The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-05-16

sion Of section one This warrant is to b. issusd al
though proof furnished OF the guilty persoa bat
II he s made known TO the magistrate, separate war
rant to ~ issued for his arrest not however, that
he may resist the condemnation Of the property, But
OF said set fsec s. This means that he is 70 tried
for his personal offence under section hvs and Goa.
yicted he may be fined and Imprisoned sndsr see.
ton four Such conviction, as the last section
declares works forfeiture Of all the liquor kept BY tue
person so convicted volson Of the section Of the
arrest Of the SO keeping Or departing the qusr
and that the warrant authorizing its seizure has been
executed and the liquor stored lin some safe AID GEN.
vsnent place. to be disposed OF as provided by said act
(Sec o. So far this ID purely proceeding in REM lrre
spective Of any person whatever There complaint
require that in every the OF the liquor
else should be made party to the prosecution
against the liquor seized But the design OF the pro-
ceedng is effect forfeiture and destruction Of the
properly and justice demands that the owner or other
person. who in charge OF it, should Be brought in or
duly notified 70 defend said property.
This s but sheer justice and without II thsfe be
nothing like due process OF law in such case Bat
the act in this proceeding does not require ao com :.
provide with anything like reasonable certainty that he
shall have notice OF what rs going on True, there Is
provision for written notice to the owner OF MS
agent IL known" to the officer who made the seizure,
and which to be served personally by leaving the
same At his last or usual place OF business, win pr
owner his agent cannot be found and his place OF
residence is not known to the officer, such notice shall
be served by delivering the same TO any person OF ma
ture age, residing being employed in the place in
which such liquor contained If none such can DO
found by posting the same on the outer door OF such
places and copies of such notice containing also de-
scripton Of the place in which such liquor found,
shall forthwith be consPicuousy posted in At least three
public places within said city town." Sec. This
section not to require any notice where the owner
his agent 10 unknown to the seizpg officer But lot
prsed of the seizure way still has notice to
and defend the statute only requiring nohce OF
said seizure and Of the Of the magistrate By whom
the warrant issued. (sec. ~ Nor is no allowed
to appear and make defence of any Sort uness he viii
present to said magistrate San affidavit or afrmation
seizure, was actually owned by him by other
person named by him. for whom he IL agents that he or
purpose Of preventing its Forfeiture and that the same
had not been kept to the PROVISIONS OF this
to the best Of his knowledge and belief and also spec
flying the purpose for which the place where under
which exception Of section first the kept, and
the facts particularly shoyng to b within the : sa
trouble to inSuiS. whether, on presenting such an
affidavit, the owner or agent may have the truth
Of his ss7 ,d x the N. and
liquor determined in the way for the act orbids
any trial whatever unless such affidavit is made and
presented and of course no defence being made, the
liquor will in due time be condemned and destroyed
This PROVISION, requiring an aidavit Of innocence to
be made before party be allowed to make defence
in q criminal proceeding against person or property, 10
remarkable in It's nature, and believe wholly unprece
the same lesson-every is taken to be innocsnt
until proved to be guilty; ana that when charged with
crime ne has an absolute right, without swearing 70 MS
innocence, to put in denial and call the accuAer
for proof Of his guilt. This is equally the right Of the
accused whether the conviction may result in the loss
Of life, liberty property for one be deprived Of
either without 'due process Of law" The Legislaturs
might well provide that person charged with muir
should be allowed to plead not guilty unless he Woud
to his innocence to exact the affidavit required
by this act before be allowed to make de-
fence against the forfeiture destruction OF his pro-
perty. But the legislature has no such power, and
every seizure under the provisions of this act which
have been referred to Will make both the magistrate and
officer serving his warrant responsible 10 the owner
tIespassers for deprvng him Of his property without
legal authority.
The act abolishss some OF the most well settled and
reasonable rules of evidence and the Design there
great to believe, If possible to se:ure the
convection and the sacrifice of the property of every
pected person There must be limit to legislative
power in this respect, the right to trial and to
be confronted with the witnesses against him. IL but
. name, and the ceremony idle farce. /" Due pro-
of law requires that the trial should be
presumed innocent until his guilt Is estabshed that
his guilt should be proved-not decared-by statute.
1t therefore denies to the Legislature power to make
rules Of evidence which will in substance leave nothing
to be tried The exercise Of such pow by the Legis
lature may eectuaily destroy the RICH. TO trial
as it would be by abolshng trial In form The sub
would be gone, and the mere form would DO
tha1 idle and useless.
There other parts Of tho act open great objec
tons but those which have been advertcd to may be
tai samples of the residue aud quite cent
to disclose the means by which was carried into
effect SAMUEL BEARDSLEY.