The Saint Paul globe., 1896-12-11
OUT AFTER TRUSTS
HARMON URGES AMENDMENTS IN
CREAsING THE SCOPE of
THE PRESENT LAW.
ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORTS.
NEW SALARY SYSTEM rs BRINGING
ABOUT SOME EXCELLENT
RESULTS.
ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORTS
DEFECTS IN THE CRIMINAL LAWS
New Act, Simple in Provisions and
General in Application, Need
ed Without Delay.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10.-AttOrney
General Harmon, in his annual report
to congress expresses his satisfaction at
the results so far obtained Of the new
salary system, which displaced the old
fee system on July 1, of the present
year. The returns, he says, afford
striking evidence of the wisdom Of the
course so long advocated which re-
moves the public service from some
of the common temptations to extra
agance and abuse. A very large re-
duction is shown in every one Of the
items which would naturally be ef-
fected by the fee system. The fees
for United, States marshals will show a
reduction for the year of about $4,000
from those of the previous year.
Other reductions will be made approx
imated as follows:
Fees of jurors, $215, ,3O6; fees of wit
nessess $S7,O75; pay Of bailiffs $94, ,920;
salaries and expenses Of district at
torneys, $192, ,O42.
The attorney general points out two
defects in the criminal laws, to which
the attention Of congress is invited
The first" he says, 'is the unneces-
sary and unfortunate confusion of our
criminal legislation. Provisions are
cases. The CONSEQUENCE is that it is
often difficult to ascertain which of
two or more laws is applicable to the
case in hand. Cases arise which ought
to be covered by law, but are not, and
the same offense is visited with va
rlous degrees of punishment not de-
termined by any difference in GRIMM
ality, but merely by the fact that the
various statutes. relating to specific in
stances of the OffenSeS were drafted
by different men and in different times
1 think a new crimes act should be
passed as speedily as possible, which
should contain provisions simple, cas-
lily understood and general in their
scope, covering such crimes as those
above stated; that uniform system
of punishment should thus be provided
and that as to cases arising in the fu-
ture, present laws relating to these
crimes should be repealed. This work
could be easily and quickly performed
by commission.
UNFORTUNATE DEFECT.
sThe second defect is the unfortunate
results of the present law governing
writS of error to the supreme court in
criminal cases Defendants in Grim
inal cases are generally poor. 1t is
hard for them to obtain counsel to de-
fend them at home, but it is generally
beyond their power to obtain counsel
to argue their cases before the SUI
preme court. While the criminal juris-
diction of that court is now so ex-
tensive as to take up a considerable
part of the time spent by the justices
in the study of records and briefs, yet
the arguments of the cases are largely,
for the reason above stated, compara-
lively few They are mainly conf4ned
to cases against the Wealthier classes
OF defendants, such as 'smugglers and
bank officers.
"The questions raised in these GRIM
inal cases are for the most part COM
pratively trivial and not of general i'm
pcrtance. 1 think that transfer of
the criminal appeals to the circuit
courts of appeals with the present
system of permitting important ques-
tons to be presented to the supreme
court by certifcation, is highly desira-
BILE "
The attorney general says that last
September complaint was made to him
that certain telegraph companies
which have, in other countries reached
by them, monopoly which would ex-
clude all American companies, were
about to land a cable on the shores of
Long Island. 1t was represented that
such foreign companies, having failed
on account of the exclusion Of Ameri-
can companies above mentioned to Sc
cure authority to land their cables, has
resorted to the device of an american
company, with small capital or
ganized to be controlled by them,
which was merely to lay it's cable from
our shore out beyond the line of juris-
diction, and thereby furnish means
of entrance to the foreign countries.
Knowing that congress, at it's last
session, had under consideration a bill
to regulate the landing of foreign
cables and believing that the general
sentiment favors the exclusion of COM
panies organized in countries which re-
fuse like privileges to American COM
panies, deemed it my duty to direct a
suit to be brought in the district of
New York to enjoin the consummation
of the plan above mentioned My chief
design was to afford congress an op-
portunity to act upon the matter be-
fore this cable should be laid"
On the subject of the Pacific rail-
ways, the attorney general says that
the report of Hon. George Hoadley,
special counsel for the United States,
shows that there is no substantial
change in the state OF the litigation
about the Union Pacific railway and
its branch. He continues:
AS the only object Of steadfastly
keeping the government out Of the case
thus far has been to secure some fa-
vcrable solution to the difficult problem
presented by its ownership of subor-
dinate security upon property whose
value is generally believed to be In
sufficient to pay in full any but the
first mortgage liens. I think, that unless
the pending funding bill be passed
and accepted, the government should
endeavor to secure terms for It's ap-
rfarance In collrf iy, fha xuau nF or