The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-03-17
JUDICIAL FUTURE
VS.. THIRD DEGREE
In the Light of Recent Events
in Buffalo.
VIOLATES CONSTITUTION
Practices kow.T olerated Thatare Merely lapses
10 the Discredited System Prevailing
in The Middle Ages on the
Continonf
Continent.
A. Leo Knott in Baltimore Sun.

l reau Win interest your SlIlCLulSo II
this mornings issue of The Sun on the
conduct of the States Attorney and the
police officials of Buffalo in arresting and
imprisoning in their houses and making
search among the papers in the homes
Of two ladies Of that city in connection
with the murder of Edwin l.. Burdick
without any warrant Of legal authority
whatever. They are also reported to have
subjected these persons to what is called
the third degree We have heard of
this third degree before, having been
practiced in New York quite frequently
Of late. It seems that New York or some
of it's officers connected with the admin
istration of justice have gone back sew
eral centuries to the old and discredited
system of judicial torture and inquisi-
ton prevailing at one time through the
Middle Ages. and on the Continent of
Europe to a later day, but now l believe
abolished wen there; to the boot and
thumb-screw of the Tudor and Stuart
dynasties. Nothing marks in my mind
more clearly the decadence of public
spirit and love of liberty among our
people and of the growing disregard of
the Constitution and its safeguards for
personal liberty than the prevalence Of
these practices without comment or with
out ebuke either on the part of the
press or or the part of the judges in
nan OF the Northern cities. They are
manifest an fragrant violations, not only
of the principles, but of the clear and
express provisions of the Constitution
OF the United States and of the Consti-
tuition of the State of New York, and,
indeed, of all the States.
Article w of the amendment tc tho
Constitution Of the United States pro-
claims in language not to be m%isunder-
stood: THE right of the people to be
secure in their persons, houses, papers
and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be vio-
lated, and no warrant shall issue, but
upon probable cause, supported by oath
or affirmation and particularly describ-
ing the place to be searched and the
persons or things to be seized
Article Y of the amendments Of the
same instrument provides that no one
"shall be compelled in a criminal case
to be witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty or property
without due process Of law"
These safeguards Of liberty are found
in the Bill or Declaration of Rights of
the Constitutions of all the original tnir-
teen States adopted during the Revolu-
ton, as being among the most funda-
mental and recognized principles of lib
orty. Our State Constitution announces
them in almost the same terms in which
the Constitution CT the United States pro
claims them.
What led to the adoption of these de-
I -. -
citizen and his immunity from unauthor-
lied seizures and searches of his person
and house and their incorporation into
the organic law Of the States. and sub
s~equently into the national Constitution.
was an incident Of then recent occurrence
and we'll known to the student OF English
constitutional history. The Private
Council of George III, in the year 1863,
had been deeply incensed by some severe
criticisms made upon it's conduct of pub
lie affairs in No. 45 of the North Briton.
q radical newspaper Of the day. AS a
relic of the practices Of the courts of
i.ish commission and the star chamber of
the Tudors and Stuarts a custom had
survived of arresting persons on what
We're termed general warrants without
previous evidences Of guilt or i~dentofi-
cation of their persons. Lord Halifax,
Secretary Of State, issued these warrants
directing four messengers and a con
stable to search for and arrest the au-
thOrS and publishers of the ObieotionahJ
~ l~ication. together with their papers.
and bring them before him. In three
days forty-nine persons We're arrested on
suspicion, nearly every one of whom was
innocent of any connection with the pa
per. But among them was one Dryden
Leach. whom they took from his bed at
night Gas the detectives in Buffalo took
Mrs. Paine and Miss Hutchison) and
seized his papers and apprehended his
journeynen. A writer speaking OF these
laWless transactions, says. ARMED with
their rowing commission these messen-
gers set forth in quest of unknown Of
tenders; and unable to take evidence
listened to rumor, idle tales and curious
guesses. Gust as in the Burdick case)
Lord Halifax finally discovered that the
celebrated John Wilkes. a member Of
Parliament, after whom Wilkes street in
our city was named (recently changed b
some foolish persons in our City Coun-
ellis into ridiculou~ Toit avenue), was the
author of the offensive article. He was
arrested under one of these illegal war
rants, kept prisoner in his own house
several hours, ur3~- 1905 surveillance
:. they now call It. then brought before
Lords Halifax and Egremont, who, after
putting him through the third degree
Of that day, committed him to prison
from which he was next day released BY
habeGS corpus. These Lords had it al
their own way for awhile. There was {
saturnalia of violence and lawlessness
But there came an end, and with it a re
tribution. The journeymen printer,
brought suit against the messengers AM
obtained G300 damages. Other plaintiff
brought suits against these officers an,
obtained large damages. Dryden. tn
printer. in addition to obtaining damage
in actions against the messengers sue
one Wood, the Under Secretary Of State
who superintended the execution of tn
warrants, and got G400 damages. Will
wilkes was under arrest, some of thes
officers. with q blacksmith. had gone t
his house and, breaking open his secre
tarv carried off a large mass OF paper
and documents, among them his will an