Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-04-15
A FEDERAL COURT.
Facts showing How Great Need
there is of One Here.

Facts showing How Great Need
there is of One Here.
There is now an appeal before the
Senate Of the United States TO give Los
Angeles Federal Court to try cases
coming up in this lower portion of the
State. 1t is understood that the neces-
sity for this action has been made so
apparent in Congress that the bill has
been favorably reported by the Judici-
ciary Committee of the House and that
1t will of certainty pass the lower
branch of the national legislature. In
the Senate there is said to be formidable
opposition to overcome in the person of
Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, chair
man of the Judiciary Committee OF that
branch. Mr.. Edmunds' views generally
partake OF a rather narrow character,
somewhat provincial in their nature and
Just little disposed to think there is no
part of the Union worthy of much no.
tice outside OF about six States in the
extreme corner of the Atlantic sea
border.
There is now pending in this city
case which taken for Just what it is, a
typical one of which there are dozens
more or less similar each year, if put be-
fore Senator Edmunds' mental vision
might cast new light on this subject,
even in the exclusive recesses of his
brain, closely guarded as they are from
the beneficent effulgence of new and
progressive ideas regarding the great
and growing western portions of the
Union. The case is this, U. s. Deputy
Marshal. Mr.. Carlos Cruz, of this city,
was put in possession of papers the other
dayl calling for the arrest of one N.
Ortega, charged with selling liquor to
Indians near the reservation at San Ber-
nardino. Mr.. Cruz, when he came to
serve the papers found the alleged Gull
prit to be woman with three
children, the eldest aged about
eleven years and the youngest
an infant of few months old. The
father.of the family is off in Mexico and
cannot return. When arrested there
was no way Of disposing of the children,
so the merchant was obliged to bring
them with their mother. When exam
ined before Commissioner Ellis the facts
warranted that magistrate in holding
the woman to answer before the United
States Court. This tribunal sits in San
Francisco, and the Marshal is instructed
not to bring prisoners before it except
ing at such times as the United States
Grand Jury is in session to find indict-
ments. There is often delay of many
weeks on this account. In the present
case. this poor woman who, however
guilty she may prove to be, should not
be treated with unnecessary harshness,
has been committed to the county jail to
await triaL Her children are in Jail with
her and will have to be taken to San
Francisco with her, a distance of 500
miles, for trial.
That statement Of facts, together with
a consideration Of the expenses the
county will be put to in the premises, is
quite enough to show the necessity of
the relief asked for. This is large re-
gion of country. IL is populous one,
and there is in it much litigation to go
Def re Federal courts. Ii is rapidly
growing portion of the Union. No
such makeshift, half measure as
sending Judge to sit here at
periods of six or even three months apart
will answer the purpose. Senator Ed
munds and others like him should open
their minds to conviction and let the
twenty million candle power electric
light of the cold glare of truth as kindled
by the dynamic force of hard and mani
fold facts guide them TO patriotic and
just action in their vote upon this ques-
ton.