The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-11-23

succeed in grasping the reigns of power.
The Frightrul Increase or Crime In our City,
and Its Causes.
The increase of crime in this metropolis with
in the last few weeks has been perfectly ap-
palling. The worst exaggerations of Kansas
border ruffanism in its worst days fall short of
the horrid realities daily and nightly trans
piring in the midst of this community. Our
streets literally swarm with savages, and their
atrocities are only exceeded by those of the
Sepoys at Cawnpore and Delhi. The young
girl and the poor old woman, reduced by sick
ness and the infrmities of age to the verge of
the grave, fall alike the victims to our city
trained Apaches; and our half grown tiger cubs
who have turned to the profession of garroting
pounce alike upon any lonely. passenger pro-
missing the trophy of pocketbook, watch or
breast pin. The infamous dens and stews of
all sorts which undermine our city like the rat
warrens of granary, appear to have turned
loose their murderers, robbers and vagabonds
of every description into the streets, as for
grand carnival of crime. The details of their
latest operations occupied over page of the
news columns Of yesterdays HERALD. Neither
San Francisco, when driven to the revolution
airy necessity of vigilance committee, nor
Vicksburg when reduced to the alternative of
stringing up its impudent gamblers like her
rings in the sun, suffered 1.-THE of what we are
now suffering from that rampant ruhianism
which deis our authorities and our laws.
In view of these swarms of reckless savages
and their fearful excuses of crime the question
still recurs-What are the causes which have
produced these deplorable effectss There are
various causes, and they embrace the mistakes
of our judicial system, the weakness of most of
our judicial tribunals, electioneering influences,
and the mischievous tampering of the last Sew
ard Legislature with our municipal affairs.
These are among the causes which underlie the
whole catalogue of our Astounding crimes and
criminals. There can be no doubt that this
financial pressure in various ways has operated
to cut off the supplies of our loose vagabonds
of all sorts, who flourish upon the wastages
and extravagances of flush times" and that
thus these cleaners and scavengers of a luxuri-
GUS city have been reduced to the most despe-
rate expedients to ''raise the wind" This cause,
however, like the rain or the heat which deve-
lopes rank growth of weeds, does not reach
the seeds of the disease. They are in the ground,
and they are the causes which it is now our
purpose briefly TO consider.
First-The disorganization of our municipal
affairs by the late Seward Legislature. Mayor
Wood had organized and drilled an efficient
police force. True, there were some garrotings
last winter; but the severe and summary pun
ishments inflicted by Judge Russell upon the
offenders caught and convicted, soon put stop
to the business But with the appointment of
our Metropolitan Police Board, and the dis
charge of the efficient police corps of the Mayor,
our city first became scene of riots and blood
shed on large scale and recently 1t has be-
come a scene of miscellaneous criminal offences
without precedent in the history of any city
this side of Mexico. The Police Board, blocked
and locked upon party questions, has done little
or nothing except to give us force
of some eight hundred comparatively raw and
incompetent policemen, when two thousand
effective men would not be man too many for
the necessities of the city.
courts contributes largely to the increase of our
stock of murderers, robbers, garroters and all
sorts ofvagabonds. This inefciency arises from
the present false system of electing the Judges
Of our courts. Thus, holding their offices more
or less subject to the ruffan influences which
are sure to he brought to bear upon such cleo
tions, our criminal Judges, we fear, have too
much adopted the saving clause of winking at
small and great offenders and giving them the
benefit of every possible bubble and trick of
the shyster. A year or two ago, under the
energetic supervision Of Mayor Wood, gang of
detected gamblers we're brought up before Judge
Smith (our present indignant Recorder) for
trial, and the quirks and bubbles upon which
this learned Judge permitted these gentry to
slip through the fingers of justice are too well
known to need a more particular specification.
The electioneering influences to which we may
attribute the impunity with which our rogues
and rascals Of oil degrees slip through the
meshes of the law, will also, perhaps to some
extent, account for the fifteen hundred or two
thousand untried criminal indictments slowed
away in the pigeon holes of the District Attor-
neys Office.
In Judge Russell We have worthy excep-
tion to this general rule of judicial weakness.
The convicted criminal before his court meets
with his just deserts, and this Judge possessing
the requisite back bone, makes very short work
of murdercrs, garroters, thieves AID convicted
ruflians Of every degree. A half dozen such
Judges would do great deal to transfer the
mass Of criminals now at large in our streets
TO the scaiiold, to Sing Sing, the Island or the
Tombs, And yet among our Fourieritcs, go
cialists, and silly old fogies Judge Russell has
been scarcely less abused, villided and SANDER
ed than Mayor Wood. And here, in such vile
abuse a. that poured out upon the Mayor, in
which he i dnnonnced as "a thief" - for rnrN