New-York daily tribune., 1857-04-25
THE POLICE CONTEST.
ARGUMENTS CLOSED IN THE NATTER oF
THE INJUNCTION.

| fest BY the large attendance oi oi'iN0
afternoon in the proceedings now penang oeioio 'uuse
Davies Of the Supreme Court The "eherai Term
room WAS crowded to e1cess, al the a'aiaoe space
beiug occupied. Mayor Wood and Simeon Draper
.ha eor,es,apt parties-were seated by one another
ard were frequently engaged in lively and pleasant
conversation. Attorney-Genera Gushing was also
preseut. In behalf Of the plaintiff Charles O'Conor
e1..Judre Edmonds and Richard Dusteed, Corporation
Counsel. appeared a. counsel; the defendants
represented by Vim. NJ. Evarts David Dudley Field,
Francis b. Cutting William Curtis Noyes and A.
Oakley Hall.
After Judge Davies took his seat, Judge Edmonds
submitted the following points to the Court:
J. II is competent for this Court TO interfere by
junction and its power is founded upon this simple
elementary principle, that the power OF the Court to
apply the remedy Is eoextensve with Its Jurisdiction
overthe subject matter. Kents Conn., Sec. -, ker-
shaw va Thomson, /. Z. T., 6O9-2 Story, Eg. L.,
=. $50. b. and note.
H. Where statute is in violation of the ConSttu-
tion is in the power and Is the duty OF the Court TO
pronounce ii void and redress an act already DONE or
prevent contemplated one, the nature OF the case
may require. Kents Com. 448, 453, Taylor vs. Por-
ter; Hill lH, Newell va. The People; Seldom, ",
go ll9 49, Story on the Const. Ch. 4, Cowles vs.
Davies; Kernam, 800, Wynchamer Vi. People; 10.
3S6
III The act in question is in violation Of the CoDst
tuition and veid.
l. The whole scope and purpose of the Constitution
in this respect is to decentralze power and scatter
abroad over the State, viz;
A. The Senators once chosen in or districts, are
scettered into ~ districts.
b. The Assenblymen are elected in single districts,
and not in counties by twos and tens, and the Ike.
C. The State officers chosen by the whole pco-
pie and not appointed by the Governor or Legislature
at the seat Of Government.
d. Legislative powers taken from the same
center and conferred on County Boards OF Supervi-
f. Even the judiciary is divided into provincial
Supreme Courts instead Of one central Court.
+. And much of the appointing power once belong
ing to the Council of Appointment the Governor
and Senate is now dfused by general election through
out the State, or in different divisions OF it.
g In execution Of this general purpose provision
was made for county and city officers that they should
derive their appointment from the local power.
The Constitution article 10, section ,, provides that
such appointm ut shall be either by the electors, or
the authorities of the city or county.
g. But this act provides that all the police force OF
this city shall derive their Office not from any local
city county authority, but from the central power
Of the State. 80.
The statute provides for larger territory than any
county or city limits and for such territory formed
into district, creates new office thus bringing II
within the last clause Of that sectlon " "that all oihcers
a. whose offices may be hereafter created by law shall
be elected or appointed rs the Legislature may
" direct"
To this answer:
l. 1t is not a new Office. There arc now in this
city, under the present law, Board OF Ponce Com
nissiouers; Chief of Police; Captains, Assistant
Captains, Sergeants policemen and doormen stalioh
houses; duties defined; compensation provided pro-
vision for appointments and removals ana Senera Su
peIntendence. -.
In all this both systems are the same, far as this
city is concerned The powers and dulles and even
the names arc the same.
. In all this there it nothing except the exten-
sion of the ystem over larger territory! 40
Legislature
by providing new Districts then these things must fol-
low:
/. 1t cannot matter how much territory Is incladed
in the new district few feet will be as good Is 70
many acres or nies.
3. Then by mingling New-York and Brooklyn to-
gether and making one President for the two UT SIX
FOR the two, the power of selecting the Mayor may
be taken from the people and given to the Governor
3. So the Justices civil or police may be this ap'
pointed and not elected. .
A. So the Sheri6"s clerk, Surrogates and District
Attorneys may be thus appointed by the Goverh}r Dy
barely jo;Ding two counties or parts ot them
only so that there il embraced in the district something
more than the territory OF one county, be ever ~
little OF much. -,
5. In fine all that would be required would be to
make the same persons, who, at one moment were
county officers and city officers officers OF such new
district with the same and the same powers ana
then they could be appointed by the Governor anu mol
in the territory or district. ~
G. The statute is also unconstitutional and void, be-
cause it approprates private property 10 puohc use
without just compensation.
Section 10 gives to the of the new Board all the
public police property, &c, now III the Possessioh VI
tho Police Department of the cry. s
The provision in that section as to ownership, &C,
though may leave the fee III the city, yet app'o-
PIRATES the possession to the purposes of tins statute
and that posession is property and cannot be taken
without compensation.
Mr. Field then addressed the Court in behalf of the
defense Without discussing the question of the con-
stitutionay of the act he denied that the Court had
any authority jurisdiction to interfere in the matter
in the granting of preliminary or final injunction
The pOwerS of the Court III granting Junchons were
defined in the 2l9th section o the Code and a. re
stricied there had never been enlarged. The doc
trines there laid down now prevailed IN the courts;
Il Abbots Reports 81 Chemical Bank VS.: mayor o.
New.York According To the law As 1t exists IN TINS
country and England such thing as suit in equity,
brought by private individual to get an act OF the
Legislature declared unconstitutional or 10 enloih Us
execution, had never been known. A CourI had
jurisdiction Of an action when II had jurisdiction OF
the parties or Of the subject The subject in this case
was a relief demanded, and the relief demanded was
that the Court declare act Of the Legislature un-
constitutional and void, and that an ORDER Issue en-
joining persons holding authority under the EXecu-
| tive Nom executing the law. The whole night 10
judge Uf the ConStiiutonay of On act OF LegiSla-
| ture Incidental to pronouuclng Judgment upon
cause before the Court. Ii could not come up
direct; il had been, and never could III any
Government having due suboTdlnaton. iMerOuIy
| sgt Mattison, Cranch.l The plaintiff asked also an
injunction to prevent the execution OF the law Was
| conceivable that the Legislature whose laws this
Court administered would leave itself go power
less Us that any Judge in the country might ISSUE
| a general mandate prohibiting the very laws when
thew had passed Here was case where citiZea oi
| a country had come into Court and announced that
one branch Of the Government had transcended ts
| powers. Was il TO be said that they had given this
| Court power 10 enjoin their own ats They have
the control over the Judiciary in variouS ways, and
thew could do away with th Cour. tomorrow they
chose. II it be true that the Court could grant an