The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-08

uldue, suDnit same to the solicitor TOT his examination and approval
 The above recommendation We believe
 will be beneficial in that Q) it will save
 the court large amount of time now consumed in calling such cases for trial
 passing upon demurrers and arguments of attorneys; @ 1t will save the county thousands of dollars; (S) it will enable more frequent settings of cases that can be tried.
 Cases of great importance have been referred to the grand jury from courts of justices of the peace. giving the names of witnesses but giving no addresses or any information for the serving of such witnesses with subpoenas. This appears to be gross negligence. and we insist that such officials give attention to this mat ter. Tn justice to the judges of the Bir- mingham court of common pleas, we wish to say that this has no reference to them. as they are apparently very careful in tliis matter.
 After careful consideration of the needs of the law enforcement branch of our county, we wish to recommend to the people of the county and state, and to our legislature, that provision be made for the solicitor to employ detectives. We have been convinced from our two months investigation of criminal cases that the solicitor is greatly hampered In the administration of his office by not having some one to send immediately to the scene of any crime in order that he, as well as the coroner and sheriff, be ac- quainted at once with the facts. In addi- tion to the above, at present when case leaves the grand jury the solicitor has absolutely no way for his office to keep in touch with the most important cases. It will readily be seen that this places his office at a very great disadvantage in the trial of such cases. As a further need for such an offcaf, we give the fact that under present conditions if the solci- tor finds need of an investigation into certain conditions where no known crime has been committed or no affidavit or warrant issued, he is absolutely depend ent upon the slow and tedious grand jury investigation. and this he cannot make with any degree of thoroughness, as that body has no way to ferret things out un- less the parties affected give them the evidence. It is the opinion of this grand jury that two competent detectives or secret service men should at once be com missioned as a permanent part of the prosecuting machinery of our county; and 1t is our sincere belief that the expense thereby incurred will be far overshadowed by the lasting benefits and added effec- tiveness of the administration of our laws. We believe that the appointment of such officials would greatly deter the would be criminal and would make inn possible the conditions that have existed in the past. It is at present the idea of most people that this duty should be per formed by the sheriff This, however is erroneous It is not his duty to ferret out crime At present there is no one whose specific duty 1t is to do this work an1 we feel that this is a gerat need and should be provided for at the earliest date possible.
 Numerous arresting officers have ap- peared before us in cases where they were summoned as witnesses, who had forgotten all about the case on which summoned. Usually we could refresh their memories to a certain extent, but very few actually remembered the names of the defendant. We suggest that those in authority give positive orders to the arresting officer to preserve such evil | dence as he obtains when he makes the | arrest; that he be required to keep a | book and record therein at the time of making the arrest, the name | and alias or aliases of the defendant, and | the charge on which arrested. This mem | orandum should also show in cases of | larceny full description of the property | recovered, in detail, and the value of each | article. In burglary cases this memor- andum should show in just what manner the defendant broke into the place. These | officers should be required to always | DiilB lHtS DOOk Ol Wlln IteiE | when appearing before the grand jury | and refresh their memories therefrom.
 As a concluding word upon the subject of law enforcement, we earnestly hope this spirit of law enforcement which has | been manifested by jurors recently will continue to abide, to the end that abso- lute justice may be done to the common wealth as well as to those charged with | crime. only when our jurors do their | full duty and render decisions according | to law and evidence. refusing to be in- hueneed by sympathy and passionate ap- peal will Jefferson county be purged of | the red handed criminal and human life valued at its proper worth. Now is the time for every good citizen to rally to the support of the peace and dignity of our county and give the murderer his just deserts.
 Bloody Beat 22
 We have found 30 true bills in Beat % and 50 murder cases: five no bills, and have examined PAT witnesses. As to the with which we have gone into this matter, we call attention to the | recent convictions, being three for death | sentences, two for life sentences. and no acquittals. We found from evidence be- fore us that absolute fear of a certain | lawless element has heretofore caused | good citizens of this district to absolute ly commit perjury rather than give evil | dence against murderers, and these wit i nesses would not testify until the ring | leaders and majority Of these murderers | were safely locked behind jail doors and | a network of evidence had been woven | around them which practically amounted l to a guarantee that they would never again | enjoy even a few hours of freedom. We found that these murderers had profes- | sional alibi witnesses and bondsmen. and 1 killed absolutely without cause and, we believe. in some instances, merely to have the pleasure of seeing a negro jump when one of these crack marksmen had shot true to the mark and struck a vital spot. We believe that the professional bond making machinery for this lawless crowd has been destroyed. We further believe conditions will now be better in these beats, but we most earnestly urge a close and vigiant surveillance of these beats by our officers, and especially with regard to keeping down blind tigers" We found that a large number of these crimes were committed when the mur- derers were under the influence of liquor.
 We extend thanks to our governor the Hon. Emmet O'Neal. for the valued aid extended us in the prosecution of these cases. We also extend our thanks and congratulations to the sheriff and his dep uties: and to the chief of police of the city. of Birmingham and his detectives for their efficient and untiring efforts in ob- taining evidence and making arrests in these cases.
 Gaming
 We have returned five true bills for keepinp gaming tables and no billed three