Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-23
THE SUNDAY LAW
AS SEEN BY LAWYER
Annapolis Offenses Very Small.
Not in the Class With Brooklyn
and Curtis Bay.
WHAT POLICE OFFICERS COST.
A Costly Proposition to Maintain q
Grand Jury at 500 Day for Fl
DAYS at a Cost of 81, 450---For
Benefit of Proposition.
tCommunicatedJ

tom
Annapolis, Md. May %, 1916.
Editors Evening Capital:
Sunday passed off yesterday as usual
and we got our newspapers.
The Grand Jury in making its report
had no idea of prohibiting works of
charity or necessity. Hundreds of
automobiles come here from Baltimore
ano Washington on Sunday, and if their
supply of gasoline should be exhaust
ed they would have to lie over day or
else borrow from some neighbor or
friend who had sn excess.
The statute prohibiting work on
Sunday says. amy person who works
on Sunday, except it be work of
necessity or charity. shall be guilty OF
misdemeanor and be fined If one
can read between the lines of the
Grand Jury's Report and take the GRIM
inal docket, they will find that most of
the violations of law come from Brook.
Ign. Curtis Bay, Stoney Creek anG
Rock Creek, and there seems TO be on
the part-of our county officials an ex-
emption of thess men for political
Purposes.
The docket of this term of Court
shows, very few offenses committed in
Annapolis and those that were com.
mitted were minor offenses | appre
bend. that if the politicians were t.
see that the liquor law was enforced on
Sundays in the places mentioned, that
our Court docket would be about one
40 Herg 4, -
these places on Sunday. License or no
license are the indirect authors of the
crimes committed in those sections OF
the county, and those men who are ex
empted by county politicians from
punishment or violation of law in
these sectors, controls the balance Of
power in the county and always throws
the vote to the county ring.
The otfeuses in the first, second
(outside of Eastport and Germantown
the lower part of the third, fourth
and the Hartman Precinct of the iftL
districts are infnitesimal The grand
jury, if they only had to deal with
these sections, would not be in session
ten days. The offenses in Annapolis
are very small. So when grand jury
stays in session three weeks attending
to cases from the upper portion of the
Third district, Brooklyn and Curtis
Bay, causes the county to pay 500
day for q days, making about 81, 450,
with an addition Of probably $500 for
witnesses. or in round figures probably
81, 200, that the county is paying for
the benefit of politicians.
The police officers of Brooklyn are
paid by the county, and, therefore, the
county commissioners should make
their appointments from differ ent
places in the county and not leave il
in the hands of men who are said to
be parties to the violation of law in
the upper precincts of the county. The
County Commissioners should appoint
several plain clothes men and who are
strangers to these violators Of law
and have Indi tments against them and
then the Court should impose the ex-
IRENE penalties
Under the English law where there
is violation Of the liquor law at any
given point not only the license for
the man found guilty is suspended, but
no other person can take out license
for that place for the period of two
years. This outbreak of excessive vir-
tue in regard TO the City of Annapolis
is tempest in 8 teapot, and indicates
the fact that ali of the vice in the
county is here and ali the virtue where
the vice most prevails.
Respectfully yours,
JAMES w. OWENS.