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Show GRAND JURY INQUIRY ; BEGINS s . ' ; '. Examination of Affair ' of Merchants Bank Is I Started by Official j Investigating Body '' By Ira C. Tichenor nt"T,HE exigency in respect to 1 which public . interests seemed to demand the calling of a, grand jury was the recent 'failure of the Merchants bank, and it la to tho rlrcumatancea at- landing1 tnn Hiryrn Tnsr rra nn rn -dlraet your InveatlKatlona. for the , purpoaa of determlnlnc whether or not any peranna have been guilty of ; an Indictable orrenne. - "The grand Jury muat Inqulra Into tho caae of every peraon Imprlauned In tho Jalla of tho county on a criminal crim-inal charge and not Indicted: Into the condition and management of the' public prieone within the county, and into the wilful and corrupt mlacon-duct mlacon-duct In office of public officere of every deacrlption within the county." Thus read tho aeconrt- and third aentencea of tho formal Inetructlona read by Judge P. C. Evana to the grand Jury formed yeaterday, and which already haa begun Ita mo-mentoua mo-mentoua taak. . - The Inatructlona aa to the conduct of the Merchante hank are taken aa a matter of courae. In view of the fact that the grand Jury waa" railed primarily for the purpoae of Inquiring into the unlawful acta. If any, of anyone any-one connected wllh that defunct Inatltutlon. While the formal call for the auiri-monlng auiri-monlng of a grand Jury provided fur the inreatlgatlnn of "any other matter! mat-ter! which aald grand Jury might dee I re to Inquire Into, or which tho law' requlree aald grend.Jury to In -uuire Into." lha scope el Lbs m-. veatlgatlon Increaaeo public Intereat In the work of the Inqulaltorlnl body. FDRTHER INSTRUCTIONS. ; In view of the poaalhlllllea of the Inquiry. Increaaed Imiiortance la attached at-tached to Judge Kvana' formal Inatructlona. In-atructlona. which. following the eztracta already given, elate In part: "In making your lnveatlgatlnna you have the power to aubpoena. wltneeaea to appear and teetlfy aa to any mat-tera mat-tera under Inveatigatlon. and if any wltneaa ahall refuae to appear and to anawer proper queatlona propounded to him, you may report" auch refuaal to the court. Your foreman ahall ad-mlntater ad-mlntater an oath to any wltneaa appearing ap-pearing before you. In your Inveatl-mtluna Inveatl-mtluna of charge; for the pnrpi.ae of a presentment or Indictment you iiiuhI receive no other evidence than Mich aa hall be given by wltneaaea produced and oworn before you, or fumiahed by legal documentary evidence, and the Teat eviJHnrein degree, to the ejtciu-alon ejtciu-alon of hearsay or aecondary 'evidence, inn gnanlm tind ail Iml lutini in m in-dlctmente in-dlctmente when all of th4 evidence before be-fore you taken together. If unexplained unex-plained or uncontradicted, wottld. In your .fndemenh warrant a ccmvlcllon by a trial Jury. "It la ymir duty in diligently Inrjulr Into and tru presentment make of all public offenaea acHlnat the lawa of this ntHte to which your attention shall he directed., which, were committed or are triable within this county. of j which you ahall or can obtain learal evidence. You mint not find an lndlctmeit asralnat anv person through malir, hatred or HI will, nor f"H to Indict any peraon through fear, favor or affec tlon or for anv reward or tha prom-lee prom-lee or hope thereof, but In all your J urrflnitrnt ma vuu muat g"Uc Uic the whi'lt- t rut h anl not liitiK hut the truth, accord I nx to the lcst of your kill nn.il underatHnding. "You will remain In session until yon are ftnnlly rtlachorpd by tjtie coirt ! after the con elusion t if y o i'f, TTm y s . You may .nd'oairn your acslons from iIju in il.iy oi fmrn tirn tn lima, hul your deliberations must be pursued with diligence, admitting of no unnecessary un-necessary delay." INQUIRY BEGINS. Coplea of the Instructions wera furnished fur-nished members of the grand jury which today, after completing preliminaries, prelimi-naries, formally began Ita Inquiries. For 'various reasons It la believed that on or mora men ronnected with the management of the Merchanta bank are In proc-ean of examination today, to-day, and belief la expressed that should any indictments be returned In connection con-nection with the bank the Information on which auch Indictments may be returned re-turned may form tha basis of possible action of the Jury under tha Instructions Instruc-tions to the Jury to Inquire "into -the wilful and corrupt misconduct In office of public officers of every description within tha -county." |