The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-12-09

One must live In New York or at least
 in d city of more than half q million
 population properly to appreciate graft.
 It finds it's way into everything in large
 cities and how fortunate are those cities
 whose limited population keeps them
 practically free from it. Some time ago In this correspondence appeared a story about police graft-how the force profits by the arrest of women of the streets
 Recently the Sun has been exposing the graft alliance between the lawyers and
 the magistrates of the police courts. If
 the stories it relates are true, many law yers of good standing share the pros titute's wage. How do they do 1t? The system is very simple.
 In the first place the lawyers stand
 In with the political leaders and the po- htical leaders control the police and mag istrates In certain courts When the Wo-
 men are arrested. as has been told in the previous story, the magistrates will accept only certain bondsmen; these bondsmen collect a fee from the women. | and, of course, they divide, certainly with l the police and, perhaps with the magIs I trate. In the morning dhese arrests are Invariably made at nighD the police al- l low only certain lawyers to communicate With the prisoners. The lawyers lake anything they can get in the way Of il
 fee and then there is another division. Even clean magistrate finds himself in able to do much against this system. 1 because 1t is impossible for him to keen an eye on all that is going on in and around his court
 The women of the streets are not the
 only victims of this graft system.
 typical case will show the length to which this system of plucking the unfor- tunate has extended Two weeks ago
 there came before one of the magistrates case where the magistrate was to decide whether a laoorer should pay his wife s2 or SS week for her support. He earned apout Sio week. There was no surprise manifested in court by either magistrate or attendants that each side had a lawyer How could such people pay for attor neys?
 The husband was asked to pay s2O for a lawyer, and an intimation was given nm that 1T he didn't he certainly would go to prison. He had just been paid off ana had about $9 in his pockets, The lawyer finally reduced his price to S1O. and the man borrowed the extra money he needed from relative who had a couple of dollars with him.
 The woman was forlorn, emaciated and ih-clothed and seemed almost on the verge of starvation. She testified thai certain acquaintances had given her meals and shelter temporarily Where did she get money to hire a lawyerP She testified that she was without a cent
 The absence of wedding ring from .N' iiH5SA Wds tue dnSWef to that QueS- ton.
 Neither husband nor wife should have. been compelled to hire a lawyer The money expended in that way was required
 Tor the actual necessities of life. A magistrate with the proper appreciation
 or his duty would see to it that no such taxation should be placed on the adminis- tration of a simple case in his court The lawyers are on the job every min l ute and in all the leading courts. Any
 person wearing good clothes is ap- preached cajoled, threatened. frightened
 If necessary, into hiring them. Raids on
 dlsorderly houses. where there is little prospect that those arrested will be held 1
 are especially productive of profit Small gamblers, women of the street and even
 well known pickpockets also furnish grlst
 to the mill These are always arrested
 when certain magistrates are sitting in
 a court where these offenders will be
 arraigned. The arrests are made to fur !
 nish cases for lawyers and to provide l
 graft for bondsmen and policemen. The police keep track of the places
 where the magistrates sit and govern
 their actions accordingly.