Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-03-08
Aallraster fttelligencer.
It Won't Work There.

The friends of Councilman Mouat and
the other Republican election officers
who were held to bail by the Philadel-
phia judges upon the evidence OF their
lawlessnees obtained while canvassing the
vote, must have a small opinion of the
resOluteness of these judges in the sup
preston of crime if they suppose that
the guilty can be saved by inducing
grand jury to refuse to find indictments
against them. The grand jury that was
unable to see any evidence of the guiltof
Mouat in the testimony that the
judges thought to be sufficient to
put him upon his trial did
very useless thing for Mouat and
only succeeded in exposing itself to pub
lie contempt by ignoring the bill against
him. 1t certainly would not have hap
pened thus if improper influences had
not been brought to bear on the jury !;
and this would only have been done to
save guilty men. 1t serves as confess
sion of guilt upon the part of the ac-
cused and is just as convincing evidence
of it as though they had run away to
escape trial. They fear to stand their
trial with very good reason; but
they have only displayed their fear,
and failed to show their sense, by
seeking to avoid punishment for
their offense in such a very bungling way.
Their little scheme, to succeed, requires
the assent not only of the judges but of
the district attorney, and Mr.. Hasert
has never shown himself susceptible to
the seduction of guilty criminals. He
took occasion when the grand jury made
its report to say to the court that he
should send no more bills to it for Of
fences of political character and would
send it none at all but for the necessity
of speedy trial of those in Jail. Mr..
Hagert's animadversion upon this grand
jury is universally held to be just, and
he is commended for it, and the grand
jury is condemned by good men and the
decent newspapers of all parties. We
are reminded by this transaction in the
Philadelphia courts. of strikingly similar
experiences we have had with Lancaster
county grand juries but we do not re-
member that we have ever heard a dis
trict attorney speaking aloud in condem-
nation. Our district attorneys are birds
of another feather. They may be very
good men in many particulars. but of
late wears they have been absolutely
under the dominion of party spirit and
totally without political conscience. or
much of conscience of any kind that
frequently inconvenient aplendage seems
10 be particularly unsuitable to a district
attorney in this atmosphere. and they
shake themselves free OF ii very soon and
very completely: so that it happens that
the best Republican workers in the wards
can Slip away from the court and petit
jury even after they have been caught in
the meshes of the grand jury net. and the
good fellows who are Steered clear of
this first obstruction are quite numerous
indeed. Judge Patterson declares that po-
litical influences never get near the
bench. and we are obliged to take him
on faith: all the badness stops at the
bar and with the district attorney and
his volunteer assistants. no doubt but it
would be ever so comforting if it did not
get anywhere near the fountains of JUS
tice. and it would be refreshing and re-
assuring if we could once hear somebody
intimate in our court as District Attor-
ney Hagert substantially said in the
Philadelphia court, that political infu-
ence should not cause the escape OF
guilty men from the ust..punishment of
their crimes, while he stood in his place
in the temple of justice-by the eternal.