The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1921-01-06
JUDGES CHARGE
TO GRAND JURY
Called Special Attention to Some Of
the Most Common Violations Of the
Law.

as to the grand jury, to which ask
undivided attention.
Gentlemen, wish for YOU. and
yours, and all the people OF this coun.
ty, and Of my entire judicial district
a prosperous and happy new year.
4 hope that the clouds Of adversity
which seem to frown so darkly up on
our beloved land shall soon be dissi-
pated and replaced by the smile Of
prosperity and contentment. Such
benefits do not come by chance. how
ever, nor are they the result Of idle
talk, nor of the most cherished dreams
Eternal vigilance is the price exact
ed and must be paid. straightforward
honest dealing with the problems
which confront us is the only sure
guaranty we have of satisfactory or
permanent results. There can be no
Sinking of any of the multiplied du-
ties Of life which we owe to God, our
country, or our fellow man. What
ever we undertake to do, we must do,
thoroly, ungrudgingly, and with de-
termination not to give any cause for
complaint from the most exacting
critic that we have failed in any
particular
You have today voluntarily assum.
ed sacred and inexorable duties.
Sacred, because you have been set
apart from your fellows and dedicat-
ed to the performance of the high and
noble duties Of judges of men, which
position you should respect and rev
erence. "Inexorable", because you
represent all Of the people of great
ct OF a nt4 - tr, .ls,4.. ii. A 4
their rights, as guaranteed by law
shall not be set aside and ignored,
and that if any one violate any of
those rights he shall be presented to
this court to answer for that wrong.
1t is not your personal views that
you represent, but the purposes of the
people as expressed by the law as it
is written. If you should undertake
to substitute your own standards Of
right and wrong for the law, or should
place expedience before the law, then
you become corrupt and unjust
judges, and you would violate your
positive oaths and become voluntary
perjurers. You are under oath to adj
minister the law AS 1T is WRIT
TEN, and that alone must be your
guide. Whatever may have been your
views, or course of conduct in the past.
or whatever they may be in the fu-
ture, for the present term Of this
court, you are under solemn oath as
men to perform the duties Of grand
jurors, and from the performance Of
those duties you mast not be swerved
or persuaded by the advice or en-
treaties Of others, whether they APP
pear to be directly interested or not.
You must pursue your duties with an
fiXedness Of purpose to do
your part, as you have sworn to do,
to uphold the law as it is written.
expressly charge you to investi-
gate every matter, that is presented
to you, thoroly; but do not mean for
you to hear all of the evidence in
every case, for when you have suffi-
clent evidence upon which to base an
it Is your duty TO return
true bill at once, SO that the matter
may be proceeded with in court; but
until you have sufficient evidence on
which to base an indictment YOU must
keep on Investigating until you have
gone to the bottom, and sonsidered
every particle Of evidence that can be
gotten that will throw light on the
lAANbbtts AAtNAN - tAO ShACVLlltl W lfllS
rule, and you can readily appreciate
the reason for it. If grand juries
were permitted to follow other course
in any one case, there could be no
reason why they should qot De per
mitted to do SO in al cases, It would
set dangerous precedent 1t would
allow grand juries to be governed by
their personal desires instead of by
the law as it is written and their sol |
emn oaths to administer it. All citi- |
zens must feel assured that when they
seek protection Of the law, and UNDER
take to have a matter investigated |
thru the channels provided thereby,
that as full an investigation as is
will be made to determine
or not an alleged offending
person, or persons, have been guilty |
of the violation of criminal statue. |
short Of this will do so long
as am Judge ef this court. The law
requires me not only to tell you what |
your duties are, but (sec. PITT of |
code) to see that you perform them. |
| did not make the law and shall not |
ignore it, tho assure you that / have |
no idea that any one Of you will shirk |
your duty. am merely doing what |
the law requires Of me as a Judge. | \
am not acting as a private citizen 4
and talking to you as such. ! am
Judge, under oath, talking to you as a |
sworn grand jury, and not as individ- |
uals. Bear this in mind, gentlemen
of the grand jury; you are grand ju- /
rors until finally discharge you. You /
are not merely on duty while in the
court house or in your room, ut every
minute Of the time night and Hay, and
you are under oath to work al this
business to the exclusion % every
thing else. If necessary, until the term
Of your Office expires,
Here the Judge mentioned special
such as vagrants, social dis
eases, gambling with min0rs-telling
the jury that such an offense was
punishable by fine of $500 fine and
30 days in jail,-ninors in pool roous,
failure Of officers to perforn duty,
act making it a felony 10 Manufacture
He also called the at
tention Of the board Of supervisors to
q new law requiring sien posts at all
cross roads
As ! told you awhile ago; the law
makes it your special duty to look
into the expenditure Of the tax money
Of the people In this remarkable
time Of grafters, profiteering and ex--
the cold administration Of
the law, the exercise Of common
sense and honest economy are the
only remedies which can possible
bring any relief to the tax ridden and
super-tax cursed people. Something
is wrong, radically wrong, and unless
the tax payers, (which means every
man. woman and child, for they all