Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-02-18

As it Was and As IL Ts-The New Re
gime and the Old.

The Police Court OF February, 1868, is far
from theinstitution Of February 1867. though
the rigid and vigorous administration Of
Gen. Robert c. Foster has leftsomething ofan
impress, and the dignity Of the court is still
to some extent preserved. Three Commits
sioneFs, 10 ihe service Of the State, run the
machine by tnrns, its exhaustive duties
being 500 much for one, and instead of the
clear-ringing fifty dollars and cost--eallthe
next ease, Mr.,,Marshal;" three dollars and
costs atone for a large majority Of the sins
against the corporation, and the work
honse has been comparatively depopulated.
No fierce gavel now thumps upon the
vanished rOsiruni, and only a quiet glass
Of water from lonely white pitcher regales
the imperiurbable Commissioner as he goes
through with the brief routine of questions.
and writes thirty DAYS in the workhouse, -
OF three dollars and costs according 10
the nature Of the Ofense under cOnsidera-
ton.
Sometimes a bashful policeman il testi-
fying hard, and hasn't been in service long
enough 10 know where 10 put his hands. A
scene like this is painful to witness. First
the arms strike an akimbo, then the hands
twist about nerVOusly, then the elbow jerks
itself as near the high end OF the column
upon which lac is leaning as it can get
quickly returning, however, 10 his side,
and then his fingers dart 10 his hair, which
they saVagely pillow up till it strikes an
altitude and perpendicularity really fearful.
From thence the restless digits drop down
and around TO the bright brass buttons ia
the rear Of his cerulean uniform, and after
nervously pulling at the inanimate metal
for awhile, finally reach resting place in
his pantaloous just as his part of the testi-
mony IA wound up and the next witness is
called.
All the talking is done in low tone, and
the disPensation Of the statutes might we'll
be taken for the recital of a funeral service
rather than the proceedings of a court
The crowd who fill the raised seats, though
not usually as handsome as a church CON
gregation, are certainly az quiet, and leave
their seats noiselessly when meeting is
over. So rapidly are offenders disposed
Of, and 80 rarely does a long investigation
occur, that the Second City Attorney scarce
ever gets a word in until the prosecution is
over and the defendant sent adrift. Gen.
Smiley is sometimes there 10 plead for the
erring sisterhood, whom everybody else
condemns, and never seems to lose faith
that human nature is not altogether 80 de-
PRAYED IS 10 require the whole force Of the
iron law to check it.
The reporters table il almost deserted.
Once in awhile solitary item-gatherer
drops in, but soon leaves, Disguised at the
impossibility ofgetting a seat or of hearing
anything that is going on. Where his note
book was wont to lie, policeman's boots
rise like leathern sphynx, and stranger
ia 10 the chair he used to FILL Senator
George Washington Balm now holds re-
porter's seat, and looks wisely down upon
his felloW-members of the bar, who occupy
less prominent positions in the court room.
The ornamented ceiling is not what it
was, either Cobwebs have ensnared the
white eagles which once spread their wings
40 msiestically over the crowd below, and
The freman's hat and trumpet above the
head of the Commissioner are soiled and
dust-laden. The venetian blinds seem
twisted up into knots, as if unwilling TO
admit the light that wants to shine in, and
the once brilliant carpet is fast wearing
threadbare.
Altogether, the Police Court is sadly de-
generated as a center of busy life, and it is
dull and uninviting, as we'll TO the lounger
IA to the newsgatherer. There is little
prospect of a change, however, before
Judge Brien gets the present concern abol-
ished through the Supreme Court and then
we will zee what we shall see.