The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-02-16
SERMON ON THE
GRAND Jury
PASTOR OF THE BROADWAY BAP-
list CHURCH SPOKE TO LARGE
AUDIENCE LAST EVENING.

IN'N. W. Ntl0tNl - ItANNNl VI NAiN
Broadway Baptist church spoke last
night to his congregation on condi.
tions in Ardmore, and of the necessi
ty of the grand jury to meet on the
18th.
He said in part:
In this fair land OF ours there are
four institutions, the home the school,
the church, and the court house The
fostering of these institutions make
us the greatest people in the world.
The home is the source of love, puri-
ty and happiness the school is the
source of intelligence, mental culture,
and thought; the church is the source
of religion, morals and salvation of
the race; and the court house is the
source of legal protection, justice and
| equity. The home is presided over by
the father and the mother the school
| is conducted by the instructors put
in charge of our children, the church
is led by the preacher and church
officials, and the court house is equip
pod with judges, peace officers, juries
and prosecuting counsel The court
house is the protector of our people,
and every institution. The court house
is indispensable.
The court house must be accessi-
BILE to all of our citizenship to OBJ
tain Justice and protection. The grand
jury is that avenue Of access to the
court house.
First of all the grand jury enables
the citizenship Of our county to get
to the court house to secure protec-
tion from lawlessness, and criminals.
The grand jury is an avenue of pro-
lection for all classes of our citizen
ship, the weak, the helpless and the
defenseless. 1t affords protection to
the accused, no case is made public
Irntil there is evidence to convict
Again, the grand jury is a great in
yestigating committee to investigate
and ferret out crime. These twelve
men sit behind closed doors and have
every facility at their command to
ferret out lawlessness in the entire
county A good grand jury is worth
a dozen courts Of inquiry.
Then, the grand jury is the means
of revealing. and bringing to light
crime which would otherwise be GOV
cred up and kept concealed. Much
of the crime in this country is com
mitted under cover and needs to be
brought to light 1t is the business Of
the grand jury to uncover that class
of crime which the officers do not
find and which no citizen cares to re-
port on his own responsibility.
Lastly, the grand jury is the best
means of getting the law enforced
throughout the county. 1t enables the
citizens to take part in law enforce
ment without embarrassment, and
gives the citizen protection in making
known violations of law. Any man
can go before the grand jury and tell
what he knows without fear of being
exposed Law breakers are afraid of
the grand jury when the citizens are
alive to their duty. Law breakers are
leaving town now on every train, be-
cause the grand jury is about to con-
vene.
The question | now want to pro
pound is, does Ardmore and Carter
county need a grand jury? Lots Of
folk say no, for there is nothing for
a grand jury to do, besides all past
grand juries have proved a failure.
Only two have been held since state
hood. The first one found a number
of bills, but nothing ever came of
any of them. The last one, about five
years ago, did nothing. Now the ques
tion is being asked, what will the pres
ent grand jury do, and if it does any !
thing, will the cases be prosecuted? |
But no one can say a grand jury of |
the right kind is not needed. If ever
a county needed the searching work !
of a grand jury our county does. |
What about the reservation, who owns |
that property out there? What about |
the midnight closing of the joints and J
gambling houses in this city? Joints |
and gambling houses run until mid |
night on Saturday nights, and are |
then closed up. What about the fear
ful conditions Of gambling and whisky |
selling in our town, for the past 80 |
days There is no doubt about the |
need of the grand jury of an old-fash- !
ioned, investigating type. There is al
so a need of the citizenship through
out the county standing by the grand f.
jury when it meets and cooperating |