Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1924-05-16
GIVE THE GRAND
JURY THE FACTS

The May term of Court will
convene Monday next, when thu
first Grand Jury will be held un
der the new Judges and othei
officials elected last November
The new officials, fully conscious
of the responsibilities that res
upon them, are anxious ano
ready to give full measure OF
service and perform their duties
singularly to the preservation OF
the rights and liberties OF all, as
provided for and sanctioned by
the Constitution and laws of the
land and at the same time pre-
serve and promote peace and
good order in the county.
The preservation of peace and
good order rests not alone upon
the judges, prosecuting officer
and other officials, but upon the
people as well. The Grand Jury
furnishes medium through
which the people can individual.
ly perform a part in maintain
ing ideal conditions in the coun
ty, by bringing before that body
the knowledge and facts con.
corning violations of the l2w.that
come to their attention that per-
petrators of crime may be justly
and summarily dealt with.
The duty of the Grand Jury is
to investigate all cases that come
before them and of which they
have knowledge and take the
proper action that each may re-
quire as will be pointed out by
the Court in its charge. The
Grand Jury bases its present
ments and indictments upon tes-
timony of witnesses that appear
before them and cannot indict
upon rumors or hearsay, but
must have the facts and these
facts must be furnished by per-
sons possessing knowledge of
violations of the law. This be,
ing true, it is the duty of every
citizen who has knowledge oil
any violation of the criminal law
to appear before that body and
give it the facts, so that such &C
ton may be taken that each case
warrants. The people having
knowledge of any criminal law
being violated in their communi-
ties have no right to sit idly by,
fail to appear before the Grand
Jury and then criticise and con.
denim officials for failure to break
up such violation. We hold no
brief for a derelict official, and if
it should be found that any Off
Gals are dereict in their duties,
this fact should also be known
to the Grand Jury that they may
be dealt with according to law.
1t is a well known fact, how
ever, that no individual is going
to commit a crime in the pres
ence of an official of the law and
1t is not the province of the Off
Gals to neglect their other du-
ties and spend their time in
sneaking around trying to catch
some one in the act of violating
the law. The duty of bringing
perpetrators of crime to justice
rests as much and strongly up
on the people as upon the Off
Gals. The individual citizen
also has a better opportunity OF
obtaining knowledge of infrac-
tions of the law.
The opportunity will be open
to every individual citizen of the
County who has knowledge OF
the violation of any criminal law
to appear before the Grand Jury
next week and give that body
the facts that the guilty parties
may be brought to justice. We
are calling the attention of the
people to this matter because it
is opportune and for the further
reason that the States Attorney
has in the past few weeks re-
ceived an anonymous letter sta
ting that slot machines we're in
existence in certain sections of
the county, without stating
where or who was operating the
same. The writer of this letter,
If he is honest and interested in
breaking up this form of gam
bling, which is a violation OF the
law, will appear before the
Grand Jury next week and give
that body all the evidence that
may be in his possession con-
corning this violation of the law,
and if indictments are secured,
the States Attorney will vigor-
ously prosecute the cases to the
end that violators of the gaming
law may receive their just des-
erts and gaming devices eradica-
ted from the county. Slot ma.
chimes must go from this county
If there are any existing here,
and it is up to the people to per
form their duty in assisting in
their eradication. Cd
We sincerely hope the people
of the county will heed the sug-
gestions made above and aid in