The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-03-03

es which he had once used. WIN
wholesome fear of revenue officials be-
fore him he made inquiry of the Dppu7
ty Collector whether they might not be
used again If cleanly scraped. That
functionary having given an ahirma'
tive answer, the manufacturer scraped
them thoroughly, filled them again
with segars, had them re-stamped, &c.
This coming to the knowledge Of an
other official, he at once arrested the OF
fender and dragged him before U. 5.
Commissioner at Williamsport, who
bound him over to appear at Pittsburg
for trial. The object of all this Is OF
course not to punish fraud, but to skin
the unfortunate.
This process of "skinning" is dabbled
in by ring of officials who infest the
U. s. Courts, and who carry on their
operations by means of. "pals" supplied
by them. Guilty or not guilty, when
victim is once arrested there is no hope
for him except TO go through the mill.
The Jurors to these courts are selected
by the Marshal al pleasure, not by
drawing or other process OF fairness,
but naming whosoever he chooses. or
course they are mere tools to carry out
the purposes Of the officer who selects
them. They are to do what the U. >.
Attorney tells them to do, and no
amount of proof of honest purpose or
good character prevails, il the defend
ant has not gone exactly according to
law in the slightest and most inoflen'
sive particular. The business OF the
Court seems to be to convict any one
who dares to stand trial, and there
fore he who desires to escape must make
the best arrangement he can with the
"pals". Here the guilty are on a loot
ing with the innocent. The accused Is
deliberately measured, his value ascer'
tanned, and his pocket book appraised.
The result is he is squeezed and
squeezed till it Is morally impossible
for him to yield another dime with the
heaviest pressure that can be put upon
him. The amount thus extracted Is the
sum he must pay for liberation, and the
major part Of that sum does not go into
the Federal treasury. Is it possible for
this shameful business to be carried on
without the officers themselves being
cognizant of all the facts? or course
the accused can only be discharged by
the act of the officers Of the Court. Why
is it that the "pals" can always induce
the officers to act and that without
them they will not act? The Clinton
Democrat thus pertnently puts this
point:
lis this right-ought it to be tolera-
ted? mo" a radical would say, but,
hesitating The has gone too far, he re-
lapses into party feeling and covers you
with the proposition, Point out your
men! Who are they? Show them to
US, and venture they'll be duly dealt
with" That's the rub. We cannot DC
it. 1t cannot be done. They are cum
ningly corrupt men who do these
things, and know how to cover their
tracks and how to keep clear OF the
law. But that there is rottenness In
the revenue ring-that they are set
of rascals who fleece every man they
get hold offs as certain as that the
sun rises and sets. Who they are and
how to get at them Is more than We
can tell. We only know that they seno
out their trappers and gather when the
United States district court sits as Vul
lures do where there Is carrion, ano
they go away gorged with the proceeds
of their foul business, mercilessl,
wrung from their entrapped Victims
| innocent and guilty. alike" ----.
oaloor knOws-all the worlt
around U. s. Court knows-who tn,
scoundrels official and unofficial are.-
But how can a n editor prove it? Th,
rascals who participate are the onl,
ones Except the victims) who know al
the facts, and the former will swea,
falsely as readily as they will be guilty
OF the other villainy. The victim.
dare not "cheap." Lest they should
have the temerity to do SO, the case /.
always hung up for season in Wash
ington, or between the Court and Wash
ington.
While the innocent are thus dogged
and robbed, men guilty of infamou.
crimes are permitted by the same Off
GERS and persons to 60 scott free! Coun
terfeiters and abettors of counterfeite rs
walk the streets of Lock Haven in dai.
ly view of the officer who arrested the
segar maker for using the same box
twice. This industrious detective and
vindicator of the law is daily reminded
by the presence of a counterfeiter who
was pardcned out of the penitentiary
because he threatened to "peach" upon
his abettors, that his confederates,
equally guilty, strut the streets with
impunity. No jealous official arrests
them-or if arrested, they are by some
hocus pocus let off In Radical official
eyes the law is only to punish honest
men who make mistake, and not ras.
Gals who understand how to feather the
legal executors of law.
Radical powers, from President down.
for some strange reason, fill the prose
cutting offices with men who bear the
opposite of an honorable name. Pecu.
liar fitness and conscientious regard for
right are not recommendation to Pres.
ldential or departmental preferment.-
Why? Let those interested explain.
Bnt 1t Is the plain duty of the people to
put such men out of power. Let them
attend to 1t at the elections. People
who' with the facts before them, vote
Tor incompetent men, or men who ap-
point notorl lous rascals to office, are
morally guilty of an offence little if
any less serious than rascality itself
Trans pOrtatOn OF CoaI.