The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-03-23

with reference to coal-mines and to
see that operators of coal mines and
others connected Herewith obey these
mining laws so as to provide for the
safety and health of the men work
ing in the mines. 1t will be your duty
to call the mine inspector before you
and inquire as to whether that law
has been obeyed.
Much has been said recently about
the Eighteenth Amendment and the
prospect of an early resumption of
the sale of lager beer. Laws have
been passed by Congress providing
for the submission to the people of
the country the question of a repeal
of the Eighteenth Amendment and
providing for the sale of beer through
out the United States at a certain
percentage of alcoholic content. l
want to say to you, gentlemen of the
grand jury, that we in Garrett county
are in no way concerned with these
two statutes. You have in Garrett
county a local liquor law which was
in force before the Eighteenth Amend
ment and which is not in any way
affected by the laws enacted by Con-
gress on this subject. 1t is in force
now and will still be in force even
if the States of the Union adopt the
new amendment and repeal the Eigh-
teenth Amendment. So want to i'm
press upon you so that you will I'M
derstand fully that your duty today
is the same duty that every other
grand jury has had since the Eigh-
teenth Amendment was passed and
since the so-called Volstead Act was
passed in pursuance of it, and prior
thereto.
The people of Garrett county have
seen fit to pass local option law Of
their own making it unlawful
to sell any Intoxicating liquors or
lager beer within the confines of Gar
rett county and if you find that law
has been violated and there is evil
dence sufficient to support an indict-
ment against the offender it will be
your duty to find an indictment there
for.
Always bear in mind that whatever
your individual views may be of a
law, that you and /, as parts of the
administration of justice are not con-
cerned in any way with the propriety
of any statute. may personally
have been an opponent of the Eigh-
teenth Amendmee since the time of
its adoption. You or any of you may
have been likewise opposed to its
adoption and to the laws enacted in
pursuance thereof, but whatever our
convictions are or may have been, we
are nova part of the machinery for
the administration of justice, pledged
to enforce the laws and all of the laws
as we find them. 1t is no part of our
duty to pass judgment on their suf-
ficiency or as to whether they are
proper laws or improper laws, but
merely to enforce and administer the
law as it has been laid down by the
General Assembly of our State.
l have been talking, gentlemen of
the jury, this morning about some
thing that you have not perhaps been
thinking much lately, and probably
you have been thinking about some
thing that l have not been talking
about. You have probably been think
ing about bank failures, the railroad
failures, the agrarian troubles and the
farmers difficulties. You have been
thinking about the poor and about
the unfortunate men and women of
Garrett county who have not the
means of subsistence, but we must
remember that the law must be obeyed
even in these most trying times.
1t is more important in these hours
of stress and tragedy than at any
other times that the law be main
tanned. When men and women in
such numbers are suffering, hungry
and idle, when there is almost literal
famine among many of our people
you can form no conception of what
might happen if the laws were not
observed by the people.
I cannot help, however, but feel and
express my conviction that the Amer
lean people during the past three
years have demonstrated better than
any people in the history of the world
their capacity for self-government,
their power of self-restraint and their
high regard for decency and honor