The Semi-weekly leader., 1922-09-13
LIGHTNING CAUSES
900 OF co. CRIME
20 indictments Returned-Much
Investigation Into County
Road Matters.

~+FM ~s~~~SS~~"
70 the Hon. ID. M. Miller, Circuit
Judge of the 14th Judicial Dis
trict holding court at Brookha-
ven, Lincoln County, Miss:
We, your grand jurors empanelled
at this, the September Term of the
Circuit Court III Lincoln County, beg
leave to make this report to your
Honor:-
We have been in session days.
We have examined 153 witnesses.
We have returned into court 20 in
dictments. However, some of these
indictments charge the same man in
different forms of pleading with
crime. We have referred one case
to the Justice of Peace. Mr.. Boyle
being the Justice of the Peace and
we want him to thoroughly investt-
gate the matter at his next court
day. We have ignored cases. We
have sent committee to investi-
gate the county poor. Our commit
tee advises us that they are being
well cared for and humanely treated.
We have investigated the condition
of the county Jail and our commit
tee from the Grand Jury advise us
that the Jail is in very bad condit-
ion. This condition is unwarranted
in splendid county like this and we
urge that immediate steps be taken
to thoroughly renovate, clean and
repair the Jail and that it be put in
a first class condition. The court
house is very much improved; the
painting and renovating of the court
house has helped very much. Made
it much cleaner and nicer and more
sanitary. The Board Of Supervisors
are to be commended for this work
and the Sheriff is to be congratula-
ted upon the fact that he is having
the court house kept clean. We are
attaching hereto your Honors' report
on the condition of the jail and the
courthouse and hereby make it part
of this report.
We are glad to report to your Hon
or that the county in general is IN
better condition than it has been
with reference to crimes of a serious
nature. that is, murder, etc. How
ever, we find great deal of the
manufacture and sale of white
lightning whiskey. We attribute
and can trace practically 80 per cent
of the crime that now exists in Lin
coin county to the manufacture ana
sale of this damnable stuff. Your
Honor is aware that a county will be
no better with reference to the en-
forcement Of law than the majority
of the citizenship of that county
wants it to be. In other words, in
a great many parts of this county we
find a condition that exists that is
horrifying and shocking indeed.
Whiskey and that of the meanest
sort is being made and sold without
any protest from the best citizens of
these respective localities who seem
to take no interest in helping the
Grand Jury and the constituted au-
thorities to put its stamp of disap-
proval on this sort of crime. Ev-
erybody knows that as long as the
good citizenship of this county wants
the manufacture and sale of this in
toxicating liquor to exist it will ex-
list but as soon as they rise up in
their might and say to the whiskey
that 1t must go, then 1t will go. This
nefarious whiskey business is de-
bauching the young manhood OF the
county and will wreck the life and
character of any man or woman that
follows 1t. We, therefore, ask again
as other Grand Jurors~have asked in
the past, the cooperation and sup
CONTINUED on Page Three.)