, 1873-12-30
THE CONFIDENCE THIEVES.

to Efl0w that not lcas thnh 200 professional En1.,-
blors, hraco.1oalors," h,nlso-etoarers,' pail
ol-llouse Keepers, and confiaence-oporat RI, Of
various descriptions, havo come to OLcago since
tho 1ata municipal election Two car,sos aro
assigned for this influx Of dangerous persons;
~ That tho result Of tho late election las boon
CONSTRUED aa g,larantco Of creator license
III tho futnro for this claas Of people; Md (2)
raids that hnyo bcen mado upon them Of Iato In
Now York, Louisville, and othor cltios, with tho
purpose Of driving them OF. Tho CITY Gov.
ornmont Of Chicago can oxorciao no con.
troll oyer tho latter causo directly. but 1t can
indirectly, by speedily and effectively removing
tho first md thereby milking Chicago n moro
uncomfortable abiding p]aco for tho gamblers
and thiovca thnn any othor cosmopolitan city in
tho country. Tint this policy has not yot boon
adopted IL ovidont FROM tho fact amply attostoa,
tlat now gan,bling~rooms havo boen oponod in
differont parts Of tho city that kono games
havo boon started ind that the bunko-1non
havo become boller and moro humorous Than
esor. During the past week, Il rural gentleman,
Of Enthusiastically rustic appearance, was nc.
oosted throo times in ono day by confidence
operators, but had Fortunately boon forowarned
TIC Incident is mentioned to indicato how
humorous mud alert tho thieves are, hut yory
Rlnall proportion Of whoso operations arc ever
brought before the Police CourtH.
The ouly way by which tho present riotou
aud growing career Of the confidence thieves car
DO checked ia tic earnest corporation Of tic
Police Department, the Prosecuting Attorneys,
tho Juaticos, and tho Criminal Court. It may
even bo necessary Tor tho Legislature to pro-
yido additional facilities for apprchend1ng and
convicting theso men. As it ia now, tho conf
denco-oporatora usually escape punishment by
failure to prosecute. When apprehondod md
brought before tho Police Justice, they take IN
appeal from Ills sentence. Some ono promptly
furnishes bail, mud, before tho day Of tLoir
trial in the Criminal Court, their victims,
who aro usually non-reaidents, have either
received their money baek on condition
they will not appear aganBt tho accused, or,
laving returned to their homes, refuse to incur
tho expense Of returning to the city to prosecute
Under the proEent System, therefore, it ia pext
to impossible to Bocnro tho Anal conviction and
punishment OF the confidence thieves. Tho
Allcn panel-house gang wero only sentenced
through tho personal efforts Of tho man they
lad robbed, who happened to bo possessed at
once Of the means aud tho disposition to follow
them up. Tho great majority Of such cascs,
however, are discontinued for want Of evidence
when tho Justices sentence involves anything
more than d ilno. Tho first thing to do is
for Justice Boydon, who has succeeded Banyon
in the judiciul guardianship Of tho confidence
mon, to cloan ont tue filth and miro which hts
predecessor left bohind to cut OF tho system
OF atEaw~bail, which hna been too freely recog-
nized heretofore, and to moto out the full meaa-
ure Of tho lar to tho conf1dence-man. The next
thing to do ia for tho Police Department to give
tho Police Justices thoir active corporation
in the work Of conyicting tho culprits.
They should not contont themselves
with moro arrests upon charges, but
exercise greater zonl in collecting evidence
against them, and in barring their escape after
they have been admitted to bail. It may further
be necessary to demand OF the Legislature one
or all Of the following auxiliaries to Justice
l. a provision tint the Criminal Court shall
g1Ve precedence to any caso which, III tho opin-
ION OF sho prosecuting Attorney, demands an lm-
moaiate hearlng, tint tho ends OF justice may
not DO thwarted by losing essential evidence
that may not bo forthcoming If postponed.
q III lleu OF this, there should oo @ Aluniclpal
court, "hoao doclaions aro final (as they are not
III the Jastlces courts), eScept as to tho right
OF appeal 10 tue supreme court OF the State.
Immediate lenriugs to all thoso cayee.
y, "s"0S =. >. '1'A'. ~ ''Aooo opAo''''0D''
IL snoulo oe tAe pEAot1eo TO plno over "ltneaees,