The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-03-02
BAIL AND N0LLE PROS.

| It has taken many words to refute two
| short lines of Journal falsehood. If
| the entire article were handled with equal
| detail it would take an eight-page
| News" and more But the space given
/ to this first point is justified by the com
| pleteness of the refutation which the
! facts afford. Besides, it takes only IA
child to see that where every case in the
office was brought to trial and disposed
of. save and except 270 in fourteen years,
| and where such convincing explanations
| are afforded of a great number of these
| the margin in which abuse or wrong-doing
might exist is reduced to an absurdity.
Fortunately some of the other blunders
of the "JournalY may be dealt with more
succinotly and the very first column of
| it's article offers several specimens as fol-
| lows
over $1oo, 900 uncollected bail bonds
This is a mere guess. and 1T is an abb
surd and preposterous guess. unhappily
it would take couple of lawyers and an
accountant or two week to approximate
| the truth, and even then such a host of
conditions affect the collectable quality of
| a bail bond. that their work could only
result in conjecture. First the bailed
cases WHICH were Called lHtO court Wflu-
out appearance by the defendant should
be sifted out. and the amount of the bail
should be ascertained in each The records
should be searched to discover where the
bail had been collected and where not
Where it had not, an outside investiga-
ton should be made of the status of the
bondsman. He might have died Upon
suit upon the bond being brought, it
ii -
property made collection impossible And
then, the question of responsibility would
have to be sifted for where executions
are issued they are turned over to the
Sheriff.
In such a matter as this, one guess is
as good as another, and friends of Mr..
Winfield are quite warranted in express
ing the opinion that, so far from the
Journals assertion being true. the total
amount of collectable bail rem aiming un-
collected for the fourteen years of Mr..
Winfield's term did not amount to 81 900.
1t is well to remember in dealing with
this question that, upon the collection of
bail, percentage of it belonged to the
Prosecutor under the old fee system, and
Mr.. Winfeld's most bitter enemy has
never intimated that he was in the office
for his health.
The reasons for the extraYagance' of the
Journals claim will appear to some,
degree in the discussion of one or two
special cases, later on.
But here is another Journal point
Hundreds of indictments nolle
pressed with no other apparent excuse
than that politicians with. big pulls
had given bail for the criminals.
This is false and nonsensical on it's
face. No indictment could possibly be
nolle prosecuted without the concurrence
of the Court The Prosecutor could no
more do the act without showing cause
in open court, than the Judge could with
out his motion. The a1lusion to ''politi-
clans with big pulls" is of the same stripe
as sentence few paragraphs lower
down which reads thus
The records show that where pronai-
nent persons are the culprits, or where
influential residents or politicians are
the sureties, the indicted are seldom
or never brought to trial.
Seldom or never, is good in view of
the 27O cases shown above But, as mat
ter of fact, every case in which political
or other powerful influences might have
been at work, has been brought to trial
and many have resulted in conviction
Who has forgotten the trials Of the bal
lot-box suffers, wherein every political
influence In the county was at work. and
in every one of which conviction was
secured and confirmed by court after
court to that of last resort. Was not the
Indictment Of the old "Big Four Board
of Works brought to trial? Was not that
of the Board of Freeholders? And the
Dugan-Somers Street and Water Board ?
And the City Hall Commissioners? And
Freeholder Hennessy and ex-Policeman
Hunt? In a word, who can name a case
with the least show of probability in
which influence awaited to prevent trial?
The Sheriff is the. administrative, ex-
ecutive arm of the court and of the
prosecutor. He is the subordinate of
both in nearly all of the duties of his
position.
Nonsense. The Prosecutor has no con-
troll over the Sheriff, and no means of
MAzzERS OF F.AO1.
New Jerseys best rour cobte z5e. nore per
barrel than ordinary -four. but worth doiiar
extra. Wholesale only at d. E Cleary Coz
gtorea~ Greene and WUnlxom9fy6 1fr2at0.