New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-11-11

| teen OfOuehi rear 10 dbl jn1gs we nave bsu ~
| our COnrls Of Recort, wIlh The exception OF enc
| Individual. not now on tie bench
!; IS also tue Ia, the Judiciary 81 CaIicTns.
a. whole. IS quite respectable eoty. much
| beyond the average Of the Judiciary in tie first
years OF any Of the States thai preceded Cali
iOrnla INTO the Union, while II is certain that
| some OF cur Judges are men of considerable abl-
ity and learning. The real trouble wss-no,
| that certain judges IN San Francisco were cor
rupt-buttha, they were not corruptlbie lfthey
had been they had nut 10 give, with one hand,
decision IN favor OF the fraudulent CT illega q
tiles derived from the Aca!des and with The
other hand take the 0Tibes. The same set OF
men. Idenilcaly. who bought up enough men IN
/ the Legislature IT San Jose, the following VIM
ter. al prices varying from 'wa.er lot 20 5000
In cash. 10 pass a iaw patching up porsion OF
! their titles endangered by the decisions OF the
J Supreme Court. stood ready 10 buy up three or
! four Judges They would have saved money by
the operation. and could have much better IN
| vested the >l20O00 expended az San Jose, lin
tRkering W portion of their bad titles IN cor
ruptIDg the judiciary OF the State. and thus SIT
! fling ell investigation IN the premises
The fact Is, that so far as the decisions Of the
! Courts already referred 10. and out of which the
warfare erew-weTe cOncened-they were all
| on the side where there was little or no money
| and. of course. little or no respectabllty. no
" first men"-not 4 heading cltlzen" They
-
the property holders To say that such decisions
were corrupt,is simply absurd. The judgments
! III the Supreme Court were delivered 10y Judga
Bennett, and are understood 10 have been the
result mainly OF his Investigations OF the subject
II Is not too much % say OF Judge Bennett, that
he IS not only man OF unusual vlgor Of mind,
legal learning and judicial ability, but that he IL
OF such immoyable honesty OF purpose. that
all the lots IN san Francisco, and all the gold IN
California coBld not disturb him one hairs
breadth
1t may be. also, that there was great lsXIty
IN the administration OF law, growing out OF the
peculiar circumstances Of the cOuntTy-that
criminal, could not he convicted for want of
Juries with proper adherence Of crime. and. If
convicted, could not D. kept ior punishment for
want oi adequate Iails 81 course, you VIII
make allowances for all these things; and We.
YOU must understand there was deal that was
unjust and absolutely dishonest IN the warfare
sprung upon the Courts and the law IN san
francisco IL went on not the less one news
paper, The Hvald, owned and sustained IN great
part by the property owners Affected By the de-
cisions OF Inc supreme Court, being peculiarly
! VrulCn' and unceaslng IN ITS attacks
About this time, succession OF daring rOboe-
| ries indicating not only consummate skill and
| holiness IN crime, hut regular organization,
| threw the city into perfect panic. The whole
! amount Of property taken was not very great,
and except III a single case, the robbcrleS were
| without violence. H. a healthy state OF the puO-
| lie mind they would not have been more thas
nine days wonder hardly that II New-l ok or
| Newt Orleans During the whole Of this period
my business obliged me TO traverse the city
| from end TO end, a. all hours OF the night. and
| although the streets were n dark as Egypt and
without n waichman, never met with the
| slightest harm or hndrance.
| The difficulty was the public mind was not in
| healthy state. The tone OF the pubic press
and the course Of the large land-h0lders. OF the
most respectable men" and the u" hrst citizens,
had worked the people up 10 te' er heat in san
! Francisco every second man Is sulto1 NJ the
| Courts, either as plaintiff or defendant, ana OF
| course One-half OF those are necessarily dlsap-
ponted sutors These also lent " Their most
| sweet voices" to swell the clamor against the
| Courts II was the most natural and most eiiec-
| tual vent for their irritation. The popular ex-
| element was Undesirable, and the ltemlzers on
| the daily papetS, OF which San Francisco had no
| fewer than seven, were not backward IN pander-
! pg 10 Il Every day. fabricated horrors and reall-
ties exaggerated hundred-fold, filled up the city
| news department of these sheets, and were
! greedlly swallowed by their readers Still the
| climax was not reached Having lifted up their
voices against the Courts, as usual every
| body else SAID Amen - but rs yet no one hited
! his hand against the law The great mass OF the
people were not worked up to the required pitch,
| as was proved By the failure OF the attempt
made IN February last to lynch "indred and
| Stewart There was rs yet no Organization 10
| ST aside the laws and it was plain that without
| an ORGANIZATION the laws would not be subveried
nor lhc Courts practically set aside. The day
after the failure OF the attempt 10 lynch Nindrea
and Stewarf IT. HorQh cried ont for the or
gar-1a'ion Of and Of Regulators, TO take
| the administration Of the laws into Their own
! hands, and the @ppeal was seconded 10y some
! other papers III the same interest.
fl.a rrfsI .Frlr IN AT
| demands made nom all parts OF the state, re-
modelled the Cn nal Code, making a larceny
OF ever $50, and a highway robbery OF any
| amount. punishable with death returning 10 the
old sarguinay codes OF the barbarous ages.
The Courts also, stimulated by the popular
outcrv and agitation, passed to the extreme Oh
activity and rigor IN the pursuit OF criminals
Two men were convicted, and sentenced to four
teen years Imprisonment Tor crimes which II was
proved ntterward they had not committed. Two
women Of equiyOcal character had quarrel, III
which one OF them attempted TO strike the DINER
Cwho had gwen her gross proyocaIion) Win =
hstchct She was arrested. tired, convicted and
sentenced To years imprisonment IN the county
1al. all within sixteen hours Upon new triaI
WnaninOusy granted by the Court,)a month al
ter. the woman was unanlmou siy acquitted bythe
jury almost without quitting the box. In short,
II was perfect reign Of terror ~ tine tour's
The old rules OF justice and mercy were reverted
Every prisoner was believed guilty, and was
hardly suffered to prove his innocence.
Th,n came the terrible ire OF May =, de
>troyiug ana desolatIng the city As II The hor-
rors OF that calamity were not Sufficient, an ex-
cited community imagined al sorts u crimes
end criminal intentions, IN connection with the
fire Never was the origin OF ire more clearly
a>certained-hayIng been distinctly seen by
dozen persons, when II first broke out, IN the
sh0p OF an uphostenEg firm. VIGOROUSLY care
less about their 6les. Nevertheless, the city
was hlled WIKI rum0rs OF incendanes and In
cendiansln. which spread rom tongue TO tongue,
until they took form and credIbiity Imagine q
population. msddenod by crushing losses which
hardly any Of them had escaped. suddenly left
~ the ire without occupation, except to brood
o. er thelr mislortunes and INDULGE IN ever, sort