454 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



lie sentiment here, are more highly appreciated after one has 

 had an opportunity to learn the troubles of those engaged in 

 similar work elsewhere. Imagine the only way to begin crim- 

 inal proceedings to be through the grand juror or the grand 

 jury ; imagine grand jurors appointed by selectmen or alder- 

 men, and reflecting the views of the appointing power ; im- 

 agine cases smothered by a district attorney, because he does 

 not favor some law ; imagine the frequent failure of grand 

 juries to indict, in spite of evidence, if they do not like any 

 particular law ; imagine one grand jury at a single session 

 refusino; to find bills in 300 cases of violation of a law un- 

 popular with the jurors ; imagine petit jurors being judges 

 of law, as well as of evidence, and refusing to convict be- 

 cause in their judgment some law is unconstitutional ; imag- 

 ine beino- obliged to be<nn civil suits to collect fines after the 

 criminal court has imposed them, — all these things happen 

 in other States, not all in any one State. On one occasion 

 the writer of this told a group of commissioners in the course 

 of conversation that in Massachusetts it is no unusual thing 

 for a judge to charge a jury that their opinions as to the 

 merit of the law should not be a factor in the conclusion they 

 might reach ; that their duty was merely to determine whether 

 the evidence in the case bore out the charge in the complaint. 

 More than one commissioner expressed surprise at the state- 

 ment, and said that judges in his State would not do so. 



Miscellaneous. 

 In many instances our inspector is the only witness to the 

 violation of law, and sometimes his evidence in court is dis- 

 puted by the defendant. There is then the word of one man 

 against that of another. In such circumstances the witnesses 

 are usually sharply cross-examined, with a view of getting 

 at the facts in the case, to determine as far as may be the 

 truth of their stories. To illustrate : During the year an 

 inspector found an imitation-butter pedler in Lawrence with 

 some of the contraband article in his wagon. The inspector 

 started to take a portion for analysis, but he was forcibly 

 prevented from securing the sample. The pedler was 

 brought before the police court, charged with interfering 



