New-York tribune., 1896-01-30
THE TCT-iTTORNEY'S DUTY.


The Court Of General Sessions now consists
of four parts and the hackncyel excuse of the
Dislrict-Attorncy for his failure to dispatch the
criminal business Of the county promptly can no
longer he urged. 1t has been the plea Of Colo
mel Fellows, both in his present ana III his Tor
mcr term Of office. that the Grand Jury found
more indictments than three Judges cOu!d Try.
No fair minded person who was aware of the
facts could for one moment believe that there
was enough truth in this explanation To justify
the wofuy lazy and slipshod administration OF
tho DStrict-AttOrncy office. Again ana again
WAS II shown that more industry and diligence
on the part Of the prosecuting force would have
gone far toward keeping the number Of prisoners
I'm the TomhS within reasonable limits, ana
toward Kidding the pigeonholcs Of the District
Attorneys Office Of untricd true bills. Indeed.
the strongest statements Of the ability of the
three parts of which the court consisted until
January to keep pace with the Grand Jury
came from the Bench itself. and were uttered
ly Judges who were in political sympathy with
Colonel Fellows, a. well rs 10y those who were
no, But these rcproofS fell upon the District
Attorneys head with IN" impact Of cldcrdown.
and ho continued on his course with his won,cd
cqpanimily.
II is oa,y 10 understand WHY the TombS has
been In chronic state Of oyercrowdns and
why the finding ~ IN Indictment has been the
final sfep In The prosecution ot 80 many Grim
inlls who were admitted to bail Not enough
cases were prepared fcr trial. The sessions of
the court often began extremely late. some
time. not until II 80 o'clock. and the adjourn
mcnts were much earlier than they should have
been The midday recess took out a generous
Sic. ~ the day From time to time the day
calendar was exhausted In a few hours. and
there was nothing 10 do but TO close the court.
II Is not likely that the public appreciated the
| crnvliv II tho consequent evils. The admins
tr..ilon II Justice in the branch Of serious crime
was hampcrcd. almost crippled. Tine cells in
the Tombs. built for one occupant. usually had
two and sometimes three: lucklcSs persons com
ml'tcA 10 the House Of Detention * witnesses
laneuished there for weeks, and even FOR months;
and worst ~ all. hundreds Of cases In which
the defendant, hld been admitted 10 bail were
never brought io trial 1h" criminal with
wealthy or influential friends was not likely 10
be- called on To- face a jury, or II he WAS ar
ralsn,h. II WI, So long after the commission of
the offence that some Of the States witnesses
were missing or dead or had far forgotten
/
yction impossible OF course. no fault is 10 be
found with the rule that prison cases should be-
brought To trial first. but the effect Of it has been
to place the fricndcss lawbreaker on an entirely
different footing from the one who could secure
bondsman.
The fact should not be lost sight Of that much
Of the responsibility for the terrible ovcrcrowd-
ing Of .hc Tombs has rested with the District
/ Attorney
Now he is more than ever answcrable. He
has large and expensive stan Of assistants,
the number having been increased two or three
years AGO and again last year. Most OF these
men get more than they could gain from pri-
vate practice. and many of them find leisure to
attend to the business ~ outside clients. The
excuse - insuiiicicncy Of court facilities. never
iustinabc 10 the extent To which II was urged is
now weaker than ever Four Judges are in con
slant session. while much aid may be expected
from the Justice of the criminal branch OF the
Supreme Court These judges should bo. and
doubtless are. willing To sit long hours To clear
away the accumulation Of business. As there
are five Judges in General Sessions. one is III
WAYS At leisure; besides there are virtually no
opinions 10 write and few legal questions to
| be studied. There Is, therefore. no good reason
why in view Of the state Of affairs in the Tombs,
extraordinarily long sessions should not now bc
held in the four parts Of the court. Then speedy
trials could be granted To all confined defendants,
| and the work Of clearing the calendars OF bail
cases could 90 vigorously on. The enlargement
Of the Tombs Is n necessity, nevertheless. but 1t
! will be long before the additional cell room Is
available In the mean time Colonel Fellows
and his assistants should conduct the affairs Of
the Distrct-Attorncy's office with an energy
that will put Il stop to the need OF having two
or three unfortunate human beings in space
! intended for only one.