Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-09-04

| drunkenness. I believe. If the rec
ord Is true to the way it has been
running in this district. that you
will find that three-fourths Of them,
of the killings and of the violent
assaults that come into this court
and burn up the money of the
county and the state, are caused BY
drunkenness.
"That leads me to make another
observation: We have in Texas
what is known as the Dean law. II
is the duty of the grand jury. the
duty Of all Of the officers and the
duty Of this court, TO enforce that
law with the same rigor. the same
impartiality. that all other laws of
Texas are enforced You gentlemen
are taxpayers OF this county. Now,
/ want YOU to bear this thing in
nind: that whenever you read in
the . that someone was killed
in a drunken brawl at one of these
tailes. that that means an expen-
diture out of the tax money paid
in by the taxpayers Of this county
Of from $1,000 to $4,000. Those men
have TO be brought into court and
tried after the expense Of this grand
jury has been paid and the very
best we can do in here is to spend
not less than Is cents a minute out
Of the jury fund alone. when we
get iEto the trial Of these criminal
cases. The amount Of money paid
out Of the state fund in the trial
Of these cases approximates the
same amount. In other words,
when we 20 into the jury docket in
this court we spend about fifty
cents every minute we work here.
Now. that Is another reason. gem
tlemen. ! am saying this TO you ms
business men. that Is another rea-
son why the laws OF this state
should not only be enforced, but
they should be enforced IN such 1
way that the men around through
the United States and Texas who
are looking for an open loop-hole
where laws are not enforced may
be advised before they come here
that they viii run on the rocks If
they come 20 this section OF Texas
for the purpose of violating the
laws. II that course is pursued
and lived IN TO the criminal element
that flock to the open -ection of
the state whore the violation Of
the laws IS winked at win stay
Holdups I~nfrequent
"Juries lave functioned with
good judgment In this district in
most cases and grand juries have
functioned as they should do in the
whole district. We have more than
100000 people living in this iudi-
eial district and IN the last six
wears there has been but one case
OF h~i-lacking committed in this
judicial district OF five counties.
Now. there is a good reason for that
and / submit to YOU that that II
2 record and a good record that will
stand against any district OF its
size and population in the United
states in that respect.
The hi-iacker Is the arch-crim-
maj. the anarchist against all law
and all authority. and he has been
kent out Of this district from the
simple fact that 1t has been known
OF all men far and wide that the
laws Of Texas are being enforced in
TINS judicial district: that the grand
luries and the juries. when called
upon in the proper way, are enforce
ing these laws. Now. that Is an
advertisement. gentlemen. that in
vltes a high class Of citizens 70
move into a district and into a
county. The class Of citizens that
move into Cameron county il NJ
index Of the way your laws are en-
forced.
IL il is known for thirty DAYS
that the courts barely functioned
n that the violation Of the laws
was permitted generally in This
county. in thirty or sixty davs there
would be a class Of men flock into
TINS county that would almost take
4 revolution and a company Of
rangers g unhorse. That has been
tried in Teas. We all know that.
AND ] am saying these things 10
TINS grand Jury to impress upcn
them the necessity Of an absolute
and thorough investigation and tie
return Of indictments in all cases
Of violation of the law where the
evidence is satisfactory to the grand
Jury that the law has been vio-
lated. The grand jury. of course.
should always use caution II che
Indictment Of any person. because
an indictment against a citizen is
a very serious thing and should
never be returned unless the grand
jury Is satisfied that q crime has
been committed and that good evil
dence is in existence to establish
that crime ultimately before the
jury tries the man.
There is one class OF cases that
4 wish the grand jury to make spe-
ia investigation OF. in fact, two
classes. both coming under the head
OF misdeineanors. one class of those
cases is the violation Of any az the
gambling laws Of Texas. IL IL the
duty Of this grand Jury to investi-
gate and return indictments where
the evidence shows the violation Of
the gambling laws. That has heer
2 Of the fundamental laws oil
Texas since the first fifty men.
americans. first organized Is a
community in this state, and no
set OF criminal laws has ever been
promulgated in Texas that did not
require all courts and all Officers
not TO regulate. but to absolutely
SUPPRESS il. Now that has been the
policy OF tkis state from its in
cipiency until now and every court
that organizes 4 grand jury n re-
CURED by law TO impress upon the
grand jury that particular fact.
Defines Negligent Homicide
Another class Of misdemeancrs
that should be investigated is the
rfnfmfsmn 80 a. - --~-.