The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-01-22
COST OF CRIMINAL PROSE-
CUTIONS.
Discussed by Hon. A. Hyde, for
mcr Prosecuting Attorney.
JASPER, Tenn, Jan, 10, 1874.

My Dear Sir-ln your recent letter
You ask me for suggestions upon tn
subject of reducing costs IN crImina
prosecutions, a theme 10 be considcrc'
in a conference Of the Judges at Nash
vile, on the 18th inst, called togcthc
by the Comptroller to take the suhjec
Of costs into consideration.
Whit alarms the Comptroller i
merely the costs Of felonies paid by
general levy Of taxes upon the pcopl
Of the State. In fact, a much large
amount is paid every year BY taxation
upon the citizens Of the counties, t.
liquidate the costs incident to prosecu
tions for misdcmeanors. Add thes'
two items together, and an appallin;
sum is produced q sum beside which
all the other expenses OF running tn
machinery Of the State government
sink into insienifcance,
AS gricvously as these burdens
weigh upon the people, and paralyz'
their industries, unless some means
can he devised to diminish violations
of law, ne effective remedy will b.
found for the evil, SO long rs crimes
are committed they should not 60 I'M
punished, and those who employ time
or money 70 bring criminals to justice
should be reasonably compensated.
To permit crime TO run riot, unre
strained, could not be thought of with
out horror in q civilized community,
1t would at n overturn the very
design of governmental association.
Every mans rights Of property, liberty
and life, would be held by the tenure OIL
his individual prowcss. subject to be
deprived Of either, or all, by a stronger
arm or more cunning adversary
Were we to try the experiment Of Civ
ing lawlessness its head, w should
very soon discover that security is
cheap at any per cent. Of TAXATION, il ii
cannot be otherwise secured.
10 reduce the compensation Of those
at whose hands Offences against the
law are brought to punishment, would
violate a common principle Of honesty.
I" The laboIer is worthy of his hire
and none more so than he who EN-
ploys his time, or money, to secure
our homes from sacrilege, our property
from seizure, and our persons and fam
lilies from harm, and from the fear Of
injury. III proportion rs you reduce
the fees and costs incident TO the
prosecution Of crimes below q fair re
Immigration, just in that proportion
you weaken the incentive to energetic
prosecutions; you lower the grade of
prosecuting attorneys; a greater pro.
portion of the guilty will escape pun,
ishme"t; the laws delay and the in,
creasing chances Of acquiltal will en-
boldcn crime and swell the record Of
criminal lawlcssness and violence.
Now Il fearful proportion of the guilty
escape conviction in our courts, by n
means or another, and if this evi! is in
creased, its effect will be akin to a gen
cral license Of violence and blood.
While it is likely that something can
he done TO secure the more prompt
and certain punishment Of crime, Ia
something which would be cheap at
any price; and while it may be posi-
bic that the costs Of prosecutions may
be in some particulars rcadjnsted, yet it
is apparent to every dlsinterested mind
The licensed sale Of intoxicating
liquors causes a very large proportion
Of all the crimes and misuemeanors
committed within the State.
TO those who have been connected
with prosecutions, this proposition
needs no argument to sustain it. Not
css than II thousand persons in
tennessee are every day rendered inca
'ablc of exercising caution, judgment,
n reason, by the use Of liquors, ar,
aged before them at every turn, in all
he seductive styles Of modern grog-
shop art. and which they are unable to
These victims Of temptation
mostly belong to the poorer classes.
OF their natural rcason and pru-
lence, they act upon imagined griev-
'nces, and %phrenzied impulses, and the
'esnlt is that these victims of licensed
madness fill our jails, occupy the time
II our courts, and our tax, payers foot
he bills of costs.
On puolic occasions and HOLIDAYS,
'ur every day one thousand drunken
nanlacs swell to ten thousand, ripe for
he commission of any atIense, upon
he slightest p%rOvocation or impulse,
'eal or imaginary.
10 illustrate the system of robbing
he people to enrich the liquor dealer,
give a recent instance. On the Goth
II December last, some seventy five
olored people, and about twenty. five ,
'hItes, assembled in our town to cele. 9
rate the birth OF our Savior. They a
ld been saving their dimes for the =
eat occasion, which rapidly found .
cir way to the till of the LIQUOR deal. =
IN exchange for whisky. Harmony =,
d pleasantly were soon exchanged =,
drunkenness; and profanity, OBJ %
'ne ansuage, fight after fight, and y,
ing inlssels. were the order of the v"
y One case OF severe stabbing oc- ~
red, and ono of larceny clearly ~
ceable to i%ltoxication. Not less 10
II forty persons subjected them
Yes to criminal prosecutions, scarce. fec
u single one of whom could paw a sal
or girc bail. If the law is rigedly co
this Christmas frolic will cost the
'cent taX-paying citizens of the viii
nty fifteen hundred dollars, and the Of
C, or the citizens at large, two hun if
dollars. The citizens can only quo
Ia. a.. ia: