The Washington critic., 1890-02-24

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he Made Under Section T63
The police authorities of the
city, encouraged by the stand taken
by TIE CRGrIC against the Louisi.
ana State Lottery, have rcdoubed
their efforts to find some way
OF escape through the meshes of the
net which the acts of Congress have
formed around them. They have again
and again tried to discover law under
which the agents of the great gambling
institution might be prosecuted and
case made. Each time they have been
thwarted by the shrewd and high priced
counsel employed by the company, who
has studied with Just as eager an eve aud
as active n sense as they have.
The police think that they have al
last found way out Of the difficulty.
however, and in looking over the stat
utes they have come upon section 763,
which reads:
Any. one of the justices may hold a
special term with the same powers and
Jurisdiction possessed aud exercised by the
District Courts OF the United States.
This statute held out some hope and
IL was pursued further. The discovery
was made that seventeen years later It
was revised so as to read:
Section 163 is amended by striking out
said section and inserting in lieu thereof
the following as section 1853: Said courts
shall have cognizance Of all crimes and of
lenses committed within said District and
of all cases in law and equity between par
ties, both or either of which shall be resi-
dent or found within said District, and also
of all actions or suits of civil nature at
common law or in equity, In which
the United States shall be plaintiffs
or complainants; and of all seizures on
land or water, and all penalties and for
FIXTURES made, arising or accruing under
the laws of the United States; and any one
Of The Justices may hold O Criminal Court
for the trfel Of al cfimcs and Q6enscs arisiag
lcithin the District.
This law, the police think, covers
the agents of the lottery company. In
selling tickets of the New Orleans firm
they are guilty of misdemeanor in the
sight of the law. Now the question is
whether or not an "offense" and ''mis-
demeanor' are not synonymous This
question the courts will have to decide.
But just here another obstacle was
thrown in the way of the law being
carried out. In 1871 the Police Court
was organized and given exclusive
jurisdiction over all crimes and offenses
committed within the District within
certain limit. This limit is supposed to
have included the offenses committed by
the agents of the lottery In this city,
and when brought before that court
they simply demanded jury trial.
This the Police Court, of course, can
not give them, and the cases are sent on
TO the grand jury, who never prefer an
indictment.
As has been before stated in The
CRITIC, they are awaiting the decision
of the case of Edward Green, which
has now been before the Court in Gen
eral Term for several years, and, per-
haps, will always remain pigeon -hoied,
for it has been clearly demonstrated
that were a decision made it would
prove conclusively the unconstitution.
ality of the Police Court. This the
higher courts do not want, for it would
stop short the administration of justice
in the District and deluge the higher
courts with flood of petty trials.
The acts organizing the Police Court
came in direct conflict with other and
earlier acts, and the statute quoted is
one of them Every American has the
right Of trial by jury, and no judge
has the right or power to deny this
demand. 1t is just here that the ad-
ministration of justice, so far as lottery
cases is concerned, comes to stand
still.
Detective Block is the Washington
authority on lottery and policy. He
has studied it and the laws for its sup
preston attentively, and he has them
all at his fingers ends. What he
doesn't know about it isn't worth
knowing, and what he says about it
may be taken as true without grain
of allowance
There are just two ways out of the
trouble" he said to THE CRITIC repre-
sentative. Either Congress must give
to the Police Court a Jury, or section
763 must be brought into requisition.
We have tried the former method, and,
in the closing days of President Cleve-
lands Administration, bill was passed
by Congress, giving the Police Court
jury of six men for the trial of any
cases where a jury trial might be de
manded. This bill was sent to the
President for his signature, but he
never gave it. On the other hand, it
was vetoed. and two or three days
afterward Congress adjourned and
IColuCut liuIElSOu tOOh LIS SCul.
haven't heard of the bill since that
time.
II think there is no reason why
ease should not be made in section 1853.
In very plain words it gives tie justices
right to sit in criminal trials. Why
haven't they right to sit IN the lottery
and policy trials as well as any other,
The Supreme Court Of the United States
hnp 1ons lo1 tt 4 IL. I.
The matter in rather clear light,
though il also decides that the Police
Court is unconstitutional. This was
in the case of the striking theatre Or
chestras of the city who were charged
with conspiracy, and the case being
carried to the Supreme Conrt it was de
ctded In favor of the defendants on those
grounds.
This decision was made just as
had been directed by A. A. Birney, who
was at that time the Prosecuting Attor-
ney of the District, to act He directed
me to arrest every lottery agent in the
city, and after some difficulty ! sue
ceeded in getting warrants against over
thirty of them. twas four days before
i got the warrants. however, and by
that time they had wind of it, and when
we went to make the arrests we found
every place closed, and had to serve
them whenever we were able to find the
men.
AT last we got them all to the Police
Court, but before we could do anything
the decision was made by the Supreme
Court, and tor some reason the cases
were abandoned. think there is no
reason why the cases should not be
made on section 1853.
The police propose to make an arrest
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