New-York daily tribune., 1842-08-12
Discharges on Habeas Corpns-ReforHis
IN the Administration Of Justice.

accused of crimes. discharges on Habeas Corpus,
&C. in this city. 1t is from source wnich ma!
be implicitly relied OF. "a.
To tie Editor Of The Tribune
Having Observed in the city papers frequent
complaints and editorial remarks upon tne aou'e
OF the Writ of Haheas Corpus, by the Recorder ana
Judge LYNCH of the Court of Sessions, IN letting
prisoners out of prison insufficient bail, nave
taken some pains 10 inquire into the truth oil Inc
case, and now submit to you the result OF my IN
vestigatiens.
have been long time conyersant with pro-
ceedings al the Police Office. and have been tre-
ouently present at the Office of the Recorder and
Judge Lynch when they have been engaged N
the examination of bail as TO their suttc'eHcy.
recellect, soon after the reorganization OF tue
| Criminal Court was surprised al the scrutiny
which was made by Judge Lynch in examining
bail as 10 their su6siency, and the manner IN
which he required the bail in suspicious cases 10
detail the property of which they were possessed
all which was taken in the form of deposition
so that If it was untrue the party could be Indicted
for perjury; indeed, such practice has become
| frequent with the Judges of the Sesslons-the
good effect of which has been, tha, by the example
thus set to the Police Office an entire change mas
| been produced in the character OF bail which Is
returned 10 that Court: and as evidence oi the
careless and indifferent manner IN which that ous-
ness wa; transacted a, the Police Office before the
REORGANIZATION of The Court of Sessions, beg
leave to state facts taken from report or ac-
count Sled bv Mr. Whiting, District Attorney, IN
January, 1871, in the Office of the Clerk ot tue
Court of Common Pleas From January, lo4U,
to January 1871, Mr. Whiting commenced up
wards of 700 suits on rccogHizances amounting to
upwards Of 100000. In upwards OF 800 oil
those cases the defendants could not be found;
and out of all the remaining suits not one dollar
has ever been realized by the Treasury of the city
From this it would appear that probably four OF
FIVE hundred persons. in that year only who were
indicted, and probably most of them guilty, cs-
capped punishment and yet nothing was realized
| BY the Treasury from their bail. What other in
ference caa be drawn? What number of GRIM
inas thus left at large to prey upon the
community!-Now mark the contrast: The new
organization of the Court fully into operation
in the Spring of 1871. For more than a year
past, when recognizances were forfeited the Court
caused reference to the Clerk to inquire into the
sufficcpcy of the sureties, and directed the Clerk
to inquire of each Magistrate before whom recog-
nizanccs taken, as to their suhclency; acting
under this system it is found that largo proper
ton of the recognizances now taken are consid-
cred good, and that instead Of ut the rate of up
ing the Recordcrship of Recorder Morris, the
number of recognzances forfeited in the whole
during the last six months has been only 83 In
all cases where there were doubts to the sol
vency Of the sureties, the new Court has issued
bench warrants against the defendants and thereby
saved to the City large sum OF money, which
they have heretofore disbursed for prosecuting re-
cognizances which produced nothing, and in a
large proportion of these prevented the criminals
from escaping trial and conviction as had hereto
fore happened.
a clamor has been raised, and false and scurril-
Gus statements published, that those Judges have
abused the discretion vested in them and let loose
vagrants and vagabonds on the community. A
clamor originally got up from mere partisan feel
ing, and for the purpose CT casting odlum on the
reorganization of the Criminal Courts as Wing
measure /; but since then, the charge has been re-
peated without shadow of proof by those who,
aware of the dishonest motive ot the cainor,
should net have permitted themselves to be instru-
mental in giving an increased circulation to un-
founded an accusation. The real truth of the case
is, that the proceedings of the Police Magistrates
had been so erroneous Irregular, and illegal, that
in some very few instances vagrants by their coun-
sci availsd themselves of those errors and defects,
and the Judges in the regular performance OF their
duties, upon ha6eIS corpus we're compelled 10
discharge them, assigning in detail the grounds Of
such discharge. Not single instance has occur
ed in which their acts have been overruled or set
aside. In the progress of those Investigations 1t
was discovered that while loud complaints were
made against the Judges for discharging those few
yagrans for legal defects in the proceedings against
them the Police Magistrates and Aldermen ofthe
City were in the habit Of discharging concicted
vagranis from prison before the term of their SEN
tence expired, without any authority OF law, and
without assigning any reason for such acts. One
of the Judges. as l was informed, frequently re-
monstrated against So fragrant abuse, but 1t
continued until the grand denouemeat in April
last, when upwards of seventy were discharged
from the Pententiary, Immediately previous to
the Election, for what purpose and with what
view may hereafter be made to appear, if the con-
stituted authorities discharge their duty in pursu
ance of call made upon them by late present.
ment Of the Grand Jury. Notwiths standing these
abuses III order divert public attention from the
great of complaint, the public is amused by
attacks on The Judges of Court of Sessions. To
conclude, venture TO say, and | challenge contra
diction that for. that has occurred, where
insufficient bail has been taken by either of the
Judges of the Court of Sessions, since the re-er-
ganzation of the Court, more than one hundred
can be found during the two years proceeding, in
which justice has been defeated by the acts Of the
Police Magistrates and the late Recorder put
pose to investigate this subject fully fu-
ture occasion, and admonshed by the length
of this article that am ,respessins TOO much on
your Indulgence. CAsDoR.
% We have much satisfaction in stating that
the proposed canal, connecting the waters of Mis-
sissiquoi Bay with the River Richelieu, and to
which we referred short time back, has been ia
vorably reported on by the Board OF Works and
that gentleman named Fleming, surveyor, has
bee appointed to make the necessary survey and