The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-26
AN INOORRUPTLBLE JUDICIARY AND
A FEARLESS PRESS.


pany for selling Havana lottery tickets, IL
violation OF Act No. of 1874. Agusu was
taken before Recorder Smith, convicted by
that official and fined 1876, with the alternative
of going to jail for five days. Agusti refused
to pay the fine and was sent to prison. His
attorney, Alex. Dalsheimer, Esq, went before
Judge Houston, OF the Fourth District Court
and sued out writ of habeaa corpus. The
writ was argued on the part of Agusti by Mr.
and Geo. Braughn for the Lottery Com
pany. Judge Houston took the case under
consideration and yesterday rendered q do
cision sustaining the writ of habeas corpus
releasing the prisoner, and declaring the In.
famous act No. 8 of 1874 unconstitutional, null
and void. There is no appeal and Judge
Houston's decision Is final
Thus this act, which has so long been dis
grace to our State, and which has been tc
the Lottery Company what the locks OF
Sampson were to him, its life and strength
has been rendered nugatory. Recorder Mil
tenberger several days ago, with courageous
determination to protect the personal rights
Of his fellow citizens refused to execute this
statute. But Recorder Smith, of the First
District, persisted in the criminal purpose of
protecting the fraudulently obtained fran
chises of the Lottery Company at the expense
of the personal liberty Of citizens of the State,
and 1t was he who consigned to Imprisonment
under act No 2 the man Judge Houston has
released.
The public generally. we believe. have not,
until recently, fully comprehended the enor-
nifty of this act. 1t was bought through a
corrupt Legislature at time when violations
OF the plainest principles Of justice, when out
RACES and oppression. were 50 common that
this little act appeared to the public very
insignificant matter A venal and subseryient
press, beneficaries of the lottery monopoly,
was silent as the grave; the class who were
the victims of the act were ignorant of our
laws and customs, few of them being able
even to speak the English language intel
lightly; the lawyers, of course, were, for
liberal fees, at all times, at the COM
mand of the Lottery Company. Hence, for
months and years. through this little act
contrary To every principle of the constitu-
ton and antagonisuc to the spirit of
free institutions. the Lottery Company
went on, crushing out all compe-
tition, robbing certain class of the commu-
nifty of their money. or sending them to
prison without tria! by jury. If these out
RACES had been perpetrated In Russia there
could not have been a more death-lke silence
observed about them.
At the last session of the Legislature Judge
Albert VOORHEES, introduced bill to repeal
this act; bM II aras defeated. Our attention
was then called to 1t, and from that time to
the present we have kept 1t before the people
we have encouraged It's victims to contest it
we have directed the attention of the courts
to its enormity and its unoonstitutionality, |
and we have aroused public indignation by
the outrages which were perpe-
trated under it.
No power was strong enough to influence
The last Legislature to repeal this Infamous
act, or to in any other manner curtail the ex-
brilliant powers and franchises of the Lot |
terry Company. The Lottery owned the
solid Republican minority of that body and
a sufficient number of Democrats to give it |
an absolute majority in the House. But what |
the Legislature would not do for the people,
have done. Judge Houston and Recorder
Miltenberger are both young and unpreten-
tious men, less kno WI than are some of
the attorneys of the lottery, to fame; but
they are honest men, able lawyers and incor-
ruptible judges. and neither the political
power OF the Lottery Company, which has
always been used to advance the political
fortunes of Its supporters and to crush the
most honorable aspirations of its opponents
nor its money, which has always been poured
out freely to corrupt courts and control
legislatures and newspapers, in the least
impressed these noble guardians of the con-
the laws and the peoples rights.
1t is an axiom in republican government
that, so long as the judiciary remains incor-
ruptible the liberties of the people are safe, |
legislatures may pass tyrannical and OPP
pressive laws in the interest of corrupt COM
binations to rob the people; Congresses may
become the subservient tools Of aspiring lead
ers; every other branch of the government
may fail people; but while the adminstra-
ton of justice is pure and impartial, no single |
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