The Jersey City news., 1892-01-27
DIED At HIS POST
The Fitting End of Judge
Knapp's Fine
Career.
ALL THE STATE M0URNS.
Tributes by His Associates Of
the Bar-Remarks Of Win
field, Lippineott and
Bedle.
Outline of His Life, and Arrange
ments for the Funeral
Ceremonies.
ALL THE STATE MOURNS.

The old stone Court House has de-
serted appearance today, and the black
evidences of bereavement which decorate
in somber folds the building, tell truly
that friend has departed, that a loved
one is missing.
The NEWS told its readers yesterday
that Associate Justice Manning M.
Knapp died suddenly while performing
his duty. The Judge two years ago was
very ill for several months, and never
fully recovered his strength afterward.
Since then he had been delicate and easily
excited. He had been repeatedly in
formed of the failure of Sheriff McPh1l-
lids Grand Juries to indict notorious Of
tenders, and had demonstrated on one
occasion with the Sheriff concerning the
inferior class of men summoned as Grand
Jurors. Judge Knapp found no improve
ment. The complaint he made to Sheriff
McPhillips was unheeded. More com,
plants were received by the Judge, and
finally insinuations were publicly made
at home and abroad that imputed to the
Court as we'll as Grand Juries "a desire to
protect certain offenders against the law.
ONE OF JUDGE KNAPP'S CHARGES.
Last April in rlos5 vigorous charge
Judge Knapp called the attention OF the
Grand Jury to these facts, but he might
as well have spoken to the wind.
Yesterday Judge Knapp determined to
appeal once more to the Grand Jury, to
try and rouse in the body a sufficient ap-
probation of decency to lead to the in
dictment of the not orious dive keeper
Siegfried Cronheim of Hoboken. The
thoughts of what he had to say, the
knowledge he had of the impressions that
had gone abroad concerning discrimina-
tion in justice, tended to greatly excite
him. When the Grand Jurors. headed
by Deputy Sheriff Garrick. entered the
court room and arraigned themselves in
a semi-circle about the bench, the Judge
looked pale. Foreman Warren handed
the Clerk a bunch of indictments, one of
which was for murder.
HIS LAST UTTERANCE.
Then Judge Knapp, in u voice slightly
raised above its usual key, began his last
address to a Grand Jury.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury: l want
to say few words to you. This is the
first opportunity l have had this term.
Several matters have been brought to my
attention which seemed to me to require
the Court to take notice of. One of the
matters, / understand from the Prosecu-
tor, has been before the Grand Jury and
nothing has been done. l speak or the
case in which a man was arralgned for
habitually keeping open theatre on Sun
day. This, of course, is a plain violation
of the law. 1t matters not how IL is kept.
1t Is no answer to say it is kept orderly
1t is violation per Sc of the Statutes of
this State and constitutes cisorderly
house.
"On former OCCASION" continued the
Judge, "that same person was charged
with the same offence and was brought
before the Court on an indictment He
pleaded non vult, which was equivalent
TO confession of the offence, and upon
his promise to discontinue ne was re-
leased with very slight punishment Now
people from Hoboken-respectable people,
whose word and whose character entitle
them to consideration in Court-have
been reiterating that complaint from
time to time and no attention seems to
have been taken by the Grand Jury of it
as an offence. Application was made to
the Court of Quarter Sessions for a
bench warrant and one was issued.
The accused was brought up, bail
accepted, and the offence was con-
tinued The last time quite large bail
was exacted by Judge Lippincott on
habeas corpus. In the habeas corpus
proceedings before His Honor Judge Lip
pincott, the testimony OF various per-
sons was taken. That testimony was all
one way. Every witness who testified
testified to case that would justify not
only the Grand Jury In finding an indict-
ment, but the Traverse Court in finding
conviction.
HELD THE EVIDENCE.
"That testimony have in my hands,
and purpose laying it before the Grand
Jury. to the end that you may send for
those witnesses, and II they testify before
YOU as they testified before Judge Lippin-
colt there is but one way in which the ac-
cused can escape, and tnat is through the
violation of your oaths. speak strongly
because there is an impression abroad
that the criminal law In the county of
Hudson is not administered upon princi-
pes that govern elsewhere. 1t is charged
that here certain classes OF offenses have
the protection of the Grand Jury
"Think of It'll A body representing the
court, part of the court in the admins
tration Of the criminal law, ignoring rules
as plain and as simple as possibly can be.
controlled as you are by an oath that
points out every step in your work; that
requires you to diligently INQUIRE and
true presentment make of all violations
of law, without exception; leaving to you,
as it leaves to me, no discretion in the adj
ministraton of criminal law; bound as
we are to administer the law 80 long as 1t
II on the statute book! They say that
here in this county Grand Jury under
takes to discriminate and to say, One
class of offenses against the law we will
punish and another class of offenses
against the law we will not punish
"Where did you get authority to say
that?o asked the Judge. If this is
government of law, If we are all alike
hound bv o common rule, who shall say
that one class of men shall violate the law
and not another class? / do not know
where that power arises, and l want to
see whether it is true, as we are here
charged, that the criminal law of the
band is not here administered by the
courts and Grand Juries as it should be-
TO see whether the Grand Jury STANDS
ready to protect crime If this be so, 1t
had better be known. :,
Tne system of grand jurors. like all
other legal systems" continued Judge
knapp, 'is designed in the interest of the
nnblic TO punish crime, and Jurors cannot
i,rotect crime. If this system does not
work out It's proper end then, it is rime
some other system was adopted. It's
openly charged that the courts are con-
eerned. The imputation is made that
the courts also are involved in this. Time
after time the courts have spoken to grand
inries upon these matters, and there was
!. time when the word OF the Court was
respected, and when such matters were
given in charge to grand juries the in
strnetions of 5he Court were received with