The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-31
THE PARISH PRISON AND THE BAS-
TILE.

lib RAhlSH fhlSUN AND LII l. BIAS
TILE.
, ny references 10 our city cnlumns IT, will b,
soon that, 1T - o'clock yesterday, the crimi
nal sheriff obeyed the order Of the Fourth
District Court and surrendered the person O
A. Aguati who was Immediately released
from arrest by Judge Houston. Thus ends
in tho vindication Of tho law ono of the most
remarkable episodes In The judicial proceed
ings Of the state That the community was
intensely moved is not strange The indigna.
tion and resentment of n free people are
naturally aroused by any effort however
| insignificant, to impair any of the guarantees
OF tho constitution or To infringe any
Of tho personal rights of tho citizen II
| is Fortunate, therefore, that the bold AMI a,l-
| dacious attempt of the Recorder Of tho First
District md the Judge of the Superior Crlmi-
nal Court to disregard and nullify tho great
writ of habraS corpus and trample upon the
| authority of tho Fourth District Court did
not provoke from the excited popuace some
| act Of violence Tho determined attitude Of
Judge Houston, the position taken by the
other civil Judges of tho city and tho request
made by tho Court to the Governor for the
| militia to sustain the writ and release the
citizen from violent and illegal arrest. inspired
the community with confidence in tho PROMPT
and complete maintenance Of the laws and
restrained the excitement within healthful
bounds. a.-..
The Times and Hcauune have done all in
| their power to hclttlc this affair. Neither of
them pretend to SEQ anything in IL but a legal
squabblc between tho Louisiana Lottery Com
pany and a man who has sold Havana lottery
tickets. They both seem to think it quite
impertnent In Mr.. Agusti to excite tho
community, annoy the courts, and force the
| newspapers to talk on disagreeabIe subject
simply because he had been illegally
arrested and imprisoned. These two great
morning journals can discover no principle
that Is involved in the effort of Recorder
Smith and Judge Whitaker to nullify the writ
OF habeas corpus in the interest and at tho
dictaton of n gigantic and inSolent monop-
oily. And yet, If we denounce the cruel and
arbitrary arrests made in France previous
to the revolution on tttrrs dc cuchrf, how
can wo look. save with horror and indig-
nation, Mt proceedings on the part of our
courts against the personal liberty of cit-
zen, no less lawlcss and arbitrary than those
which were common under Louis XIV? The
arbitrary warrant of n Now Orleans recor-
der or criminal judge is rs rcpulsve to
our laws and institutions and as revolving
to republican instincts rs ever were htres
de cdchc' and, in the Parish Prison on
Orleans street, n man is as securely and
mcrcilcssly q prisoner as if he were In the
pa,
can see nothing in this case but miserable
legal squabblc in which no one except the
Immediate parties to it have any concern.
then may the tools of monopolics and rings,
who may happen to get into Office, override
the laws and pcrsecute and Cypress whom
they choose or their masters may direct and
no voice he raised against them, no clarion
note be sounded to awaken and arouse tho
people against outrages such as those
which caused the French people to rise up
against a despotism under which they had
suffered for generations
Junius in dedicating his famous letters to
the English nation, says: "They who conceive
that our newspapers are no restraint upon
bad men. or impeachment to the execution OF
bad measures, know nothing of this country
In that state of abandoned servility and pros
titution, to which the undue influence OF the
crown has reduced the other branches OF the
Legislature. our ministers and magistrates
have in reality little punishment to fear, and
few difficulties to contend WITH beyond the
censure OF the press and the spirit of resist
ance which 1t cNciteS among the people. While
this censorial power is maintained. to speak
in the words of a most ingenious foreigner.
both minister and magistrate is compelled in
almost every instance to choose Jetceen his
duty and his repufation"
High as is this eStim ate of the power and
influence of newspapers it is not exaggerated.
But we scarcely think that Junius had in
mind newspapers whose utterances are
never directed at any evil or abuse in
the State, and which, like the Pcdytne and
Times, look upon the notification Of the writ
of habeas corpus as matter of so little sig
nitcance as scarcely to deserve comment,
much less denunciation. That the Lottery
Company can destroy our institutions utterly,
of course we do not believe. But the proceed
ings during the last few days show beyond
question that it has obtained great and dan
gerous power in our affairs and that its infu-
ence is great enough to corrupt and control
what it cannot destroy
These developments justify the uncompro-
missing war the DEMOCRAT has carried on
against the Lottery Company, and must con-
vince the public that the destruction of this
and other mouopolies is a work as essential to
the protection and advancement of the inter-
est of this State as was the reclamation of
the commonwealth from the grasp Of Radi-
calism.
AS to the Judge Of the Superior Criminal