The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1912-11-29
Judge Hardin's instructions To Grand
Jury Along Entirely New Lines, And
lfFollowed Are Calculated To De-
crease The Prevalence OF
Crime.

ouuSe CHdrleS "A. dafQin IT his IN
structions to the grand jury after
dwelling briefly in general upon the
usual matters in regard to which that
body is accustomed to be instructed,
took occasion to dwell at length upon
the cause Of crime and the remedy
therefor.
Judge Hardin stated that statistics
showed that the United States crimi-
nal record, especially in so far as homi-
eide is concerned, exceeded that of anv
country in the world, and that Kentuc-
XIV ranked well up with any state in
the Union as regards the number of
homicides within her borders annually.
And that the last decade shows an in
crease of homicides in Kentucky, for
the previous decade and that crime
was on the rise.
Judge Hardin stated that the finish.
ed criminal. the murderer and his kind.
were but the natural outgrowth of
lesser crimes, they were trained up to
that point, their associations with
criminals, their environments, their
frequenting of gambling dens, blind
tigers and other dens of vice, by a
slow but sure process lal them up to
the point where they became the finish
ed product, the most vicious of crimi~
nails, who would not hesitate to do any
criminal act, murder included, and that
the crime which is prevalent in, and
which has biackened the fair name of
the state is the natural outgrowth of
these dens of iniquity.
He urged upon the grand jury that
they seek out these evils if possibly,
and wherever found, take steps to put
a stop to their operations, and thereby
take the first steps toward abating the
crimes with which the calenders of the
courts are annually congested. He
urged that the gamblers be sought out,
brought to the bar of justice and their
lairs broken up and put out of exis-
tence; that the blind tigers and their
proprietors be sought with equal dill
gence and wherever found, stringent
measures be taken for their abate.
ment and punishment.
Judge Hardin has certainly struck
the key note, the idea to seek out and
eliminate the cause, and thereby make
the effect impossible, is certainly a
good one, and if his ideas along this
line were taken up and followed out
throughout the state, the gamblers
were made to abandon their nefarious
calling, and either made to seek an hon.
est means of earning a livelihood or
else leave the state; if the blind tigers
were torn out root and branch and their
owners and promoters given the severe
punishment they so richly deserve, then
would we see brighter and better
Kentucky.
Judge Hardin, if he can get the CO.
operation of the citizens, for it is the
citizens that compose our juries, will
eventually bring these evil doors to a
reckoning, and once before the bar OF
justice, they will be so strenuously dealt
with, that they will be glad to either
abandon their calling or accept the
alternative.
The instructions have been made the
subject of very favorable comment
among the class of our citizens who
deplore the existence of such evils,
and the hope is freely expressed that
His Honor will continue along the
course he has chosen to pursue. and
that his efforts will result in much
good. - Ne'