The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-05-13
Freeho1ders Indicted.

y
and when 1t came into court at five o'clocl
In the afternoon there was somewhat of I
sensation over the findings of the body
It had been rumored that certain actions
Of members of the old Board of Free
holders were to receive attention, anC
Harry E. Dubell, ;. Aquila Jones and
Elwood Hart, members of the jury, asked
to be excused from participation in the
proceedings. This was agreed to.
DR.. LeJsmbre, member of the new
Board, having had some time at his dis.
posal, began weeks ago to look over the
records In the Office of the county auditor.
What he found caused him to open his
eyes and he consulted with Prosecutor
Atkinson. That official came to the con-
clusion that there were sufficient grounds
for investigation and he turned the matter
over to the grand jury.
There Is no use In calling the result
spite work, or to condemn DIR. Lejambre
or any one else. If it was spite work it
has resulted in way that has been very
beneficial, for it has disclosed state of
affairs that should have been made public
long ago. As one of the grand jurors re-
marked; at is a shame that the affairs
of this county have been conducted as
loosely as they have been for years. -
This means that the disclosures on
which the grand jury worked do not go
back as far as one would suppose. Under
the law indictments could not be found
for action over two years old. But civil
suits to recover moneys unlawfully OBJ
tanned may be brought for period of six
years back, and 1t is possible there will be
further showings that will be astonishing
The indictments found yesterday against
members Of the old Board of Freeholders
were as follows: ECward s. Phillips,
Burlington city; William A. Wilkins,
Mount Laurel; Edward Durell, Florence;
T. Winfield Land, Palmyra; Howard N.
Cook, Springfield; Louis F. Lowden,
Riverton; Joseph P. Lennon, Pemberton;
Turner Birkhead, Beverly; Harry Dubell,
Westampton. All of these indictments
charged the men with unlawfully obtain
ing money from the county. There are
several charges in each indictment, and
the amounts range from $40 up. Charging
three days in one, overcharging for ma
terials aud other items go to make up the
indictments.
Then there was an Indictment against
Joseph L. Hilton, of Chester, former
Supervisor of Roads. This appears to
contain the largest amount of money of
is said he got unlawfully is about 81 800.
Just what the items are have not been
made public. but the report is that they
run from gasoline to automobile tires and
repairs, telephone calls and so on.
Other indictments found were: Gardner
Hendrickson, of Southampton, bigamy.
Abraham L. Mitchell, Bordentown, as
sault and battery.
John Cavanaugh, Northampton. arson
in setting fire to his fathers house.
Richard Matthews, Abraham l.. Mitchell
and William II. McKeag, Bordentown,
fighting.
Abraham Brookenstein and Benjamin
B. Segal, getting goods under false pre-
lenses from Joseph Emery, of Mansfield.
All of the above will be called to court
on Thursday to plead to the indictments.
In addition to the above presentments
the grand jury offered the following:
THE grand jury selected for this
present term of court la Burlington
county, begs leave to present the follow
ing report to the court:
Through the necessity of acting upon
certain cases of alleged breach of the law,
the grand jury has been compelled to ex-
anime into immoral conditions of very
serious nature existing throughout the
county. While, of course, the specific
cases come to the grand jury from parti
cular locality, these are by no means
peculiar to that locality, but are typical
of many like cases to be found in every
community. Indeed, the conditions which
produce them exist In all sections of New
Jersey.
1.-THE criminal acts committed are large
ly those that originate in an i'll regulated
and Legitimate intercourse of the sexes,
and are far more the result of moral and
intellectual deficiency than they are of a
depraved or criminal character; while the
persons committing them are more desery-
ing of pity and help than of punishment
The ordinary methods of dealing with
crime seem quite Intellectual in this situa-
ton. 1t is not question of the admins
tration of mere justice. The grand jury,
at this present time, has carefully ex-
nod oil h. =.
tainabie. The Court the prosecutor and
previous iuries have done their best in all
cases brought to their attention, to punish
the wrong-doer and to relieve those who
have been wronged. Nevertheless, the
almost insuperable difficulty In obtaining
legal evidence, both on account of the
nature of the crimes committed, and also
on account; OF the ignorance of moral
standards on the part of those most
familiar with the circumstances make it
impossible to deal adequately with most
cases.
1T has become evident that some new
legislation or some new application of ex-
listing laws Is demanded by the situation,
which presents social problem of threaten
ing proportions.
"Clearly the evil conditions result large
ly from the existence of certain deficient
classes, which are rapidly increasing; Just
as clearly, therefore, it is the duty Of each
community and of the State at large to
protect these classes against themselves
and to provide that the; propagation of
their kind shall be stopped. How this
shall be done, whether by the development
of special colonies, as now advocated by
some State organizations and commissions,
or by the enforcement of adequate laws
made for the purpose, this grand jury does
not undertake to say, but the members re-
gard the situation such serious one that
they feel it their duty emphatically to call
1t to the attention of the court
Cali of which is most respectfully sub
mittted."
G. III. Hillman, Foreman,
Richard B. Eckman, Clerk.
Mount Holly, N. j., May 10. 1918.