Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1919-09-05

tiers of this kind should be made &
the petit juries and not to you. YoI
are the aecusers; they are the tryers
In the grand jury it is largely a sta
chamber proceedings, and rightly so
the proceedings in your room are al
private; there is no trial in there an,
should be none; but, as have said be
fore, you are simply the 'accuSin,
juy;" you hear the States evidence
land only need enough to indict or &c
cuse,
Now, gentlemen, l understand there
have been some cars stolen IN the
county. If the cars which were stoler
We're worth over $25, the justice Of
the peace has no right to finally settle
the matter; he has no right 10 do any.
thing except to bind over. | don't
know whether the cars that have been
stolen are worth over $25 or not, OF
what they are worth, but if they are
worth over $25, | say, the justice of
the peace has nothing to do with it;
that is, he can't settle a matter of that
kind, because it is grand larceny and
a felony, and if convicted is punish
able by Imprisonment in the peniten-
tiary. Where man steals car
worth over S25 and keeps the car one
day or two days or two weeks or any
length of time and he repents or some
of his kin folks repent for him and
turn the car back to the owner, that
makes no difference; if he was ever
guilty at all, he was guilty when he
got into the car and drove it off. Now,
if the owner of the stolen car, or any
stolen property, should receive any
money with the understanding that
he was not to prosecute, then he, him
self, is guilty of compromising a fell
ony and ought to be indicted. Of
course, if his ear was damaged or in
jured or broken in any way, he had
right to receive pay for it. But if he
has been paid and has received any
sum for the consideration that he is
not to prosecute, he has violated the
law himself. He has nothing to do
with the prosecuting end of it; that's
the States business.
Now, gentlemen of the grand jury,
all these matters of violations of the
law, in whatever particular, must be
settled by the State of Mississippi,
and they must be settled by and upon
he facts and the circumstances-the |
acts existing at the very moment that
he crime was committed, be it steal |.
ng or whatever it may be, and not in |
he light of some later developments. !
| understand that there has been
ome killings in the county-probably
everal cases. ! don't know whether
hey are murder or not, or whether
hey are justifable; but it is for you
o find out the best you can; it is for
'ou to get all the witnesses before you
nd find out whether the law has been
lolated or not, and find out whether
eople should be indicted for murder
Without hearing any of the evidence
or the defense, and then when you
ave made the accusation or returned
ne true bill of indictment you can
hen put it up to the petit jury to say
neither that man should be acquitted
r convicted. 1t matters not whether
ne man that did the killing is promi-
ent and rich and has prominent con-
ections and kin folks, or whether the
ian who was killed was prominent or
neither the man that did the killing
'as a poor, ignorant negro, who killed
mother negro; you should make the
anne character Of investigation and
eturn bills where the evidence JUS
fes it.
When sitting on a petit jury, you
an only convict when you have proof
Fought before you that eonvinces
our mind beyond a reasonable doubt
lat the man is guilty; but on the
rand jury you only have to have
1ough to accuse the man of crime;
e gets his trial later. If we had
'ials in the grand jury room we
ould never get anywhere; there
ould be endless confusion and Justice
ould be hampered.
| have been hearing for the past
ght or nine years about gambling
Macon. ! have heard of gambling |
certain house here in town and |
at 1t has continued and nothing has |
zen done about it. | can hear these
lngs continually cropping out; it is
Id that when each grand jury meets
lngs get quiet and Immediately after !
urt adJourns business picks UP and
lngs start again as usual. Gambling
always private and is hard to locate +
d find; but rafting, a form of gamb- -
lg, IS necessarily more public, and r
ere is no trouble about getting at |
at and it should be looked into and
e guilty parties indicted. Railing n
just as much gambling as any other
nm, and, think, rather objection
lie form at that. But whether gamb-
G by rafting, by playing cards,
ootlng with dice, playing poker, or
ing any. of the gambling devices
III as punch boards or slot machines
anything else of that kind whether
milling IN any shape, form or fash
, | have heard so much about it go
on here, and almost continuously,
, that | specially want you to 90
o those matters carefully and re-
n bills if you can get evidence.
here is one other matter | desire
call your attention to and that is
high cost Of living. You have
lbtless heard good deal about
er courts charging grand iuries
ut profiteering and charging them
bring an Indictment against mer-
nts and others, but, unfortunately,
now no State law to remedy this
dltion. However, | understand YOU
have an extra session of the Leg
ture soon and it is to be hoped that
lie law against profiteering may be
cted, so the State courts may act.