The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-08-16
OFFICIAL pRPRAvIrY.

Jury eystem-Levy % bhsoA w
On Psemissst Msrehssss-A case III
fer the Grand Jury % rsvestsrste'
For some reason there has for years been Ia
!, nrcindico existing In the minds OF many oil In
our business men against the county con, II
stables who do business at the magistrates =
oflces of this city. This prejudice mas Deen
brought about by tho scanuhious aosVns
and fnisdecds Of q few. The majority oil the u
county officers arr tir-fealing anu nonora- a
bic men. who endcnrof to do their duty, as (,
~ ~ possible, 10 a square" manner.
They have 10 suffer for the actions Of the A
few who, by political or other influence, have \
received the appointment at the hands Of b
he judges Of the District Supreme Court. n
sour Reporter" In his search for news on {
saturday succeeded In discovering something I
4 the villainies Of ono Of this class Of men I
,etrate wrongs and rascalltios.
The county ofiicer referred 10 was not long
lgo Identified with the gambling frater-
nifty" Of Washington, whether as DEALER
"steerer," or "stool-plgeon"
history does not record. Suffice II to say,
that finding the Cuisines" not sufficient TO
keep him as he desired to live, he In some
constable. Attaching himself 70 the office
Of one Of our justices Of the peace (wbo, We
are convinced, had no suspicionlof the mans |
character) he made public the fact that he |
was ready TO attend to the business Of his
once. The recent newspaper controversy
between Justice Of the peace and mem
Der Of tho bar has brought TO tho notice Of
lie generally the fact that there are such
things as "magistrate's juries," and we Ind
ttat within few weeks past there have
been several Of these "tribunals" gotten
up In different portions Of the city.
The county officer who Is the subject Of
this article, had case Of debt on Friday
last In which one Of the parties TO the suit
desired "trial by jury" and the magis-
trate assigned TO this constable the duty Of
summoning the Jurors. The officer seeing
| that there was an opportunity to "make
something" by this arrangement took par
ticular care In making up his penirs TO sum
mon number Of prominent merchants on
the Avenue, who, to give proper attention
| to business affairs, necessarily required all
the time they could get, and a summons to
attend as o Juror before magistrate was a
great source Of annoyance, and they were
anxious to evade II If possible. One OF the
merchants took proper advice, and finding
that the summons was legal, was advised by
q gentleman (who probably knew something
see II he could not procure his name erased
from the list by "seeing" the officer. The
merchant was fortunate In obtaining an in
terview with the constable, whom he found
listening with q stern and inhexible coun-
tenance TO the pleadings OF another Avenue
merchant, who had also been summoned,
and whose business needed his attention.
Merchant No. addressed the constable
about as follows;
Merchant. Say, old fellow, Every friendIy,)
| I'd like to get of that jury.
Constable, (laughingly) 1 guess you
would.
Merchant. Why, you eau let me OF If you
| choose.
Oficer. Certainly cantor money.
Merchant. How much money!
/. odicer, (hesitating as to the amount
Well, I don't know.
Merchant. Well, I'll give yoa I've dollar
} bill II you will erase my name from your re-
turn.
Oficer. All right.
r The merchant took out his Ave dollars
a the money was paid, the name erased, and
;. merchant No. was fixed"
!. Merchant No. 2, who was witness to the
a transaction, was then Informed that he also
would be released son them terms" I'm
mensely relieved, the young man paid his
n and was so grateful that he insisted upor
the constable joining him In bottle Of wint
: at popular wholesale liquor store near by
. Merchant No. was invited to partake, but
. was disguised with the villainy Of the officer
4 who had SO basefy betrayed the trust reposed
E in him that he did not desire 70 remain IN
4 such company longer than necessary.
II Now, the conversa tion given above clearl,
shows that the officer In question looks upoI
Or his position as q money making affair, AM
. probably only summoned those and othe
g. merchants In or FER 10 black mail them Of
~ similar amourt. hnrther business man
Of who keeps hat slore, was summoned Of
D. the same jury. hut ny agreeing 70 give tn
same constable h bat was Luowed To 90 free
} Is this business legl'imatel II so, this pub
> lication may inform the business men O
l. the city how much 1t costs ~ get off mag
4 istrate's Jury. II II Ia not right, as we ar
'. positive 1t is not, then the officer should b
is punished for his ''original rascality." Tn
n facts given above can be substantiated, an
y, tits to be hoped that those county officer
,g will at once take measures 10 purge thei
g. profession Of such people a. the office
&c spoken Of In this article.
We have refrained from publishing name
for good reasons, but the district attorne
}, can have them If he wants them.
A DEADLY ASSAULT. - George Moore, (
o laborer, who resides at AS Tenth street, be-
!, tween z and r, and who works at the Seneca
z stone quarries, above Georgetown, was ar,
b rested on Saturday evening for q deadly as
= sault upon his wife, cutting her with a knit,
}. in the abdomen, thereby inlicting seriou
;, wound, which will probably result fatally
| IV.
1t had been drinking, arose from . bed whereof
IS he had been lying, and began 70 set In
very disorderly manner. Ais wife aud
B. coored woman, named Martha Foster, VIII
= was present, demonstrated, when he ran to
d cupboard and seized large butcher knit
f and plunged II into her body, then runnin
70 to q back door escaped. Two or thre
% women, who witnessed the action at ono
r. ran for q physician. DR.. Muncaster wa
or soon present, and, assisted by DIR. Miller
n who soon arrived, dressed the wound, whic
I'd Is very deep and severe.
ct Moore subsequently made his appearance
s, at the house where the stabbing took place
when Officer Burr, who had been statlone
1t there by Lieutenant TAFT, arrested him. d
the way to the Central guard house, and
when In front Of Wallis opera house, th
E prisoner broke away and ran up Pennsylva
le MIA avenue pursued by the officer, crying
% "stop thief" When Moore reached tn
a corner Of Tenth street and the Avenue h
Id was captured by Officer Hughes, who was o
be duty on that beat; and he, with Officer Bur-
st took him to the guard house, where he wa
ID brought out for trial yesterday mornlu
he before Justice Harper. The facts, as relate
ly above, being fully proven, the maglstrat
ne committed Moore to jail to await the resu
ne Of the injuries received by his wife, VIII
le yesterday evening was lying In a very crit
X cal condition.
le WORKING WoMEs's MEHTrsG.-A meet
At Ing OF working women was called for satur
d" day night, at Union League Hall, for tn
1t purpose Of considering the propriety of send
Ing delegate to the National Labor Con
vention, to be held In Philadelphia this week
= At half past eight o'clock tho Meeting wa
j. attended by DR.. Mary Walker, Mrs. DR.
l. Lockwood, Mrs- Norris, and another hand
X some young lady, whose name did not tran
II spire, and who executed several fine piece
v Of music on the piano. There were ais,
T. four gentlemen at the meeting, including
l. two "locals," and after some time spent Ii
is pleasant converse, the female portion of tn
,e meeting retired to the hall Of one OF the TEN
Y. perance divisions on the floor above, wher
p they laborcd during the evening In the colo
n water cause.
q CoLoRED School TRUsrEEs.-A meeting
q Of the board Of trustees Of colored school
g. was held on Friday night more PARTICULAR,
At for the purpose OF allowing the newly ap
Of pointed trustee, Mr.. Charles King, the op
At. q. 1T. 1t