Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-07-13
WAfiIIAT,Ih, :. T..
TIL; GRAND JURY ~ RIGHT.

THE tIsA ND JtNN - Iiitrifi.
We call to tn" especial attention
OF the citizens OF ncnlrr the pre- !
S"n;m"n, of the grand jury ut the |
July term of the Court q: General |
Sessions fer our county. We cannot
commend 100 highly tn" stand taken ,
by the brand jury. nor do we hcSiia,r
to congratulate and to thank thew
for ii in the name Of tn" great ma
jority Of the citizens Of OcOncc. it
was Il wise thing to do this calling
TO the attention Of the Court what
is becoming Il grave and exceedingly
serious menace to tl.c public, for III"
ridicu lously light sentences of our
courts. especially in the cases for
violation Of The liquor laws. have
mad Of our courts Il jest. and they
to-day constitute nuught but 'bv
word and Il Kissing" insofar rs th"ir
Wort pertains to the illegal manu-
facturc OF aud traffic in alcnhnlir
liquors
jury meant by this paragraph Of
their prcscntment to impugn Judge
Primers motives. or the motives CT
other Judges who have fallen into
what we consider grave error in deal
ing with the liquor law violators. We
hayc very high regard for Judge
Princo's integrity. for his honesty Of
purpose and Of action. Ills motive is,
'Hjod very = iol> lh1, hts object
m ah,1r N.u, srH'e0ra, w,th suspnn-
sion ruuN'ttou. is 80 lyinpur justice
With ,.'n. aud thus save rather
than punish the culprit.
\ most admirable idca-a beauti-
fnl theory that will work probably
one time in Il hundred. 1t is a the
ory the underlying principle Of which
would we believe. have been emf
nently correct and proper twenty-odd
years ago whom the present situation
began to take on grave proportions.
1t would have been well to have Eek
tractcd the teeth" from the law for
those first yi0lators OF it after the
cltzcnS OF Oconcr and Of our STATE
had expressed themselves unmiS;ak-
ably on the question Of desiring "A
prohibition that would prohibit"
Had the first cuiprits been given
liEht sentences. aud had these been
suspended for the moral effect on
the culprits and others who might be
inclined to follow in their stems. then
'hcre would have been good reason
I" Try the experiment Of ''tcmpcring
Justice with mercy" to the limit even
or ma king Il jest of the courts. But
twrn,y-odd years later. with the pre-
poAdcrence Of fact unGucstionably |
AGAINST the rrar'icality OF the the |
"ry, why continue to adhere to il
We have had twenty and more years
or hight sentences and suspension of
sentences And to what purpose"
h'r" Is ll'!!r or no respect for the
law or the courts. and absolutely ~
FEAR OF either. We nave had the :;orr.
,"rlr III pconcr Of men com =.
'hr court with their little rolls OF
money tied securely in handkrrchic'S
or suffrd deep into the pockets of
'hrir trousers. ready and anxious
very nnNions--to pay up ANA sr;
back 10 business"
Nrilhcr the moonshincr nor the
retail ira flicker in liquor wants 10
have the profit feature Of his buSi-
tax him lightly by system OF
small fines. indefinitely or for given
periods suspended. and the culprit
Will not complain. He rather likes
II. we believe. 1t puts into his bust
ness the only one feature resembling
rcSpcctahility that it has. for it gives
the appearance OF halfway sanction
and the belief is instillcd into the
minds OF the violators that the SYM
pathics OF the courts are with them.
Let the Judges put back into the
laws the teeth they have b,cn ox-
II these years. When the
profit feature of the illegal liuuor
business Is eliminated the liuuor
dealer and the liquor vendor is 60
Ing out OF business-and not until
tho profits are destroyed. We might
as we'll face this fact, and act ac-