Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-04-11
THE GRAND JURY PROBE.

North Dakota differs from a good manv other
states in that the grand jury is employed only oc-
lcas'onaly instead Of regularly in the. investigation
OF crime and in laying the foundation for criminal
cases. In many states the grand Jury session.
ways precedes the regular court term, and trials of
persons accused of crime are based on indictments
found by the grand jury. This, also, is the federal
practice. In North Dakota the grand jury operates
only IN special cases. Ordinarily persons are
brought to trial directly on information presented
by the states attorney or on commitments from
magistrates courts.
A district judge may order a grand jury when
ever ne deems this to be in the public interest, and
ne is required to do SO upon the presentation of a
petition TO that effect signed by ten per cent of the
legal voters of the county, or upon the written re-
quest of the county commissioners.
Ihe function of a grand jury is not to ty cases,
1t is to investigate the facts with reference to condi-
tons where there is reason to suspect that the laws
OF the state have been violated, and to determine
whether or not there is reasonable ground to believe
that individuals have committed such offer1ses as
warrant then apprehension and formal trial.
In asking the court to call a grand Jury for the
investigation of the affairs of the Scandinavian
American bank OF Fargo, Attorney General Johnson
is taking a course which will commend itself to the
good sense of the public: That the affairs of this
bank were mismanaged from the day when it passed
into the control of the group of men who directed
the affairs of the Nonpartisan league is a matter of
common knowledge and of indisputable record. In
no particular was the bank operated as a legitimate
banking institution. Instead, the facilities provided
by the banking laws of the state, and which the law
had sought to make secure in the interest .pf those
who had legitimate business relations with the bank
were perverted into agencies\for the promotion OF
political plans not in any way related to the business
of banking.
Inevitably, large sums of money were lost to in
dividual depostors and to the state itself. which had
become deliberately and heavily involved in the
banks affairs. Investigations which have been con-
Quoted by trustworthy and disinterested persons
have shown that the laxity which characterized the
banks relations with its creditors and debtors per
vaded the entire machinery of the bank itself. In
one case embezzlement was'proven against an en-
pleye of the bank. though the jury, undoubtedly
convinced that this man had been merely an incon-
spicuous subordinate in a vicious system, scaled
down its verdict so as to make his penalty nominal.
The complicated manner in which the affairs of
the bank were interviewer with the politics of the
state make it difficult for an individual official, no
matter what his station, to sift out the facts and Law
the foundations for criminal prosecutions without
being hampefed.by the suspicion, diligently culti-
yated in the public mind. that his action is intended
for political effect. Under these circumstances it
is fitting that the facts be submitted to capable and
.disinterested men summoned as a grand jury that
they may determine whether, or not, in given cases,
these facts. warrantscrinina prosecution.
A death blow has been struck at Alpine climb
ing. JIG has beenSD1sde safe bX the radio.