The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-23

instance, bear with the presence OF very |
large element of corruption among city voters, |
if we have justices who will look up repeaters,
judges who will not discharge them on habeas
corpus, and district attorneys who will prose-
cute them. We can bear, too with the pre-
sence of q great many scoundrels in Wall
street, If we know that when they try to trip
honest men up, or plunge the money market
into confusion, they will not have the help of
the judiciary in covering up their iniquities,
and if sent to jail, will, while there, have
even-handed Justice dealt out TO them. In
short, the administration of justice is the
sheet anchor of society. If we keep that in
good condition, the ship Of state can ride out
almost any gale.
Now, our jails are a most important feature
in eur administration of Justice 1t is a great
thing to have honest judges, if only for the
decision of civil controversies but whether
good judges are of any value in criminal
cases depends very much on what comes of
the prisoners after they leave the court room;
and it is lamentable fact-but that it is a
fact any one may satisfy himself by perusing
the last reports of the Prison Association
that in this State they becnme the prey of
men in many if not most respects worse
than themselves There is, of course, a
large class Of persons who are not easily
moved by the recital of prison abuses, so
long as they consist simply in ill-treatment
not reformation the chief end of iais, and as
long as criminals are made to suffer, do not
care very much how it is done. But then
even these persons will be concerned to hear
that men who differ from the prisoners prin-
cipally in being dexterous enough to avoid
the meshes of the law have got hold of the
penal institutions of the State, and are max
ing money out of them, by favoring unduly
those who have money to buy their favor,
,to1lr yhr haxr NOT
thus preventing society from getting any
real benefit out of the criminals sufferings.
The history of the sojourn of Kohnstamm,
the noted bounty warrant forger, at Sing
Sing, as told by the Prison Association, in-
Guiding his private room, his cigars, his
liquors, and the society of his wife, forms q
curious contribution to the literature of our
judicial system. We say nothing here of the
blood -guiltiness of permitting our prisons to
be used by one set of llnaves Tor the exploita-
ton of another set. We simply call attention
to the eXpedency of the thing
We would now say one word to the Repub-
lican members of the Legislature and Repub-
lican voters throughout the State about their
duty in the matter, and that is if Governor
Hoffman takes it up this winter, don't look
askance 1T his recommendations and give
yourselves no concern about them because he
is a Democrat, or opposed to the fifteenth
ter. The judicial system and the prisons
ought not to be, we repeat, in the political
arena. 1t Is every man S interest that they
should be reformed, no matter what his
opinions may be on general questions of State
and Federal politics, and we shall never get
them reformed without union of men of all
parties Republicans and Democrats are still
agreed as to the improperly OF lying, cheat
ing-at least as regards all matters not con-
vii Ntin r1a mn
robbery with equal distaste. Let us take ad-
vantage of this Unanimity while it lasts, and
put our house in order by means of it. There
is no knowing how soon it may pass away.
MIR. HOAR AND THE SUPREME COURT
LET HIM BE REJECTED.
From the NJ Y. Sun
The Senate does we'll to pause and reflect
| over the nomination of Mr. Hoar to the po-
| sition of Justice of the Supreme Court. He
| ought not to be confirmed. He is brought
| forward to fill the seat made vacant by the
death of Judge Wayne. Judge Wayne was
the only remaining member of the Court
from all the States lying south of the Poto-
| mac and the Ohio His successor should be
taken from that portion of the Union.
| To select E. lockwood Hoar of Massachu-
| setts as the representative of the Southern
| States in this tribunal, would be one of the
| most repugnant specimens of carpet-bag-
| ism which has marked the reconstruction era
Nor is there any excuse for going to Boston
| to find lawyer whose promotion to this high
place is to satisfy the reasonable aspirations
of the bench and bar of Richmond Charles
ton, Savannah, Lexington, Nashville, Mobile,
and New Orleans. Not to mention other
names from which to select in the latter sec
ton of the Union there is Judge Erskine, of
| Georgia, an able jurist firm friend of the
Union during the war, and now District Judge
OF that State; MIR. Speed, of Kentucky, who
was for some time Attorney General under
MIR. Lincoln; and Thomas S. Durant of
Louisiana, an accomplished lawyer of New
Orleans. With these, and long list of
equally worthy and acceptable names to
choose from, why force a carpet-bagger from
New England upon the bench, and thus need
lessly excite the prejudices and kindle the
animosities of the great body of the people,
irrespective of party, throughout the entire
Southern States?
There are other reasons why the Senate
should refuse to confirm the nomination OF
Mr.. Hoar. He is u man of great infrmity
Of temper, habitually irritable and ungenia
in his personal intercourse with others, and
would be very apt to so bear himself upon the
bench as to be a source of annoyance both tC
his associates and to the bar. Indeed, We
learn that this constitutional inirmity OF
temper was the main reason why the Gov
ernor of Massachusetts did not appoint hin
, Chief Justice of that State and why the lega
profession in the old Commonwealth were
. quite willing that he should be transferred
| from its Supreme Court to the Cabinet o.
General Grant.
If General Grant desires to remove Mr.
| Hoar from his councils let him give him