The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-06-19
Tho Defunct Extradition Treaty.

We are sorry that our amiable contempt
rary, the Sun, is prevented by its prejudice
against Secretary Fish from doing him I'M
grudging Justice in connection with the
Winslow case. 1t comedies that his inter-
probation of the treaty is correct, admits that
he had no legal authority to comply with the
British demand and engage that Winslow
should not be tried in Massachusetts, for any
other crime than forgery, but it belittles the
service he has rendered, and maintains that
he was wrong in contending in his CORE
spondence that it is no violation of justice or
fair dealing to try surrendered fugitive for
a second crime, if he has committed more
than one. ''The great principles Of justice"
says the Sun, require that man who is
not, in consequence of such surrender, be
subjected to trial on other charges--n trial
to which he would not otherwise have been
liable"
not seem to have been maturely considered.
The States Of this Union have had more ex-
perience in the extradition of criminals than
the whole world besides, and we should be
sorry to think that our American courts
from the Articles of Confederation down to
the present time, have been making decisions
contrary to justice. Our States are foreign
to one another in matters of criminal juris-
diction, and beth in discussions between
their executives and in judicial decisions
by their courts, questions of ex-
tradition have been treated on the princi-
pies of international law or international
comfy. If Pennsylvania surrenders to
New York an escaped felon, on charge of
theft, and it is afterward found that he had
also committed burglary within the juris-
diction of New York, no court in the State
would hesitate to try him for both crimes
All that our State courts have required on
this point is that the demand for surrender
be made in good faith for a real crime, and
not as a false pretext to get possession of
the prisoner for another purpose. Even
civil suits are permitted against persons sur
rendered from another State on a criminal
charge if there was no bad faith. When
the late Justice Nelson was on the Bench as
State judge n case came before him of
person surrendered by Massachusetts
for obtaining goods by false pretences, and
afterward arrested on civil suit. The
counsel of the prisoner moved for dis
charge, but Judge Nelson dismissed the mo-
ton, with costs. We cannot see that intrinsic
justice is different thing between nations
from what it is between our States.
We trust there will be new extradition
treaty, and that it may rest on the basis
which Secretary Fish has proposed namely,
an enlargement of the number of cxtradita-
BILE offences. and a mutual stipulation that
no person shall be tried for any offence not
included in the list. Political offences might
be expressly excluded, but this would not be
necessary between two countries so attached
to the right of asylum as the United States
and Great Britain. The protection to po-
litical fugitives is nobly stated by Secretary
Fish: 1.-THE inherent, Unborn love Of freedom,
both Of thought and of action, is engraved
in the hearts o the people of this country so
deeply that no law can reach, and no adj
ministration would dare to violate it." We
regret that a correspondence, of which this
is o specimen, is disparagcd by our neigh
Dor as "a petty success and "a mas
terry of technicalitics.