The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-19
POLICE COURT DISCLOSURES.
MAGISTRATES ON THEIR GOOD
BEHAVIOR IL ST NOW,
And some Progress Made Tow ard Punitive
Nirsyures GutilnE On the BOrrdsnans
Gains M Checking I!raf, Dut Graft
anti Politics Are SIN Powerful.

VI Va A'a'a wan 49,
these conditions,
There have been good reasons to believe
that at least two Of tho fourteen Magistrates
nave made money by dt.rnissing cases.
Two other Magistrates have been accused
OF grating through professional bonds
n.en, sharing thair fees and declining to
socept any man as ~bcnd-Inan who would
not share the graft with them.
Two Of the Magistrates, Walsh and Finn,
are political district leaders, and in spite
of this retain their places on tho bench
while exercising their political duties with
all the responsibilities that practical politics
in this town requires.
One Magistrate, Finn, has a son-in-law,
Matthew Strip, who has been convicted
of running "A poolroom, and Who stu retains
place on tho city payroll.
Another Magistrate, Crane. has been de
clared by the Appellate Division to have
been both illegal and arbitrary" in his
action on the bench.
Another Magistrate, Sweetser, is accused
of discharging a prisoner committed by u
fellow Magistrate, Cornell, from the work.
house without warrant OF law. Numerous
judgments for debt have been found ON
record in the County Clerks Office against
Magistrate Sweetser, some of which he
has paid since it became known that these
judgments were on record. In one Of
them ths plaintiff. a tailoring firm, seemed
20 be stopped from further procedure to
collect the bill because of a legal tangle
through the unwillingness of one Judge to
order another Judge to do his duty.
1t has been shown that members Of Mag
istrate Finelite's family had sued him be-
cause of a dispute over the title to property.
and one Of thess suits, it was decided, could
net be pressed because Of laches, a legal
term for saying that the right 10 sue had
lapsed. 1t has also been shown that nu-
merous references in the one law boo
which Magistrate Finelite has written were
taken bodily from another law book on the
same subject, not the slightest. credit being
given.
1t has been shown that five OF the Magis-
trates, Wahle, Walsh, Moss, Finelite and
Sweetser, nave strong political affiliations
and that they are not Indifferent to requests
of politicians. Magistrate Moss has openly
acknowledged himself as Charlie Murphy's
man. Walsh used to be counsel for the
Liquor Dealers Association. 1t has also
been disclosed that the McManus clan has
had practical control OF the West Side
police court and that its lawyers and bonds
men have been favored openly by the police
court squad. to the exclusion of others.
1t has been brought oat that one of the
Magistrates has been borrowing money
from lawyers who practise before him and
from police cour clerks and giving in pay
ment checks which nave been returned
marked no funds. Some Of these debt have
been paid since the disclosures were made.
IN Te haa a1.A haan .h1un that =, a.-ekauo 80
corruption exists in many of the courts
through a combination Of police court
clerks, lawyers, policemen, bondsmen and
others whereby justice is subverted and
money divided. Some of the clerks-there
are many exceptions reduce the gravity
OF the charges in complaints. Policemen
suffer from a bad memory for a considera-
ton. Some of them see that the proper
lawyers get the cases that can be fixed.
Bondsmen use one piece of property for
bail until all their equity in the pledged
realty Is overloaded several times.
Il has been brought out that the greatest
farce OF the courts lies in the issuing of
bonds for good behavior. The court records
show that more than II 900 of these lave
been issued in eleven years and that not
one has ever been forfeited. These bonds
nave been a fruitful source of income for
the professional bondsmen- In one case
where nearly fifty women Of the street were
arrested in two days bondsnen who were
finally accountable to the Magistrate were
secured and then their attorneys openly
sold on the court house steps the liberty OF
these women TO the highest bidder. 4
branch of the famous pickle, trust, which
was composed of a lawyer, "A bondsman
and a Magistrate, figured in this shameless
Transaction in human flesh in the presence
Of a crowd on the streets of New York.
Many Of these professional bondsmcn have
become rich through the favoritism shown
20 them from the bench and through po-
titical alliances.
Ii has been brought out that these cour is
OF the people have been made part of a
political machine n that when politics
was 10 be subserved, aside from graft,
Justice was perverted.
These results nave been accomplished
thus far, following the disclosures:
Two of the Magistrates are facing prob
able charges before the Appel ate Division
seeking their removal from Office. one for
Improper conduct on the bench in borrow
ing money and the other for dscharging
. prisoner contrary to law.
The Grand Jury has investigated the acts
OF a Magistrate charged with misconduct
In Office and has decided TO refer the testi-
mony to the Bar Association for its con-
alteration. with a view to prosecuting the
Magistrate.
The notorious grab scheme to put 100
court attendants in the police courts and
dismiss the police has been checked. One
of the most ardent advocates of this scheme
was Magistrate Wahle. He was a candi
date for the nomination for Supreme Court
Justice, and it was made known that il
be succeeded in getting the measure adopted
by the Board Of Magistrates he would
probably be nominated. It failed through
Mayor McClelan's threat 10 take the entire
board before the Appellate Division for
creating offices for which no appropriation
had been made.
The Board OF Magistrates has adopted
resolution asking that the Bar Associa-
ton make an investigation into the conduct
Of any OF the members Of the board and
of police court methods. Magistrate
Breen, who was shocked by disclosures
and the charges made, was the chief mover
IN asking for this Investigation.
IVA The revelations about the McManus
clan openly running the West Side court
for it's own purposes caused Police Com
missioner Bingham TO clean out the entire
court squad and to place therein police
men who, it is supposed, will not be amen
able TO the influences which have made
the administration of justice in that court
q scandal.
The police. probation officers, three
fourths of whom did no real work and who
were really Wallets employed by the city
40 akfand 10 Tho MaLat-sn o-.--I