor ONeal to offer the maximum reward of S400 for the ar rest and conviction of the slayer of Lawrence B. Evans, and have supple mented this reward by s200 from my own pocket And yet the mystery of his death Is still unsolved. Can 1t be the fault of the deputies. inasmuch as this inducement has been added to their natural desires to punish the guilty?
 These five deputy sheriffs are at the disposal of the, solicitor, the courts and the special attorney appointed by Governor ONeal in se<reting out the many crimes in that territory. No ex- pense nor time will be spared in bring ing the guilty parties to justice"
 Received No Petition
 Governor oNeal stated last night that he had not received petition from residents of Beat 22, this county, urg- ing that he take action toward clean ing out" that community of it's alleged bad characters.
 "A gentleman, giving his name as said the governor, interviewer me this afternoon, petitioning that I do something. I told him that it was inn possible for me to appropriate any funds for the employment of detec- tives and that I could not go out there and clean up conditions myself
 q have the power 70 employ special attorneys to aid in the prosecution of cases, and in connection with cases in Beat 22 I have already an attorney to assist the state.
 The condition is exceedingly bad have been informed, and the state will always stand ready to take ju- dicious action whenever such is neces- sary."
 It is said to be probable that the petition of citizens of Beat 22 as pub f-t,z | morrow.