Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1884-03-31
MONDAY. MARCH 81. 1854.
The Cincinnati tot aud the Les.

THE Cincinnati r tot and the Les.
sOu.
The riot at Cincinnati is not only a.
very serious matter in regard to the
number Of lives lost and property de-
stroyed but it is blot upon the civil
ization Of the age. Yet while we
say this, with feeling of shame, for
the failure of the administration of JUS
tice, we find ourselves in a position to
condemn but lightly, and to partially
apologize for the actious of the rioters.
Such state of affairs in this country
can only have been brought about by
large settlements Of the criminal classes
Of society which breed crime, lead to
political influences, then to maladmin-
istration of justice and finally to just
such riot az disgraces Cincinnati.
There is probably no city in the Union
where the criminal classes have such a
stronghold upon the local political ma
chinery of political parties and where
they receive 20 much immunity from
punishment for their crimes. They
form powerful auxiliary for whatever
political party will bid the most for
their services, and when they commit
crime and come before the Courts they
have friends ready to come to their res
cue. The same may he said of the Grim
inal classes ofother large cities, nota-
bly, Chicago and st. Louis, where it is
difficult to secure a verdict against a
criminal if he has political influence
and money to hire the best criminal
lawyers. The riot in Cincinnati though
directly traceable to the shameless fail
ure of a jury to render a verdict of
guilty in the case of the young man
Berner who had over and over confessed
his guilt and offered no paliation for it
is the natural outcome of acondition of
maladministration Of justice in that
city Of many years standing. We are
informed by the Cincinnati papers that
during a period of eighteen years there
has been but one case of hanging and
that was Of poor colored man, though
there have been numerous murders.
Criminal lawyers and packed juries
have betweenstood justice and unpunish
ed crime to such an extent that red
handed murderers walked the streets
boldly unhung
The failure to convict Berner was the
last straw that broke the camels back.
He in cold blood murdered a drover
while he was asleep, for the purpose of
getting possession of $40 he had on his
person, then tied rope around his
neck and threw his body into the river.
When arrested and charged with com
hitting the crime he confessed it to
several persons, but implicated color
ed man, who, he said, assisted him in
the crime. He was young, only agh-
teen, but he promised to be influential,
and had large following of personal
friends. Immediately the whole ma
chinery of criminal practice, used so
often successfully to prevent the ad-
ADMINISTRATION Of justice, was put in mo-
ton to clear him. The best criminal
lawyers were employed, and the cor
rupt machinery for producing packed
juries was successful in producing
jury equal to the emergency in this
case
The trial lasted over four weeks.
Only one man, the prosecuting attorney
stood up for the State, against four of
the most noted criminal lawyers of the
city. With a fair honest jury there
was no avenue left for the escape of
ha ri Ii 90 IL
was sufficient to send him to the gallows
without occupying more than day of
the time of the court. Nobody ever
expected anything else than a convic-
ton. Men who had looked with uneasy
forebodings on the evil results that must
spring from the miscarriage Of justice
in 80 many previous cases, crime in
Cincinnati, now felt sure that outraged
law in one instance at least would be re-
venged. But imagine the disappoint-
ment of the people when Il verdict of
manslaughter WAS brought in with a
punishment of twenty years in the
penitentiary.
1t is not surprising that "a thousand |
people left the court house, vowing ven
geance, and though not determined on
what course to pursue, It'll easy TO I'M
derstand how cry Of ITO the Jail,
soon thought a thousand people
a.ound its musty walls, demanding
that not only Berner but other unhung
criminals be delivered up. We say
this was all wrong, but it is very easy
10 say that There should have been
no riot, it is true, hut there should have
been no cause for a riot. Mobs are
Troublesome, unwieldly things to ham
die hen once fully under way, but
had there not Teen a regular mal-ad-
Of justice running through
a long series Of years in Cincinnati,
there would have been no mob.
The significance of the riot consti-
tutes a warning to the people Of large
cities, who have Il tendency to ignore
abuses until they become intolerabe.
This failure to take part in the govern
ment of cities lies at the bottomot much
Of the mal-adminiStratiOn Of Justice.
Business seems to absorb the energy
and attention ofthe intelligent majority
and leaves clear field for the machine
tons Of the unprinclpl"l few. The lat
ter are encouraged to go on from one
and abuse 10 another, until,
as in the case of Cincinnati, the rrSpcc-
table class find them selves in the hands
of and ruled by the worst classics Of so
ciety. The only true preventative of
such state Of affairs is constant