St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-09-11

scrnpulous Interpreters have been found
| doing a regular trade between prisoners
| and lawyers. although various justices
heve done their best to make such a
| trade impossible.
Naturally foreigner with no knowl-
edge OF the language is particularly
frightened at arrest and is particularly
willing to believe that he must have
lawyer; must pay somebody some
money, to escape The death chair, though
lie mas only been arrested for trundling
q push cart without license and Is in
ganger of nothing worse than a s. fine.
In TACT, some of the largest police court
1eeSare wrenched from ignorant Italians
and Poles. Investigations have shown
that Id such cases padrones are paid,
runners are paid, interpreters are paid,
shysters are paid, all for services that
absolutely do not save the prisoner a
dollar of fine or days imprisonment.
IGNORANT CLASSES.
Many cheap and tough lawyers make
especially of these foreigners who are
OF the most ignorant class. They travel,
ana their runners travel, with Italians,
for instance, and make ''big money"
out Of the rows of Mulberry Bend and
elsewhere. A large number of these
cases are settled out Of court. The
- eAiNay0 1Oauy W oSCCpI -
/ money settlement though he may have
thirty stitches in his head.
In accomplishing these money settle
ments the shySters and the gO-betweens
get good deal of cash. Out of $50 set
tement money, for paying which the
complainant agrees TO disappear on the
DAY set for the trial, the man with the
stitches in his head, and who agrees to
disappear, gets perhaps twenty. or
maybe only ten. But he finds the ten
or twenty better than nothing, and
saves the danger of being cut again
should he make a worse enemy of the
friends of the man who did the cutting
by having him "sent away"
1t is more grOteSque to see two shys-
tiers after the one victim. The other
morning two legal sharks approached a
victim at about the same time, having
each received wink because two po-
llcemen had gone to serve the warrant.
The prisoners bewilderment when he
found lawyer on each side of him was
something wonderful to behold. For a
time it was curious question as to
which shark should get him. How the
matter might have resulted had not
runner with another case called one OF
the sharks away it is difficult to con-
lecture.
1t will be seen that the go-between
business is very complicated and diff
cult as well as profitable. But many of
the ShySterS prefer to go on the plan of
every lawyer his own go-betWeen."
1t is not SO dignified. but it pays. There
IS one less ''divy" and consequent
saving.
LAWS MACHINERY.
The poor prisoner regards the police
man, the runner, the lawyer. the inter
prefer, il there is to be one. as each part
of the vast and awful machinery of the
law. When the runner introduces him
to his lawyer the victim is often OBJ
served to remove his hat, las If the dread
full necessity of propitiating the law
must begin here and now.
In such case the lawyer is likely to
put on grand air that is calculated to
fill the prisoner with awe, and expand
to the utmost the size of the fee.
The shyster is an expert, not only at
placing money inducements where they
will keep complainants away, but at ap-
pealing TO cOmplainantS by sentimental
or family arguments. Poor Mrs. o. Hara,
who had made up her mind that this
time she would not let Billy go scot free
for cutting her head, finds herself sur
rounded on the sidewalk in front of the
court, and appealed to to Let him Off
this time, Mrs. OHara." The pressure,
if skilltully applied, is generally sue
cessful.
. The shyster and his shabby partners
rejoice in the shabby condolences
brought about by the misfortunes of
women. The shyster likes to fold his
arms and have woman ''tell him all
about it, be the misfortune what it
may.
And it is a trick of the full-fledged
tough lawyer to get news from both
sides, especially In domestic difficulty
cases.
= The shyster is great study.