The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-12
MONDAY, OCTOBER IL, 1868.
The Sheriff VS.. The Mayor.

of PHILADELPHIA or the Sheriff OF the county is
entitled to take precedence as conservator OF
the public peace. In the settlement Of all such
questions of law as the one now before us, it
is of the greatest Importance that that law
officer to whom the duty of deciding in behalf
of the city all such differences of opinion is
entrusted should be consulted in the matter;
and his decision, whether right or wrong,
should be accepted by the officers of the city ol
which he is the legal adviser. The law officer of
this Commonwealth to whom the duty OF thus
instruoting all other officials is given by statute
is the Attorney. General. 1t was, therefore,
eminently proper on the part of the Mayor OF
the city to at once consult Mr.. Brewster in
regard to what were the relative functions OF
himself and Sheriff Lyle. Mr.. Brewster has
carefully examined the subject, and, acting in
his official capacity, has announced decided
and unequivocal opinion. He states that the
Sheriff is subordinate to the Mayor; that the
Sheriff has no right to anticipate disturbance
merely because Of the approach of an election;
and that he has no right to appoint deputies to
be present at the polls, either to protect
or overawe the electors. By the
Consolidation acts of the city it is made the
duty and the province of the Mayor to thus
prevent any disturbance, and the Sheriff is
only authorized to act in the premises when
called upon by the Mayor. The high standing
of the Attorney General both as lawyer and
an official alike give weight to his opinion,
and by it all officers of the Commonwealth are
bound.
The opinion of any private counsellor, how
ever high his standing may be as member of
the Bar, cannot be pleaded by the officer as a
justification for his disregard of the official
opinion of that official whose duty it is to ad-
wise him.
Such being the law of the case, the citizens of
Philadelphia may we'll view with concern and
indignation the action of Sheriff Lyle, as an
nounced in his proclaim alton this morning,
and his instructions to his deputies. These
deputies are evidently to be sent to every
place of voting within the city of Philadelphia
to assure the functions of keepers of the
public peace. If they were entitled to such
powers, it is the duty of all good citizens to
obey the call of the Sheriff and respect
his officers. II, however, the Sheriff or any
other official acts beyond his province, he
ceases to have any legal claims to the aid or
even the attention Of good citizens, and should
be treated both as an intruder and an impu-
dent interloper in affairs which are not his
concern. These deputies, therefSre-who,
from all we can hear, are composed of the
very lowest class of the community--are not
entitled to the respect or the obedience of any
of the legal voters. They are nothing
more than armed rufians, who attend
the polls sstensibly for the purpose of pro-
tecting the electors, but really to overawe the
legal guardians of the public peace in the
shape of the policemen appointed by the
Mayor. If any of these parties attempt to
make an arrest they are guilty of assault and
battery, and can and will be both prosecuted
and punished. If they make an arrest by
superior force they are guilt of false impri-
sonment, and for that offense the laws
of the Commonwealth provide punish
ment which will be most vigorously meted
ont to them. These opinions are
but our own individual sentiments,
unbacked by the authority of officers, but are
in conformity with the exposition of the law
as made by that officer whose duty it is to ex-
pound it. When we consider this to be the
true aspect of the case, the infamous audacity
of Lyle appears in its proper light. His in
structions to his deputies, while seemingly
fair and honest, are really melting to riot and
calculated to lead to breaches of the peace.
Thus, for instance, we find him stating thai
no one can be arrested by any officer on the
day of election unless warrant is shown
charging the citizen with treason or felony, OIL
unless he openly commits breach of tht
public peace; and if any officer should attemp
to make such an arrest, it is the duty Of thes,
so-called deputies to make no distinction what
soever between persons on account of the
political opinions or official or personal posi-
tiOns.
Stripped Of the legal veil with which thi
sentence is drawn, We see that 1t mean
merely this, that if Baltimore rough pre-
sents himself at the place of election, an
claims the right to vote-be he notoriousl
unentitled to such privilege, and be his al
tempt at fraud as clear as 1t may be-
even after the judges of election hav
refused his vote and pronounced hi
act illegal and in violation Of law, police
man dare not arrest this scoundrel withou
subjecting himself to arrest on his part b
those so-called deputies Had Mr.. Lyle cor
oeived of the best plan to incite and provok
q general riot throughout the city of Philade
phia, we doubt If he could have selected on
Al.