, 1881-11-12
THE srAE.RourE.. pRosEoUT1oE.

: -Iul. HeoTne btlsS, olle -Vt4 l19 OofettiAcIt
counsel for the prosecution Of tue: :staT-route
cases, tskeSa very hopefulriew Of the situa-
tion, Which We trust may not be Il mistaken
one. lie contends that the purpose Of filing
the information-a process which has been
thrown out Of courtwas to Initiate aformal
proceeding, and thus save the cases from the
bar Of the statute Of limitations. We do not
understand. from this tllat Col. Bliss means
to say that the principal and most tagrant
case, Which, occurred III October, 1878, has
been saved by this process. but thai other
acts, one in December, for instance. will not
be barred, even though the Government shall
not be- able to present the cases to the grand
jury until a later date. We presume that
, tliis theory IS materially the SAME as that
which shoul.f depriye anaccused person OF
the benefit OF the statute Of Limitations II ar
rested on Il warrant and held to bail, even
though his case were not presented to Lie
grand jury Until after tho term covered by
the statute had expired. 1t is evident from
tile starchent l1lade by Col. Bliss, however,
that the star-routo ring Will have anotnet
Quibble tdGght OH when tlleir cases slls'l
come up undcr Indictment, and it. may be
that their boast that they will never be
brought before :, petit jury is not III idle one.
All that Col. Hiss says oil the future course
Of the pfoscct,tI0n, oven it it shall provG-to
be true, will in no wise atone for tho iEno-
ra:tce and remissnc5s Of the Government law
officers in permitting sufficient time to clapse
to enable the rili. .sters to plead the statute Ut
limitations. Corkhi!l. the District-:Attornc5,
seeks to eyade the responsibility by declaring
that lie informed tic Attorney General Of the
proposed adjournment of the grand jury,
though it does not appear that he claims to
have told the Attorney Of the effect
OF such all adje1rn:nent. In extenuat!on OF
this lapse on the part of the District-Attor-
1ey, his friends urge that he WIS not corr
sulteI rs to the star-route cases, nor ill.,
formed Of the date of the acts upon which /
the indictments must he found. Col Cook,
one Of the Government counsel, maintains
that neither the Acknowledgement nor any Ut
the Government counsel we're notified Of the
intention to adjourn tie grand jury, and
that lie was actually on his way to Wash
ington from El5eron, where he had been
To consult with the Acknowledgement,
when he was confronted, with the inforu:,-
lion that tho grand jury had already been all
jourllcd to date beyond the term covered
by the statute Of Limitations. II this be true,
the statement is>a serious reflection upon the
DiStrict-At,orney, who would then be placed
under tile SUSPICION Of having adjourned tic
grand jury with the express purpose OF pro-
tecting the star-rout1 people. At the same
time, there seems TO be no excuse for the At
torneyGcnera1 whether he ,s'as circulnyented
or even if the adjournment Was without any
purpose to defeat the Government prosecu-
tloll. Tic Acknowledgement ought to have
kept 4 close watch over the grand jury,
knowing tile danger that the prosecution /
might be barred out by the statute OF 1imita- |
tion5. # he did not know this, then he was
either Ignorant OF the law or neglcctinG the
cases which were under his immediate super
vision.
Under the circumstances, It would seem
that the best Thing President Arthur could |
do is to get rid of both -Attorney-Gencra1 |
MacVeagh and Dishict-Attorney Corkhi!l. |
Neither Of these gentlemen seems TO be fitted |
for the place he holds. but, On the contrary, |
both appear to have been stumbling-5locks
iii the most important government cases.
From outside Indications, Dir. Mac cVeaeh !
is not taking any part III the Government /
prosecutions, and Mr.. Corl1hill claims never
to have been taken into the eases at all. The
Government should be able to secure law
officers who will attend to its interests as in
and conscientiously as if they
were serving private clients.