Arizona republican., 1922-06-07
insist On
FULL CHARGE
in PROBE Of
THE XII K[UX
Atty. Gen. States Why He
Cannot Divide Respon-
sibility Of the Grand
Jury Investigation

There will be no divided control
of the grand jury investigation of
the activities of the Ku Klux Klan,
according to a statement of Attorney
General w. j. Galbraith last night,
called out by a report that his office
would be allowed to act in concert
with the office of the county
attorney.
In his statement the attorney gen.
eral points out the reasons why he
cannot collaborate with the county
attorneys office and why he is un-
willing to assume any responsibility
for the results of the investigation
without full power to direct it.
The statement of the attorney
general follows:
Statement of Attorney General
'Tn view of the statement made in
this mornings paper by Mr. Shep-
herd, which he orally admitted to me
was a correct statement. l feel
called upon to announce that my
office will either take complete con-
troll of the coming grand jury in
vestigation of the Ku Klux Klan to
the exclusion of Mr.. Shepherd or his
deputies, or any special appointee,
or else this office will have nothing
whatsoever to do with the investi-
cation. Mr.. Shepherd, having by
widespread rumor apparently be-
come in some way identified with
the Ku Klux organization, | regard
it as highly improper that he or any
of his appointees should in any way
have anything whatsoever to do
with the investigation for which the
grand jury is called
Under my Interpretation Of the
law, neither the court or the super
visors have power to appoint special
prosecutors to present the matter
before the grand jury, and under
my Interpretation of the law, the
attorney general alone has power to
take charge of this investigation, in
the absence of the county attorney.
IF 1 am to have control of the
investigation, there will be a COM
plete control, and Mr.. Shepherd and
his appointees will be excluded from
the grand jury selection or presenta :
ton of the matters before the grand
jury, and furthermore, if / have
charge of the investigation before
the grand jury. the investigation will
be thorough and complete. regard
less of where the chips may fly.
"As understand Mr.. shepherd s
contention, he objects to being
kicked out before he has been
proven guilty of a crime. 1t is not
the desire of my office to kick Mr..
shepherd out. In my opinion Mr..
Shepherd has in way become in
certain quarters disqualified to
properly present the grand jury in
vestigation, land rather than give
occasion for any one to say the
examination woold result in doubtful
benefit to the people, it appears to
me that the public service requires
that this office conduct the inves-
tigation.
This investigation, in my opinion.
will be considered by the grand jury
as a very serious matter, and i am
very much in hopes that it will be
so conducted that there will be no
room for reasonable people to look
with doubt on any step in the entire
proceeding. This is an unpleasant
position for me to occupy, but never
theless, I cannot allow myself to be
put in a position that would appear
to condone or minimize any wrong
full acts.
Those who have violated the law
will surely pay the penalty, and If
no wrong has been done, there is
no reason for any man to fear ex-
animation. Even granting that one
might believe that l or those asso-
ciated with me We're acted by per-
sonal animosity, still, there will be
eighteen men on the grand jury. and
any innocent man may safely leave
his record to be examined by them
without fear of being prosecuted"