The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-04-07

me prisoner, john Hicks. before ne upon the re-
turn Of habeas corpus issued the Sheriff the city
and county Of New York The sheriff returns that
John J. Hci, y = custody and retained By virtue Of
copy of which Sheriff Orser attached TO his return Tho
important part Of said commitment is contained the
following extract from II, viz
Whereas the 2st day Of March, ASA before the Re
y Yel Hss ass. Sa SSs@sss
nal offences to Wit criminal frauds upon the Of
%
i s OF 0,a S,r a
aasn Days u : sasSise 40
ss. people
Of New as ~ sS 'nS '.S a
hs On ss s ass s him S,
n relation to said complaint, which .ad saGpsna,
ss sSy ;i'st
he h has ss esa
there M * s aas
heinz n ,DS Co ss
testify :a s% h ss " Sss there Sy
he should be and testify stand committed On
the 18th Of March he appeared and sueieat ieg
g nd rssssss
tas
jail Of city Of New York. and tho keeper Of said
John Hicks, and him safely keep in close Satsy until he
he shall be diseharges by dae course Of sw y
70 this return of the sheriff the prisoner, John j.
Hicks in accordance with the authority of the Goth
ton Of the act iu relation to the proceedings ha
beas corpus cd r. S $685. denied that Recorder Tou
had obtained jurisdiction Of subject matter as to
authorize that officer to ssuea subpoena and attachment
And adudica,e the contempt and issue the commitment
mentioned in these proceedings As these proceedings
have very properly excited public attention. the CUB
ec matter OF the investigation pending before Recorder
Hllou, iii such subject matter exists s Of vital con
to the well being aud reputation Of the city
and her citizens and it is most desirable that e
low citizens should know The powers OF judges Of the
highest judicial jurisdiction examinations to detect
the commission Of crime AID cause the arrest OF offend
and to know the duty Of eli judges whether of the
Of lees general judicial jurisdiction By
habeas corpus in fact the proceedings OF the
Judge conducting the examination will present for the
information of fellow citizens the powers Of these
apparently conflicting magistrates though all SAY
The statutes Of our state, and particularly title "a
Of chapter 2, Of part 4th OF the Revised Statutes
found at page 700, second edition of the Revised
Statutes altered by the constitution of 1886 and the
judiciary passed under that constit uton gives
the persons for the time being holding The following
Offices power to issue process for the apprehension and
detention of persons charged with the commission Of Of
fences yz.Justices of the Supreme Court Judges Of
the SUPERIOR Court OF Law of the city and county of New
York; Judges OF County Courts City Judge Mayors
Assistant Justices OF the city of New York. Justices Of
the Peace appointed for any city, and elected In any
Torrance of the duty of causing the arrest and conducting
the examination OF person charged with the commission
presiding justice of the Supreme Court in these matters
has no moro power than the justice OF peace. Each Of
these officials gain jurisdiction in the manner
viz by the presentation to them OF facts sh0 wing either
the commission OF an offence, such facts tend to
show that ofense has been committed These facts
may be established either by the oath Of COMPLAIN
ant il the magistrate the facts which tended
to show criminal offence had been committed, he
may enter a statement OF them in his proceed.
ings and upon them issue his subpoena. II he
saw the facts he may issue his subpoena without en-
tering statement Of them his proc sedngs though
he Is obliged to prove his jurisdiction, it prudent Tor
him to enter them. After such facts have been proved
and the magistrates arsdi thus established he may
and obigng them give evidence II witnesses refuse
to attend they may be arrested on attachment for not
trate they refuse be testify, they may
adndged guilty of criminal contempt and imprisoned
stating that their might tend 70 crminate them
selves. Ill this may be done before the of the
son who committed the offence has been discovered and
done for the purpose OF discovering who committed the
offence. will present the obligations and duties Of
the named Judges except such Justices Of the
pus The Constitution, "A, art. 1, declares
The privilege Of the writ Of q cannot be sns
public safety nay rsgsirs suspension. y '''' '
see aa-when the supreme any justice thereof
shall have evidence from judicial proceedings had before
sr shs BE- lsgsiy confined and restrainel IN bis
WRIT s o as or ee% for @ relief a
though no petition application made
See !, NJ any court or eesr agthosed by the proyi
ioros shall reu, ,rant such legally applied
the party aggrieved one thousand dollars.
When the prisoner is brought before the Judge who is
sued the hoa corpus he must discharge the prisoner il
the precept upon which he is held s defective in some
matter OF SUBJ lance required by law, rendering sucn
process void. He must also discharge
the S S M nn u sas
Court officer has been exceeded, either to matter
When the Court or officer had not obtained ari licton
Of both the subject matter and Of the person Of the
r0nr want Jurisdiction as Of either the Of
to discharge Upon hdb1s corpus the Judge can only
ook to the face of the process upon which the prisoner
is committed and at the question OF Jurisdiction the
process is correct and the magistrate has either obtain
ed jurisdiction the facts show colorado iurdic
ton the Ju dye must recommt Jurisdiction Is where
the facts show offence has been committed Colora
bic jurisdiction is whore the facts proved show pro-
babilty that an offence has been committedthat is
sufficient jurisdiction TO authorize the magistrate TO
make the examination, though eventually IL should
be clearly, proved no offence had been commit
ted. that the person charged innocent.
will apply those legal principles to the under
consideration. The commitment and the attachment
upon their face exhibit defect in Law matter sub
stance required by law rendering them void therefore
there nothing in them requirir to discharge the
prisoner. have had more difficulty determining upon
the suficency Of the subpoena but still have come to
the conclusion that is sufficient in substance 10 require
the defendant to appear 1t directs him to appear and
testify in certain matter, on the complaint Of A. G.
Flagg verified by the oath Of A. G. Flagg AMI others al
legpg and charging the commission Of certain criminal
offences within the city and county of New York cal
egDg and charging upon oath the commission Of certain
criminal offences" may the substance, yet it
certainly would have been better to have more definitely
des cribed what criminal offences they were; but
slider il sufficient now come to an examination Of the
complaint 70 see If that gives to the Recorder jurisdic
ton of subject matter, jurisdiction Of probable
subject matter Upon careful examination OF the
plant made byA G Flagg, win be that the only
factsl he swears to from his knowlelge--and
which,. consequently, are the only evidence the
Recorder can consider for the purpose Of OBJ
tanning jurisdiction of subject matter of
obtaining jurisdiction of probable subject matter.
THAT Faeg Is Comptroller Of the city aud county
of New York, and that such Comptroller he has in
his custody care and control the documents vouchers
and papers relating 10 the Finance Department of the
said city These the only facts he proves. These
facts certainly do not show tend to show, that
crime has been committed, they facts tending
to show that Il is probable crime has been committed
The plant then states" That from the said docu
ments and from information which he has received from
various quarters, which information he believes to be
true, frauds 10 large amount have been committed
upon the public treasury Of the said city, which frauds
he believes TO be criminal in their nature and Character
The complaint does not show what the documents
what is their contents does state what the