New-York tribune., 1895-08-31
A ,JTDTCT4L COMPARISON.

Two cases recently brought before City Mags-
trate Brann may be properly and perhaps profit
ably compared with reference to his disposition
of them On Wednesday afternoon Mr.. Henry
l. Wilson, an associate editor Of Puck, was
instrumental in causing the arrest OF man
whom he believed to have stolen watch. But
the supposed thief had deftly slipped the watch
into Mr.. Wilson'S pocket, and that gentleman
consequently found himself in an awkward po'
stion The policeman who had been summoned
rightly took the owner Of the watch and the
two men thus suddenly brought into strange
relations TO the jefferson Market Police Court.
where Mr. Wilson was soon identified by the
publisher of Puck" and others who knew him
we'll and testified to his good character. The
MAGISTRATE however. refused to release him un'
Ill bail had been furnished. The next morning
he was promptly discharged. but the experience
was an extremely unpleasant one, and might
easily have been more so; for innocent men,
even though they have many friends, cannot al
ways be sure Of finding bondsmen at brief no
tice late in the day. Nevertheless. it is not our
present purpose to condemn severely the Mags-
trates refusal to let Mr. Wilson go on his own
recognizance He has since said that Mr.. Wilson
was entirely unknown TO him, and that he was
ing well-dressed and well-appearing prisoners
and holding others not possessed OF those advan-
tages. The responsibility his, and he may
have done no more than his duty.
However that may be, the mood which deter
mined his action on Wednesday afternoon does
not seem to abide with him always. On the
following day a cabdriver was brought into MS
court on complaint Of a stranger IN the city
u
whom he had agreed 10 drive from the Fall River
boat 10 and through Central Park for 81, ana
from he had exacted S. for the short trip 10
Washington Square That Is 10 say, the CAP
man deliberately lied to the stranger, cheated
him by conveying him TO the wrong place 1or
an exorbtant price, and then proceeded to cheat
him further by an additional charge of -. Al
this stage In the transaction the caDman nad
done quite enough to deserve severe punish
ment but he chose to aggravatc his oHence Dy
his subsequent conduct. When brought into
court he insuted the Magistrate with vile cpl
thets, and. having been fined only 80, became
still more turbulent and abusive so that 1t was
necessary TO arrest him again on new charge
But the Magistrate we are told, was very pa
tient and gentle, saying, finally: Il know you
don't mean what You say ! am going to show
you that / know this by remltting your first
fine and making you pay fine OF only S3.
This amount the cabman paid out OF the 50
which he had extorted from his fare, and went
away. thus making So net out Of performance
which ought to have cost him his license and
his liberty.
Perhaps. as we have said. Magistrate Brann
was justified in demanding Il bond for the ap-
pcarance in his court Of welknown and repu-
table citizen whose zeal for the apprehension of
a thief had got him into trouble but on what
theory of Justice and public advantage he showed
extraordinary tenderness to a deliberate swim
der and an impudent blacksuard we fail to un-
derstand 1t seems to us that judge whose
rigid sense Of duty compelled him TO hold an in
nocent man on Wednesday afternoon made a
poor use of his discretion when he discharged
a guilty rufiian on Thursday morning.