The Progress., 1893-11-11
OUTRAGEOUS ASSUMPTION or AU-
IHORlIY.

The PRoGBFss has repeatedly call
od the attention Of both the public
and tho higher legal tribunals to tho
outrageous assumption of authority
practced hy the mayor and Sbrcve-
port police. Almost every species OF
crime known to the State criminal
statute has rs its complement the vio-
lation of city ordinance, for winch
some of the police, from Information
or otherwise. prefer charges, and
in almost every instance. whore a
Lawyer - not retained 10y the accused,
the mayor ratiiies the patrolman's
outrageous charge, by imposing a
fine.
IL n negro or white man Of low
estate. or stanger steals par OF
shoes or some other small article and
makes dash To- escape, the confusion
aroused 10y the chase IS generally
transformed into "disorderIy conduct
and disturbing tho peace" and the
fugitive il fined 10y the mayor there
for If simply crime has been com
mittcd which savors of petit larceny
and it is doubtful If the State stat
utes will apply TO the case, that Of be-
ing suspicious character will be
lodged Ivy the police and the mayor
will nearly always back it up by a
fine.
One Saturday night, not long since,
n negro walked into the police sta
tion. informed the officer in charge
that he had just killed mar caught
on his promises, and had como over
to surrender himself The first thing
the officer did was to prefer city
charge for discharging fire arms in
the city limits and Monday morning
the mayor, equally as ready, imposed
his fine. After this no was turned
over TO the State and Judge Taylor
discharged him Immediately and, we
are informed, told him he could re-
cover the amount of his fine.
And again comes this occurrence OF
last Friday night wherein Messrs.
Rainey Carter aud +. NJ Kelly and
tie gentlemen from Texas were the
participants. The first two gentle
men were hauled up before the mayor
for disorderly conduct and disturbing
the peace, which was one Of the most
outrageous assumptions of authority
ever practced by any officer.
If Messrs. Carter and Kelly were
legal arrests, NJ matter what
was the noise and confusion caused
by it, they were legal officials, greater
than the police, and these last AFRO
giant. petty conservators OF the peace :
had no jurisdiction on earth, and it
does seem that mayor with the
proper appreciation Of his Office
wou'd not have considered the
charges for a moment. AZ it was, he
bad already fined Mr., Carte I
SO and MIR. Kelly would
have suffered a like fate
il he had not asked for time for the
purpose of securing lawyer to de
fend him from prosecution for muir
der. as the proceedings seemed TO
him to be tqkiug that shape. AT this
juncture the mayor saw his error, re
mitted the fine and remanded both
cases to the State authorities where
they properly belonged. He would
placed himself in far more promi-
nent position had be have read his
ready officers a severe lecture on their
alertness in bringing mp cases over
which they have no more jurisdiction
than the King of Siam.
IL Messrs. Carter and Kelly were
NOT acting in an official capacity, they
are amenable to the State authorities
alone, at the bar of which they will have
to answer as the proper charges have
been lodged In their cases, in this
article, we are taking no part, but we
do again call the attention of both
the law and public to the oppressive
actions of our police and city court,
both of which have so little regard
for personal liberty and individual
rights.