New-York tribune., 1906-11-11

yer, and was highly esteemed for his reform
work and his interest in charity and educational
societies among the Jewish people, nevertheless
he was said TO lack the calm and deliberate
judgment which IS the first requisite for the
bench. He was said TO be too young for such
a important post. But his friends replied,
Just wait and watch him. True. he is the
youngest judge that ever sat in General Sessions,
but what of that? Although only thirty-one
years old. he has obtained a legal experience
more thorough and deeply grounded than that
Of many practitioners considerably older. He
began his legal career when only twenty-one
years old, at an age when the average lawyer is
stiu a college undergraduate. And, best of ALL he
knows the ills and vices Of the ignorant and be-
nighted, the woes and miseries Of the other
half out Of which he has himself risen"
The next month after his appointment Judge
Rosalsky was defeated for election, and he
stepped down from the bench at the end Of the
year. But Governor Higgins was so well salts
fed with this East Side Judge that, last April.
when another vacancy occurred in the General
Sessions, he reappointed Otto Rosalsly TO his
former office. That the Governor acted with
wisdom. say the friends of the judge was shown
by the young mans signal victory on Novem-
ber G.
Those who have attended court when Judge
ROsalsky has presided say that he shows pc
culiarly keen insight into the character of the
prisoners brought before him and the condi-
lons Of life which influenced them to go wrong
FOR example, not long after his first appoint
ment he found himself confronted with two pris-
oners, both charged with larceny. One was n
man or middle age, a ticket agent at the Jack
son avenue station of the subway, who was ac-
cused of having stolen 5000 worth Of tickets:
the other. boy charged with stealing a watch
IN a DeIancey street car. The former presented
many appeals for mercy from influential friends
and said through his counsel that his reputa-
uon up TO that time had been unspotted The
boy was friendless, and, according TO an agent
of the New York Prison Association, he was
also homeless and half starved The only plea
of this prisoner was that he stole TO get some
thing 10 eat.
Which deserves the more clemency of these
two prisoners at the bar?' asked the young
judge OF the counsel for the ticket agent. There
was no reply Then turning TO the friendless
lad, the judge continued:
I believe your story. and. as I understand
thet you have found employment and now
go TO work, I think that you Will not steal
again l shall suspend sentence in your case
But to the other thief Judge Rosalsky said:
The relationship you bore TO your employers
was a confidential You were trusted with
property that not your own and you vio-
lated that confidence and betrayed that trust.
Men employed in confidential capacity must
always bear in mind that when they steal they
must be punished. You were employed and paid
for your work, and not starving like the
boy VINO stole i'll East Side streetcar. I will
sentence you to one year in the penitentiary.''
With the professional thief OF the East Side
Judge Rosalsky has dealt with unusually Sc
verify. At the first trial which was brought
before him after his second appointment he vio-
lated an oldtime tradition Of the Criminal Courts
Building, in order To warn East Side pickpock-
cts that they should expect mercy at his
hands Usually judge IS lenient with the first
prisoner brought before him. and accordingly
when Joseph Goodman arraigned before
him. charged with stealing a diamond stud. the
prisoner pleaded guilty and threw himself on
the mercy of the court. The victim Of the theft
also pleaded for clemencv.
4 see no reason for being lenient with this
man." said the judge. Il want the pickpockets
] of New York TO understand that the interces-
sion Of the complainant or any one else will
! have to be in an entirely worthy case before l
/ cause ! came from it. I want the thieves and
! crooks of the East Side and Of all New York
! 10 know that while ! sit here every one of
them viii get his just deserts"
The prisoner was accordingly sentenced TO the
| penitentiary for one year
Much of Judge Rosasky's popularity among
the people east Of the }owely is due 10 his char
1 ity work He is a member of a half-dozen He
/ brew societies for the relief Of the poor. and
often while sitting on the bench he has gone
down into his pocket to he!p some needy prlS-
oner who particularly appealed to him
Judge Rosasky still lives with his parents.
! solomon and Yetta ROsaisky at No. 81 Riving-
ton street Both his father and mother are
| strictly orthodox, and all the ancient rites of
| the Hebrew faith are observed in their home.
! The son Otto was born when the family lived at
| No 20 Allen street.
| And in Allen street the family continued TO
| live for many years after ii was made dark and
| damp by the building OF the Second avenue
| elevated railroad in that thoroughfare. Otto's
| father kept a kosher butcher shop, and al
| though he prosperous, otto like the
| true son Of a thrifty Hebrew was expected 10
| help. Accordingly, he worked after School hours
| in the butcher shop. In the evening he studied
| at home. There no Educational Alliance
| In those days, no University Settlement, and few
| of the other many helps which now exist on the
| East Side for the fuTthernent OF the education
| OF the young. The boy was an olniAVorous