Daily Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1854-1855, 1855-10-24
rrparsoNrNa w1rNxssYs.


One OF the facts which curiously illustrate
the working of free Institutions, is the
method which is often adopted for the pur-
pose Of procuring or rather preserving tes'
timSny to bsused IN. criminal cases A
fewweeks ago large stable was burned IN
Chicago. and . nunberlof horses owned By
acouutryman, and which had been left with
a man named Wilson for sale, were repSFt.
cdto have been burned. Wilson was sub.
sequently suspected Of having first stolen
the horses, aud then fred the stable in or
der to conceal the theft. The police found
the horses in McHenry county. and Wilson
was committed to jail on double charge
of arson and demonstrating. A day or two
after the committal, it being suspected that
Wilson's friends were trying to buy of the
with .sses, the owner Of the horses and son
of Wilson, they were required to give bail
for their appearance at the trial, and in de-
faul: of giving it were imprisoned.
| II would seem little hard as we'll as
curious that a man should suffer all the in
convenience and disgrace of Imprisonment,
in order to be on hand to testify that his
own property had been stolen. There up
pears 10 have been no..regular affidavit or
other allegation that there was any Grim
inal collision between the party accused
and the one who would be wanted as wit
ness, bat from the face OF the story we
would conclude that the owner Of the hor-
ses had not money enough to procure bail,
and was imprisoned on the mere suspicion
that he might absent himself. ltseems to
US that this mode of proceeding commences
by doing positive wrong to ain innocent
person, as the means Of ascertaining at
future time whether another person may or
may not be guilty.
This practice Of imprisoning witnesses
has often been exhibited in the most agra
waited form in New York and other large
cities. A stranger in one of those cities
who accidentally happens TO be the specta-
tor of street fight or some other violation
of the law, is summoned before the exam.
lining court as a with ess, and il the parties
accused officiating the law are bound over
for future trial, the unfortunate stranger
has to furnish security for his appearance
at the time Of that trial, or pass the inter.
vening period in prison. If he happen TO
be man Of standing or possessed Of influ-
entail acquaintances in the city. the matter
is easily arranged. Ii he be unknown.
money will not always save him even with
New York City officials; and if he be both
poor and unknown, he has no alternative
but to 60 to jail. No matter how urgent
his business may be, nor how im?eratively
that business may demand his immediate
departure, he is the powerless victim Of the
officials of the police court, must wait upon
their pleasure, and submit to every arrange
ment which those not proverbially pure ex-
ecutors of the law may choose to order.
We believe that in some of the cities at
tempts have been made to remove some of
the glaring evils which result from this prac:
tce. But the evil is far from being as thor
oughly eradicated as it should be. And
when plan could be adopted that would ef-
fectually subserve all the ends Of justice,
and st.ll prevent any oppression being suf-
fered By innocent individuals, il is surpri-
sing that such plan has not long since
been put in execution. Even in capital
cases, or in civil cases involving millions
worth Of property, the dep ,sitions Of wit
nesses who may be unable to attend the
trials, are taken beforehand, and have their
proper weight when the cases come before
the courts. An arrangement of this kind
would remove all the evils which are caused
by the present barbarous practice of i'm
prisoning witnesses. The person who was
the accidental spectator of any thing which
had to undergo subsequen. judicial inves-
tigation, might make verified statement of
all he knew about il before the proper Off
Ger, and be Immediately discharged. Every
body is interested that such regulation
should be established, because every one is
liable to the inconvenience and oppression
which result from the present system. II
is PECULIARLY Of Americans to think their
Liberties SO firmly established, that they
overlook any possibility of their abridg-
ment. But while Williamson is in Jail
under the decision of an unjust Judge. and
innocent individuals are daily liable to be
imprisoned in accordance with the usage of
barbsrous age, it is time that those abuses
should be abolished, which can only be de-
Tended on the plea Of their antiquity. and
which are entirely opposed to the intelli
gence and humanity of the present age.
To-day, the regular autumnal Convention
of Unitarian Christians commences its SEES
.;on. il = ~, 81