Judge Mat Allen, Nashville criminal court judge in 1883

Life and Conversion of a Kentucky Infidel

kentuckyinfidel

 The law does not give the grand jury inquisitorial powers, but I shall instruct you that you have inquisitorial powers under the law. When a man becomes a gambler he shakes hands with a good reputation and a good name. The virtue of woman and the honor of man become to him a myth, or as tale that is told. He becomes a social leper, An outcast; and the leper wanders abroad, his scales and sores making him the horror of all mankind, so this modern leper, this Pariah, goes out from society and from all the ennobling influences of life.

I only speak of them as class. Gambling is the parent vice, and all others spring from it. The regular gambler has no rights which this court in bound to respect, or which you are bound to respect, and I am determined to break it up or I'll All every juil and penitentiary 80 full of them that their legs and arms will stick out of the windows. Come what will I'll brenk it up. In order to get at the root of the matter we must get after the parties who rent property for such purposes.

The real estate agents, when summoned before the grand jury, squirmed, and it was impossible to ascertain whether they were aware the property would be used for such purposes or not. But in some cases it becomes notorious that property is to be used for such purposes. When this is shown to be the case, I charge you that if the facta show that it is a notorious fact that property is being used for such purposes, then the owners of the property must know it and should be indicted. I'll send every man to jail who permits a gambling house to be run in his property. There are houses in this town that have been used AS gambling houses ever since I was a child.

The recent act of the legislature will break up gambling. It is fully ample, and it wont let them have a place to gamble in, they can't gamble, add that is all there is of it. You sometimes have to summon skunks and scallawags before you. It is sometimes necessary in order to get at the facts. They will ge before the grand jury, have persons indicted, and then when the case comes up here for trial, they den't remember what they said before the grand jury.

or testify far differently and swear they did not say what the records of the grand jury say they did. If you come ACTORS any evidences of this, let me know and I will instruct the attorney general to prepare bill of indictment against them. Do file indictments.