The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-08-29
Qualifications Needed for the Proper
Discharge of the Duties of the
C. A. W.

Sher1H S Of1co.
In the consideration of this impor-
tant theme, many ideas present them.
selves to our view but as we have
sufficient space we will first endeavo1
with a knowledge of our many fail
ings to present our views on the sher-
if of former times.
In the palmy days of the City OF
Mecca, the emir or sheriff exercised
the duties of an Office analogous to
that of our sheriff of today. And we
not only learn that there was such an
office, but that, originally, he was an
officer of authority and jurisdiction,
and was mentioned Immediately
after the Sultan in the prayer al
sunset.
In the period preceding the Norman
conquest of England, the californian
or earl and scirgefa or sheriff appear
at the head of the county organiza-
tion. But some years after the Con-
quest, the Sheriff became a purely
royal officer. He held an annual court
1.-THE sheriff. tourn or leet) to which
the vassals OF the king were suitors.
These were the judicial tribunals for
the people within the jurisdiction of
the county. The sheriff was likewise
the financial representative of the
crown within his district.
But through the process of time the
Importance of the Office of sheriff in
the English Constitution declined,
until now it has lost all it's financial
and nearly all it's judicial duties, and
he is now chiefly a ministerial officer
Even the military duties which he
nvornicod xxyho,,
lous to the reign of Henry VIII, or
according to some historians that of
Edward VI, were handed over to the
lieutenant who is now the head
of the county organization.
To consider the diversity of charac-
ters of people who have been install
ed in the office of sheriff is work
which would require volumes to re-
cord. Not only have men, who have
been honest and true to their trust
graced the Office, but others whom we
must convict of being directly op-
posed to all sense of honor, hon
esty, justice aud humanity Veritable
Cheoy SIymes. And who could have
been more desplcable than the cow
ardly. venal rascal so mastery por-
trayed by Dickens?
AS the line of demarkation is un-
fortunately vivid in the considera-
ton of their moral qualities; the
divergence of caste and conditions is
equally pronounced. In ancient times
when this Office was hereditary it was
frequently exercised by the nobility
and persons of the highest rank in
the kingdom. ,Chancellors, earls and
even bishops were frequently sheriffs.
Richard, duke of Gloucester-after-
ward Richard III-was sheriff of
Cumberland for five years. We even
read that 'Ann, countess OF Penn
broke, had the office of hereditary
sheriff of Westmoreland, and exercised
it in person. At the assizes at Apple
by she sat with the judges on the
bench.
So when we read that this office of
sheriff was one which could be the
of an earl, duke or bishop,
and we almost forgot-of woman,
seems to prompt us to the
belief that this office is indeed above
the commonplace.
The qualifications needed for the
proper discharge of this particular
office are no exception to the standard
of weight in the political balance.
the man before the bar of
your own Judgment and in your
charge breathe for the prayer so nobly
uttered by Tennyson:
&C All God, for man with heart, head,
hand,
Like some of the simple great ones
gone
Forever and ever by:
One still strong man in a blatant
land,
Whatever they call him, what care I?
autocrat, democrat-one
Who can rule and dare not lie. -
The ideal is here. A man, in the
literal sense of that great term, with
a heart, for a, heartless man is the
most unfit of all
What is it that so forcibly and I'M
favorably impresses us against certain
English officials, in reading the
works of Dickens and Reade but this
absence of heart? If the sheriff is
thirty five cents per capita
for feeding the prisoners for day,
and only spends twenty it does not
require a Newton to tell us that this
official is grossly dishonest; and we
can easily see the unhappiness that
haAAp Jul NftAAlDE VI lllOAlGS IOI 1OOu us
bursements will entail without read
ing Dickens
If q man commits an offense against
the law, that merits term of sixty
or ninety days in the county Jail, it
is not the duty of the sheriff or the
jailer (for whom the sheriff is res
ponsible) to break the man S spirit by
undeserved unkindness and bitter
taunts, thus impressing his mind
with the fact that ne is nothing more
or less than felon, jeopardizing the
chances of further usefulness as a
citizen; or worse still perhaps, to
make a thief or something worse of
the man whose original offense was
the breaking of some insignificant
penal law
The head, the main consideration in
sorutinizing the qualifications of the
sheriff, to which all others are sub
servient, occupies unique position
as force in the administrator of, this
important office. If man fails in
the administration of any Office be.
cause of lack of brains, he must
or should be put aside forever. Voters
should know that it is impossible TO
infuse brains into the person who is
naturally imbecile. The power of in
tellset in the administration of this
office of sheriff and which has distin-
guished it in Morris County, is more
dominant than any other qualifica-
tion.
A mau after his election may form
the determination to rightfully adj
minister the duties of sheriff but un-
less he has the virnr of intallect IN