The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-04-17

marshals, or district attorneys, the party claim
Ing such account shall render The same, with the
vonchers and items thereof, to n United states
t'ircuit or District Court, antr in presence OF the
District Attorney, or his sworn assistant whose
presence shall be noted in the record, prove IN
open court to the satisfaction OF the court. py MS
own oath, or that Of other persons havng Knowl
edge of the faetp to be attached TO sueh account.
tbst ibe ser vices therein charged have been ful
paid In lawful money and the court email tnere-
upon eanse to be eptersd Of record an order sp-
pi owing or disappearing ths account ss may be
according TO law and just. United States Com
mi ssiopers shall forward their accounts duiy
verified by oath to the district ATTORNEYS OF the
respective districts. by whom they email De SUD.
mjited for approval in open court, and the court
shall pass upon the same In the manner aiore-
! said" ,..,.
II will be observed that the fret clause OF this
section refers to the accounts OF the marshals
clerks and district attorneys, ana u must De
| proved in open court to the satisfaction OF the
! court, that the services had been aetueily anu
nece ssarily pei formed. as to the commissioners,
| that the court shall pass upon their accounts IN
the manner aforesaid-ihat 10, they shall be SUD
| ie led TO the same test. and the means OF in-
| forming the court nhall be the same, by oath IN
| open court Therefore, have no doubt that that
| law whether wise or ubwise, has put upon the
| Circuit and District Courts the duty OF deter
mining, when thea ccount s presented, whether
the Sol vices were necessarily rendered M well as
actually performed. | think the test OF ntoes-
sity Of the services ia whether they were neoes
|
tlon Of criminals being the grand object to DO
| Rimed at.
Itappears lhat there were 1923 warrants issued;
that they were issued upon the stti iavls OF hVe
or six sets Of persons oil two each; that they IS
sued, not by the commissioner signing his name
| to the warrant, but by his stamping fac slmlle
Of his signature. Itappears frsm the first state
ment Ia his account that this was all done inside
Of ten DAYS.
wards of forty United States Commissioners, IL
| certsny should have struck the commission er
as singular that there should deyolve upon MN
the Investigation OF 1900 cases, which would have
taken months TO examine with any proper soru-
tiny.
AZ to the employment Of a stamp. am in-
clined TO adopt the view of the District Attorney,
that warrant issued by stamp was void war
rant, that the warrant must be signed by the
Commissioner. Certainly the use Of the stamp
bJ the Commissioner shows that he had not time
to sign the warran by his manual signature. L
have made computation allowing the Commits
sioner ten working hours in each OF these work
ing aays: he would have six Thousand minutes in
which to issue these eight thousand warrants.
Now, il we turn to the constitution OF the
United States we find that there 10 grand pre-"
vision on this subject OF warrants for the pro.ef
tion of citizens, becaus 70 the moment you desl
with the matter Of criminal jurisprudence you
have TO 40 proceed as TO secure two cardinal
, objects. In the frat place you must punish
crime In the next place you must not oppress
inhere iu the jurisprudence OF all civilized
nations, and many have been the struggles
on the part of the British Commoners to
prevent this sort OF oppression. Every
British House Of Commons, aud every denuneia-
] tion which has there been thuudered forth
against the system OF general arrests, applies 10
these or any other ipdiscrmnate arrests. 30
deep was this idea in tho mind OF The American
colonists hat In 1891 they adopted as an amend
msnt TO the constitution article a. which pro
, videa, land no warrant shall issue but upon prob
abe cause supported by oath or affirmation de-
scribiDg the place to be searched aud the peraons
. or things to be seized
+ Now The warrant must issue upon probable
cause, supported by an oath. Probable cause ant
tho ga tn are not matters which can be dealt viii
by machinery. Yon cannot Put an oath into one nc
: oil machine and lot it come out warrant, 81
the pulp passes into paper in tho paper factory
! When tho constitution Of She United States
!, solemnly says there NUT be probable cause sup
ported by oath or affirmation, before the Law
shall 10y it, hand upon q citizen, it means tha
. that oath or afi rmation sba present the case u
4 the full and candid investigation OF the m gle
: trste, and the warrant must not issue without 1t
q My view of IL is that the committing magistrate
8 should swear the affisnt and weigh the facts do
! posed to- both with reference TO the circumstance
Of the accuser and the accused, and then wheI
upon the affidavit be is, after judicia
examination, satisfied that there is probable
cause. and not before, he issue his warrant Nov
upon the facts which have stated, less than ont
minute being allowed to the consideration OF eacl
case, IL is idle to contend that there was any ODE
dienoe Difference to this article four OF the con
n stitntion. which lays its power upon the cour
:, and the commissioner alike There is no iuher
x tied princpe-no constitutional provision :
}, | not even that which declares the sanctit
: gathers within it's terms or association
; more of the ines Unable results o
IS the centuries of struggle, or in which reside
greater security for the personal liberty Of til
citizens han this article which the commissions
a diBregarded Therefore the bulk Of these item
I cannot approve. feel that IL is the duty Of th
court to sustain the commissioners in all prope
y efforts to enforce the law, but they must &C
!. legally and consituIionslly. Proper arrest
j. should be encouraged indst riminate arrests !
d unconsidered cases should be reprobated.
, seems to me that upon any other view OF til
r case q commissioner might revoluhonizs
- government.
Now, rass by the fact that for these service
s14, ,000 is claimed. say nothing about that.
reject the majority Of items because the con
missioner could not have investigated them pro
pery to come to conclusion as to whether ther
,s was probably cause or not. 1t appears that
these 1928 cases only comparatively small nun
r Der OF the accused were brought before the CON
j. missioner, and Of that number II were boun
v over, OF whom 4 we're committed and th
l. remaining 67 discharged ON their ow
n rccognizance. As FAR as these II cases are col
4 cerned, IL the commissioner had made tt
y. - examination in advance. (which think he mao
J aftsrwards,) as he should, he would have com
q to the conclusion, perhaps, that there was
j. probable cause for issuing the warrants. thin
therefore, the order Of the court should be, di
approving this account as it is now presente
but with the qualification that il the accou
10 shall be presented in accordance with the viey
II OF the court, the items for these II will
l. approved. The balance OF the items are not "a
cordng to law and just"
Special sale of linen goods at A. shwartz
Son, 100 and 162 Canal, corner OF Baronr
IL street,