Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-01-12
JUDGE OUTLINES
SCOPE OF WORK
FOR GRAND JURY
Public Health, Pubic Morals,
Public Safety Matters For
Its Supervision.

Its Supervision.
After administering the oath OF Of
flee and appointing James Fiddes fore
man of the new territorial grand Jury
fer the year 1915, Circuit Judge c. W.
Ashford yesterday delivered a guam
tity OF advice, together with some in
teresting information on criminal
court work in Hawaii. In addition to
his comment as published in the Star
Bulletin yesterday, he had the follow
| ing to say to the new inquisitors:
Il take occasion TO repeat to you.
what | stated to your immediate pre-
decessors, to the effect that the grand
jury should be considered as the
grand inquest OF the county or cir
cult in which it operates. This does
not mean that the grand jurors, either
individually or collectively, should
constitute themselves detectives for
the purpose of ferreting out crimes
or irregularities in the community,
either with respect to individuals or
with the governmental administration.
But it may be taken to mean that your
body is authorized, and is expected to
inquire into, and report upon, any I'M
usual conditions to which your atten-
ton shall be called, either officially
or otherwise, and which appear sui
ticiently important to the well-being
of the community, to justify your at
tention.
Official Action Unnecessary.
Thus it is competent and desirable
that fhn GRAND illrI chnr1lH nhCa ba
general trend of events in the COM
munity, both official and non-official.
and, If conditions shall occur which
appear to require investigation be-
cause of their bearing upon the public
interests, from any direction, it is not
only the privilege, but the duty of
the grand jury to investigate, and, IL
found of sufficient importance, to re-
port upon, or take other action in the
premises. Among the matters includ-
ed within this general scope of the
functions of your body may be men
tened those which affect the public
health, the public morals and the pub
lie safety, upon all of which the grand
jury should keep an attentive eye 1t
is by no means necessary that you
"olI AOA any NIL oNIlOIl6 TIC w W
be brought to your attention through
the medium of com1hittals from the
district courts or of direct complaints
by the prosecuting officers You
should investigate the administration
OF the laws providing for the public
health sufficiently to observe, whether
in your opinion they are being prop
erly and economically administered;
the same with regard to public morals,
and the same concerning the public
safety as chiefly represented by the
administration of the police. Any ap-
parent inefficiency,s corruption or ex-
tr2vagance in any of those directions
or departments should receive your
immediate attention and lead to inves-
ugation, and, should the facts war
rant, to indictments.
The well-being of the community
Is also largely involved in the honest
and efficient administration of the
laws concerning the furnishing of
pure foodstuffs and those concerning
weights and measures! The commun-
1ty may be swindled, by the use of |
false weights and measures or it may
be poisoned by the use of impure or |
adulterated foodstuffs and it is en-
phaucally within the province of the
grand jury to keep these features Of |
the public welfare within its protec |
tive attention. L..
Nationality Statistics,
The extremely cosmopolitan char
aoter OF our local population has natur-
ally developed in our midst the short
comings of the different elements of |
that population. The native Hawaiian. |
either OF pure CT mixed blood, now
nnds himself in minority and out
numbered in his own country. EA.
perience has shown that there is q |
considerable diversity in the degree
CT laWlessness prevailing among the
inherent elements of our population,
and the court has been at some pains
70 ascertain, as nearly as possible. to
what extent the different races here
resident are represented upon the ros-
ter OF convicted felons confined in our
territorial prison on. the LIST day of
the present. month and year, and to
TURNER TURNER ascertain the proportion, per
thousand, of such elements of Dopula-
tlon, SO represented upon the roll of
prisoners convicted CT felonies.
On the LIST day of January, 1915,
there were confined in territorial pris-
ons, under sentence for various felo-
MES, 2S0 prisoners.
distributed among the different ma
tlonalities they. were as follows: II
"Fflipinos, 6S; Hawaiians, so: Porto
Ricans, 43; Japanese, 40; Chinese, 21;
Americans, 20; Portuguese, II; Ko-
reans, Is; Russians, 2; Spanish, Nor
Wegian and British, each. II
These figures, taken in connection
with the total numbers of the different
races represented upon the roll of
prisoners, shows that the Porto Ri
cans have set the record for lawless- 1
ness Tin so far as such lawlessness
has resulted in conviction for felo-
lleS) by a very Uida poaroip Tho