The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-12-27
FAILURE OF JUSTICE.

That our criminal laws are not always
what they should be in operation. has
again been illustrated; that is to say, If
our criminal laws are intended for the
punishment of the guilty. The. Christ
mas issue of THE HERALD contained the
announcement of the dismissal of the
suit against one Hill, charged with the
embezzlement of $4,000 from his wife,
whom he deserted two or-three years
ago. Mrs. Hill told reporter that she
had received 81, 600 of which sum 81 900
went to her lawyer. Thus, she comes
out of the fight $1,000 short, which
amount Hill is ahead, less his lawyers
fees; but justice is defeated and the law
turned into farce. The facts of this
case seems to have been about as fol-
lows: Hill married the wefl-to-do
widow, and whether or not he then had
designs upon her, bank account, he at
least succeeded in capturing the latter,
and with it deserted his wife and the
Territory, depositing his ill-gotten
money in a Michigan bank beyond the !
reach of the local courts he was arrested
brought back, and being unable to |
get bondsmen and unwilling to leave
the money that he had stolen with the !
court as security for his appearance
when wanted for trial, he has nominally
been in jail all these months. A trial or
two failed to convict. and now: by a
compromise outside the courts, he has
been discharged If this ism t defeating
justice and turning thelaw into farce,
the public prosecutor viii please inform
us what 1t is. As we understand the
law it did not know Mrs. Hill in this {
prosecution, except as the victim of her !
husbands scoundralism; if he were
guilty of stealing her money, the sur
render of a portion or all -of it did not
make him less guilty; the prosecution
was not instituted for the purpose of
making him disgorge, for the law does not
contemplate its application forany such
object, any more than it expects to be
used to aid personal spites.
THE HERALD has no personal. fight (
against the man Hill, but it ;
doesn't like to see the law used
and abused as it has been in this
prosecution. If heweren't guilty of the
embezzlement charged he should not
have been arrested, brought LEX here
and kept in jail; if he were guilty
and the law was not explicit or
strong enough in his case to pun
ish him regularly, he should not have
been restrained as he has been
all this time; if he did take the money
as alleged and that act was a crime be-
fore the law, the return of the amount,
or the giving of ten times the sum to
the injured woman cannot make him
less guilty before the law. The prose
cutor knows this is true, and his. con-
sent to the dismissal of the case is in
open defiance of his plain duty in the
premises, which was to prosecute the
guilty, regardless of the trading, the
relenting and the purchase out
side of court. The thieves would
all be happy if they could buy
their freedom by the return to their
victims of two-ffths the stolen property;
indeed, if prosecuting attorneys will be
as kind and considerate in all cases as
in this one, embezzlers will be willing to
enter into an agreement with the courts
to return even half of the stolen money !
in all cases without putting the govern j..
ment to the expense of making arrests,
and instituting prosecutions.