New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-06-20
TlfVTNITY FOR PERJI ~.

Perjury Is n crime Al least the Penal Col"
of the state Of New York. In common with That
~ all other civilized communities. - declares
The statute books prescribe severe penalties ior
false swearing. and II is generally recognized
thot the possibility ~ peaceful social relations
rests on faith between man and man. The char
octor - an oath is universally understood. No
man gives testimony in court or makes an ain
davit who does not know fun well the "b"-A-
ton which he is under 10 tell The truth and The
offence which he commits against the Stat" III
swearing falsely. Yet perjury is one of the mos'
familiar Of crimes ana one which is rarely pun
jshcd. Certainly nobody had any doubt during
the progress II the Investigation II ih' Romeo
Daporimcut last summer that d'lhcrli" ami
plotted fasehool WAS heard from witnesses day
after dav. Yet there have been no indictments
no trials no punishment II ih" officers ana pr
vate citizens lcasuod with thrm for the proi''-
ton and pcrpciualion Of a corrupt system. WHO
sworc 10 statements which II WAS then evident
were untrue and which have since been proved
So More recently il has come 10 light mat
large number Of straw bonds have been gwen
TO the Excise Board 10 secure liquor licenses.
That is. men have become surc'lcs for saloon
keepers and sworn that they owned un.ncnn-
bcrcd property in the amount required 10y law "i
bondsmcn in such eases. when. in fact they were
not worth that amount and they perfectly Wei
knew they were not. Many ~ them acted, II
would SEEM as professional hondsn'n III I'D"
interest II brcwc~ics which were The real own
ors If saloons for which iigurcheadS Obtained
licenses. and in that capacity they committed
pcrurv. not once hut dozens ~ times. assuming
liabilities for thousands on thousands If dollars
when they were worth little or nothing.
4 large batch Of indictments would seem 10
he the natural outcome Of such n discovery. Al
least II would if we did not recall the Tanmany
rrIle which was long over the city. ana bear in
mind the licensed lawessncss cultivated by II
10 such an extent that it Is apparently conSd-
cred unjust 10 begin 10 punish crime without
giving special warning 10 criminals that here
after the laws are "on," and that they are expect
cd to obey them or suffer the consequences
Perjury and other crimes have had such i'm
munitv. amounting to practical lcgalizatlon, that
the prohibition against tx post facto laws Is
thought to apply and make il improper TO punish
crimes already committed. At least that IS the
ONLY reasonable Interpretation Of the declaration
made on Tuesday by Commissioner Hamburger
concerning the attitude OF the Excise Board
larations to it. The disclosures, he said had had
the effect OF soaring off the men against whom
the inquiry was directed and would have a
permanent salutary influence. number of the
most barefaccd opcrarors had begged TO be- Jet
off this time No evidence had rs yet been pre-
scented TO the Grand Jury. and the Commissioner
gave hint Of none likely to be presented, but he
ISSUED solemn notice that heavy hand would be
laid upon anybody who should be caught making
false declarations In future The present invcsii-
cation was "intcndcd public notice to straw
"bondsmcn' TO vacltc and TO stop their activity
fright here and now" In other words, impress
sivc proclamation was made for all 10 hear and
take notice lest they inadvertently make them
selves liable to punishment for what they have
hitherto regarded as an innocent paslimc That
on and after the eighteenth day Of June in the
wear OF our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and ninety-five the Board Of Excise Of the city
Of Ncw-York will consider perjury and false
swearing as crimes, and he disposed 70 take
action against all persons who commit those acts
TO aid in the procurement OF licenses. 80 iar as
the Excise Department goes, the law against
perjury IS to be no longer "olf."
That Is something for which To be thankful,
but it is something which at the same time makes
our system Of Jurisprudence and administration
seem grotesque. We have apparently not YET
reached that stage Of civilization where we real
ize that laws are made to be enforced. We have
driven from power corrupt government; we
have detected most fragrant crimes which flour
ished under It, and our heroic nusterliy goes 10
the length Of announcing that hereafter snci
crimes may not be committed with impuniiy.
Then when somebody does commit them we