Litchfield enquirer., 1877-08-09
The Penalty of Mob Law. W


 
 Tn the States which have so far been chiefly rpeanced by these incendiary ncbs the law. very wisely and properly 1glves those who suffer from mob violence an effective, remedy against communities which from any cause fail to perform their duty in such cases. By a statute cf New York, passed April IS, 1S55,s 1t 7 IS provided that f.swheneVer any building or other real or personal property shall be destreyedy 91 injured Tn ,conseqqepce ot any mod 3r Hot, Sithe city1 or -cohnty in which such property was situated shall be liable to an action, by or Tn behllf of ] the party whose property was thus de- stroyed or injured, for the damages sus. tained by reason thereof" By a lay of Pennsylvania originally framed to- apply ] to the county of Philadelph1a and snbse- auently extended to the county of Ale ghany Burdens Brightley, pp. 745-746). it is provided that fsin all cases where any dwelling house or other building or other property, real or personai,f ,f has been or shall be destroyed in consequence of any mob-or riot within the county of Phltadei s phia, it shall be lawful for the person or persons iaterestedSin and oyni9g 2sue1 property to bring suit against the said
 
 being for the recovery of such damages as he or they sustained by the deduction thereof, and the amount which shall be recovered in said action shall be paid out of the county treasury on warrants drawn by the controller thereof, who is hereby required to draw the same as said dama- ges are finally fixed and ascertalned. The fury (Br., 116--J21) may give the full val ue of the property at the time of it's de- struction; with. interest to the time zof it's verdict. 81FF sfsFE aT 'ssss eag r s.lre
 Bysection of artic le 82 of the Public General Laws of Maryland (vol, l, p.585) it is provided that eff in any county or ln- compounded town or city of this State any church, chapel or convent, any dwelling house 0rHang house used or designed Zpy any person or any body corporate as q place for the transaction of business; or heAdeposit of property,, F.tT4'.i'. shalItbe injured or destroyed, or If any property therern shall be taken away, in jured of destroyed by any riotous or tu- multuous assembIage of people, the full amount of damage so done shall be re- coverable by the sufferers by suit at law againSt the comfy town or city within whose Jurisdiction such riot or tumruult oc- curred.p s00oTR 5aa TEgug -HDgZI sH5t
 A similar statute exists in New Jersey, and it is nderstood that the notice which required to be given to the. local authorl- ties inuNew Jersey and in Maryland, but which is not required to be given ln New York or @Pennsyl lvania, hasa=beenz served upon all whom it may concern n biae state oyer which. Governor Bedle stands watchful and ready to do his whole duty. The principle of these statutes, which comrnends itself to every man of common sense, was pronounced to be constitution al and vaid in this State in a case (2 Rob-, N. Y, s23O growing opt of the draft riots. of 1883. ,lp another case growing out sof those fiots l4Rob., N r., 49(1 the intent of tHe statute was construed to 0rdain that Fif the facts and circumstances so coincide with the hypothesis that the premises were fired by rioters as to ren, der the trntho of q hypothesisa that tBthey were fired in any other way on the prln ciples of reasoning and experienc, exceed ingly remote and improbable, and moral ly thgngY potTEabsoluteiy impropaD4e: the statute is most strikingly shown in a decision of the Court of Appeals ln the case of Ely vs. the Supervisors of Mag ara, affrming a iudg gment rend tered in the Circuit ConfBs Judge Noah Davis pfesi- dings which gave $4, 300 damages to one Maria Moody, Q woman of doubtful 4chaf acter, for property destroyed September 15, 1865. In the case of Sarles vs. the Mayor, etc. of the city of New York, another case arising out of the draft riots of 1868. where it was claimed for the icity that no action lay for the property car ried away by the mob. y, it was decided that the law SO restlcted would have no meaning. and that an action lies to re cover the value of the property appropri ted and carried away by the mob az well as forithat which W as destroyed." ,Cet
 The people of Pittsburgh, therefore wh' stood by and allowed trains of freight cars to be broken open and plundered o property belonging to their fellow ,coun try-men all over the country. may expe c to be compelled to make good those loss es of prsyate citizens as well as those 2 the railway corporation whose buildings, and whose stock they suffered to be de stroyed.-Nea6 Yoska World. TT QhA