Sunday Washington globe., 1902-06-01

Having been a resident Of Washington
for more than twenty years and having OBJ
served its rapid growth; and the increase in
the fine and beautiful residences that have
been erected, the lofty and hne business
houses and hotels that have sprung up, so
that to-day we have the finest improved
city in the country; the dirt streets have
about all disappeared and the very best
pavements that can be built have been
put down. The old horse cars have all dis
appeared, when for twenty years we had
nothing else; the street lamps are of the
best, when twenty years ago we had the
old oil lamp; the city is full of schools and
colleges and various select schools Of learn
ing, which cannot be excelled by any city
of the United States; theie are FIVE times as
many churches as there were twenty years
ago and yet there are eight times as many
saloons now as then; with all this growth
and grandeur the city has more than three
times the population that she had then.
There are ten times as many police in the
city now to what there were then, which is
very apparent on the face of the statement
that crime and RIGHTEOUSNESS had grown
far faster than anything else. Yet when
we stop to think that we have the same
number of police courts day that we had
twenty-five years ago, and with lar less JUS
tice than the city has ever had. If there is
a city in the United States that needs good
police court system it is this one, above all
others for we have a conglomeratiOn Of
people from every state and territory, and
not only that, representatives Of every
civilized nation of the world. The idea of
one police judge trying to administer jus
tice TO 600 people. / have watched with
very great interest the manner in which
cases are ground through the police courts
of the city 1t is no fault OF the judges;
they have the work before them aud they
are supposed to do it. Those who are
charged with offenses are brought into court
and herded together like so many sheep
standing for the slaughter. When a mans
name is called the court is told Of the Of
fense and, in most cases, the officer who
makes the arrest is the only witness. The
court shuts the case off, presuming that be-
cause the officer said the party was guilty,
that he Is guilty. A majority Of the police
imagine that unless they can arrest some
one every day that the Chief Of Police will
think they are not doing their duty, so
some innocent person suffers on a trumped
UP charge. There is not over two min
utes taken up with case until the judge
will say. "Stand aside, have no more time
to hear your case" The cases are all rushed
through, many an innocent person suffers,
and more injustice is done than anything
else. The more respectable people Of the city
will by all means keep out and away from
the police courts, knowing the awful and
disgusting things they viii hear where if the
city had more police judges every person
could have chance to have his cause tried
in the manner that the law presumes that
they shall be. The idea Of taking boys and
girls under the age of sixteen years and
letting their cases be tried before the others
and then hear all the vile language that is
picked up of the street and them not being
deinoralizedY II cannot be. This city is
very much in need of a juvenile court that
will have jurisdiction Of all the children
under sixteen years and also women, who
are charged with certain class OF offenses,
and that every one shall have their case
tried separate from the others.
This city has the poorest opportunities to
give the people justice under police regula-
tions than most any city in the country, yet
il should have the best. Il looks as though
Congress thought more Of filing up some
fat or extending some street or the taxing
down Of the overhead wires than they do
of the morals Of the young people, or even
for the modesty of the wives and daugh-
tiers, who are liable almost any day 10 be
dragged into court with the worst criminals