New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-02-23
THE CASE OF MR.. BARG YET

This is a good time to say few woros ao ont
,hot feat,re of our judicial system which per-
mits the infiiction Of such wrongs aS muse 10
which Pascal II. Barguet, oil Mt' vernon
has inst been legally subjected he was ar
rested last Saturday on charge Oh burglary
and nearly q week later his innocence was
con,nletely established by the capture and con-
tess;on Of the actual cuIprits. OF course, lam
entable mistakes made in the protection OF
society are sometimes justified by reasonable
zeal for the greatest good Of the greatest num-
her ON the part of those who make then But
this is no such case.
The facts are these: Last week Friday
night three burglars entered house in Mt:
Vernon were discovered and put to flight, no
ono NJ them being captured. The next day
a young GIRL an inmate Of the house, went into
a neiphboring store and fancied that she recog-
nized in the form, features and dress OF the
nronyietor certain characteristics which she had
noted about one of the burglars whom she had
seen in a dim light the night before while she
was In a state OF natural agitation and other
wise untitled TO make an accurate observation.
II might be supposed that such testimony would
be accepted with hesitation, and only in case
Il was supported by other incidents and cir
cumstances, such as the previous record Of the
man against whom It was directed. But, on
the contrary, it was in fact accepted promptly
against man never before suspected OF the
slightest tendency or disposition to commit
crime. He was arrested and held until the
following Thursday in $4,000 bail for the
action Of the Grand jury. So unprepared was
the community for such an occurrence that tho
arrest of Mr. Barguet was six days wonder
in Mt. Vernon, and his distress Of mind was
in exact proportion to the loss Of reputation
which he would have sustained If the charge
against him had been proved. We do not
hesitate to say that the magistrate who held
a man without criminal antecedents or asso-
Citations on the unsupported suspicion of girl
committed wanton outrage at the same time
that ne inflicted a grieyous wrong. He can
not acquit himself by pleading the discretion
with which he is necessarily vested A man
whose capacity to discriminate is so feeble Is
not the man to be trusted with the wide and
indefinite prerogatves of Police Justice.
The truth is that cur police courts arc an
anomaly in free country Within his sphere,
which in many cases he we'll knows how 10 en-
large the Justice is an absolute autOcrat. II
he is man Of corrupt purposes or easy virtue
he has almost unlimited opportunities TO make
the concealment or inadequate punishment Of
crime personally profitable inc one way or an
other. And even where he means 10 do ex-
actly right his judgments are oftea qualified
by accidents-by such unconscious influences,
for instance, as a good or bad nights sleep, a
breakfast satisfactory or otherwise, an excess
OF deficiency Of bile. The system has grad
ually acquired its present mode Of operation.
Perhaps it could not easily be exchanged for
something better; but IT is far from being an
ideal system, and such experiences as that Of
Mr.. Banquet suggest the thought that II may
not always be even tolerable.