The organization and functions of the American grand jury are similar, except that here we have prosecuting attorneys to procure the presence of the necessary witnesses and direct the course of their examination. In the Federal courts almost all criminal accusations, great or small, are, and by the fifth amendment to the Constitution of the United States all charges of infamous crimes must be, prosecuted by presentment or indictment. In most of the States the intervention of a grand jury is requisite only in case of serious offenses; in some only in capital cases. It is obvious that it is less needed here than in England, since here it is not within the power of any private individual to institute criminal proceedings against another at his own will, but they are brought by a public officer commissioned for that very purpose and acting under the grave sense of responsibility which such authority is quite sure to carry with it. The grand jury, however, has its plain uses wherever political feeling leads to public disorder. It has also, since the Civil War, been found an effective restraint in some of the Southern States, whether for good or ill, upon prosecutions for violations of certain laws of the United States, brought against members of a community in which those laws were regarded with general disfavor. Prosecutions by information are those not founded on a presentment or indictment. The information is a written accusation filed in court by the prosecuting officer. In certain classes of cases, the leave of the court must be first asked in some jurisdictions. It is not necessary that it be supported by any previous statement or complaint under oath. The officer who prepares it acts under an oath of office, and that is deemed sufficient to give probability to whatever charges he may make. If the defendant has already been bound over by a committing magistrate, such an information may take the place of the original complaint on which the arrest was made. If he has not yet been arrested, or if he was arrested and discharged by such a magistrate, the filing of an information is accompanied by a request for the issue of a warrant for his arrest from the court. Such a paper is called a bench warrant, and is granted whenever necessary, whether upon a presentment, indictment, or information. An information may be amended by leave of the court at any time. A presentment or indictment cannot be. They, when returned to court, are the work of the grand jury, and they end its work. An amendment of a legal process can logically be made only by the hand which originally prepared it. This rule leads to the escape of many a criminal. If prosecuted by indictment, the case against him must be substantially proved--in whole or part--as there stated, or he goes free. Prosecuting officers therefore naturally prefer to proceed upon information whenever the law permits it.