The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-09-20
SOME OF THE FATAL
ERRORS IN JUSTICE
Striking Instances of the Laws
Miscarriage
INNOCENT MEN SUFFER
See Men Have Been Led Into Temp
tation and Commit Grimes Who
Were lnnocentIy Put
in Prison.
INNOCENT MEN SUFFER

From the New York Tribune.
Undoubtedly there are criminals who
have been made such through malad-
ministration of justice. Men have been
arrested in crimes in which they were
unwilling aceomplices, and sentenced
to terms of Imprisonment Some of them
have afterward succumbed to the temp
tation to have the game as well as the
name.
The instigator of the great Ocean bank
robbery in New York in which more than
50, 600 was secured by the burglars, &C
eording to the account written a short
time ago by the man who lays claim 10
the authorship of that famous crime. be-
came a criminal through a miscarriage of
Justice According to his story when
young man he was the owner of hotel
and livery stable in Eastern Massachu-
sets. He had been thrifty and had laid
away a few hundred dollars. one day a
stranger applied to him for team with
a driver He went as the driver himseir.
When they reached their destination,
town a number of miles away, the
stranger left him to attend to the business
which had brought him to the place. They
drove quickly away when the stranger
returned to the carriage, as he said he
was in a hurry 1t developed afterward
that the liveryman's patron was protes-
sional bank burglar, and that he mad
robbed an institution In the town to which
he had been driven. The directors OF the
bank put detectives on the case. They
learned that the hotel keeper had driven
A. stranger to the place on the night or
the robbery. The most prominent direc-
tor. who was the largest stockholder IN
the bank, realizing that he would nave
TO bear a large part of the loss or the
$50 O00 decided to make AN effort to secure
the conviction of the well-to-do motel
keeper as one of the criminals. His OBJ
iect was to put it within his power to
secure the property of the young man as
a partial restitution. The innkeeper was
brought to trial, and on the strength or
the chain of circumstantial evidence pre-
scented he was held as one of the robbers
and his property was conf1scated. lie
managed to escape from custody and
reward was placed upon his head. He
came to New York and obtained employ
ment in Stewards store. A friend CHANGED
to visit the store and recognized him.
Fearing that the temptation to secure
the reward of $1,000 would prove stronger
than the bond of friendship he immedi-
ately left the store. His surmise was
correct for the former friend reported
the discovery by telegraph. He finally
decided that he might as well become
fugitive from justice II ne was W pe IL
fugitive at all, and he became burg
lar.
"If the law was always just in opera
ton there would be no need of courts
of equity" said the counsel of q society
formed in 1885 for the purpose of secur-
ing justice for those who are suffering
from errors in judgment arising from one
cause or another. even the courts of
1tua fha 20 QQ
That is the reason we have called our
organization the Literal Justice league.
We seek exact justice on the merits OF
the case wherever an injustice has been
done. either through failure OF the terms
of the law to meet the conditions of the
case or miscarriage of justice"
From the records of this little known
organization, which include the deta lis OF
perhaps 100 cases which it has investi-
gated, according to an officer, 1t Is evil
dent that the innocent sometimes suffer
for crimes of whose commission they