Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-04-14


and also have them bound over for a
nuisance indictment, ana Wiien tney
p came nm to the supreme court then the
nuisance indictments We're 10 be pre-
| san.ed to the grand Jury and an indict-
| ment found by the grand jury ana pre-
sented to the supreme court, a condi-
t;on which never knew existed in the
state of Maine which ] new sr knew To
he the practise in any other county IN
the state; none of these respondents or
any counsel appeared in coul;t whatso-
ever. but they all allow, that is, if the
iudge doesn't happen to be Favorable
they all allow their several ca ses to be
aofauItad if it is a search and seizure
cast and a mittamus to issue. Now
tbera has been some little attempt put
into this case that brother Hines WAS
responsible or had something to do with
the issuing of those mittamuses, but
ho had 10 admit himself that SO far as
he knew. while there might be some
eases where he requested the m TO is
sl,e he Gid not issue them
IL seems that the sheriff goes on with
tho search and seizure matters and the
county attorney does not have anything
N do with them. but the Sheriff has
hnnn
,nuses and when lie got them collected
in and got what he felt to be the proper
amount of fines. or license, or Whatever
Won wish to call it or prefer to call It,
from the prospective rum sellers, theh
the nuisance indictments We're taken
care of: and that is the way the propo-
sition has been operated over the coun-
~ Now il is those acts and their pro-
secutions during the year lsl2, ana even
IN ,a,, which shows what the meaning
of these prosecutions are in 1913 andd ur-
ing this present term. In 1917 at the
January term. 63 liquor indictments were
found for nuisance, and not single one
of Them so far as the records show, APP
peared at that term of court; and neither
was a scire facias ordered to issue at
that time: I also want to call your atten-
ton to the significant fact that at no
other term until the April term was any
scire facias ordered to issue by the court:
that for the three previous terms in 1871
the court had not felt called upon to ask
him to issue scire facias, and so all
his indictments at the January term go
over to the April term. Then he runs
up against Judge Cornish and he also
indicted some So more nuisance respond
ents at the April term. Then when
Judge Cornish looks over his docket--and
while this was not very direct testimony
because Mr. Hines denied it was stated
to him, but he evidently heard 1t, and |
submit it was a very appropriate re-
mark, that his criminal docket which
contained then about 10 or lis liquor
nuisances and the same number, as he
said, of searches and seizures, resembled
a directory of the rum sellers in the city
of Lewiston; and then, gentlemen, for
the first time did judge of the Supreme
court direct this order of scire facias to
issue, and it appears upon the dockets of
that court for the first time, April, 1872,
after he had indicted all those men in
January and done absolutely nothing
with them-he had indicted all those men
in April and had done nothing with
them, and then Judge Cornish sitting
there said that it was about time for
this to stop, or substantially that, and
directed that he should issue scire facias
i against these several respondents.
Now, gentlemen, it is said that We
have suggested that he might have
brought some of them into court. 1t has
been my practice, and I don't know what
it has been in other counties. but it has
been my experience that it is entirely
possible that if the officer wants to
bring his respondents into court on liq-
uor indictments-I know it was our prac-
tice in Cumberland county, that we old
not make public our indictments, but
that We took out capiases and placed
them in the hands of the sheriff, and
| while some of the rum sellers would es-
, cape it is true, we would certainly sue
coed in gathering in some of them and
bring them before the court at the term
at which the liquor indictments were
found; but that has not been the prac-
/, tice over in Androscoggin county.
These indictments. 10 and liz of them,
go over until the September term. and
APPARENTLY for some reason or other they
: are then ready to come in and settle
their cases, and either the sheriff has
succeeded in collecting all the money he
thinks he ought to collect or they up to
that time have paid it into his hands,
and they proceed during that term to
dispose of the liquor indictments on the
docket. And what do they do? They
very CONSIDERABLY mol pros about 50 of
them.
They also mol pressed, without any
criminal record whatsoever. some 80
odd more of these liquor nuisances,
| and the balance of them. with the ex
ceDtion of one that came in and plead
ed guilty, were continued to the
January term.
Well, now, gentlemen, for a moment
just consider the record of what took
place in Androscoggin county during
the year 1912. Here is an acknowl-
edged. fragrant, open violation of the
liquor law. Here is the method that
it is dealt with by the sheriff's and
county attorneys departments there
in that county.
Now the question for you to con
slider, to my mind, Isl Was the county
attorney in 1912 one of the cogs in
the wheels of justice over there or
was he trig to what was being done
by the sheriffs department OF
course if he was diligent and faithful
in the enforcement of the law he
must necessarily have been trig in
the sheriff's wheels. but if by his con-
sent or his copnivauop If he fell into