The morning journal-courier. (New Haven, Conn.) 1907-1913, 1908-04-14
DELlcAoy AND roRTlrupE.

The states attorney for the county |
and his assistant have task upon
their shoulders OF some proportions for
fortnight or more. The regular April
session Of the criminal side Of the SUI
pcrior court will come IN this afternoon
with Judge case on the bench. The
session promises to be n remarkable
one In the history Of New Haven coun-
~ for the great number Of prisoners
that will be put to plea There will be
eighty or more of these, OF which over
sixty will come in from the Hugo hos
telry on Whalley avenue. Tho rest have
been out on bail, Not all Of these VIII
be put on trial this session. But It may
not occur TO the non-legal mind what a
stupendous task II Is to prepare any
where near that number OF cases for
jury New Haven Is fortunate in hav
Ing very capable men for the work,
They are needed.
Indictments are al best very serious
matters II Is to be regretted that many
an innocent man who succeeds In free
ing himself In court lives the rest OF
his life with more or less uncertain
blot upon his escuteheon. It affects not
only him but his whole family. But in
lictments are necessary. Under them
both the guilty and the innocent suffer
like censure upon the part of the pub
lie. In the hands OF the states attorney
lies the possible failure Of innocent
mon and the possible success Of guilty
ones. That his task Is higher and a
nobler one than Fastening men to pris-
on cells Ia again shown by contem-
porary instance that comes In the days
news from Kingston n. y, where
man was indicted for manslaughter In
the first degree twenty-six years ago.
The stigma has Just been removed from
his name by the supreme court Of that
state. and why? The man, whose name
was John Taylor, made his escape right
after the crime The State had very
clear case against him and there was
little doubt but that he would have
Jared poorly at the hands of jury
had he been apprehended He was
searched for on two continents and
more than once he only barely escaped,
Finally he was lost sight Of He has
since gone out west. started life anew,
and become the head of large mer-
camille establishment and a prominent
and respected citizen Of the place He
was but recently located. In fact he
wrote TO the authorities telling them
where he was TO be found under an
assumed name and inviting careful
search of his life since the crime. Such
a search was made and IN commenting
/ hIpll WV Nh7f Wv VI 'iiN lHhSNS SOY
His character Is above reproach and
4 It would be an outrage to revive the
story now"
4 It IS no easy task for our states at
| torncy to decide which men charged
with crimes should be given another
4 chance to become respected citizens
4 and which should not IT the selection
| Of The men who would do Just that
could he made a science, then Grim
1 lnology could be worked out like math-
ematcs But criminology Is not a sci
ence by any means; It is an art and
some have greater ability than others
at It. Jurisprudence Is, after all, n
means TO an end and that end is not
served to the utmost when he who
might become a trusted and respected
member of II Is hiding his light under
q bushel, ms It were, IN n prison cell
In Robert Louis stevenson's words, It
is n task 'of delicacy ana forttude, .
And It is the more so as the number
Of prisoners under charges Increases,
It is not to be supposed that all of
the eighty that will he put to plea this
afternoon should pay the extreme pen
atty. even should true causes he found
against them Nor is 1t necessarily the
duty of the states attorney to press
the charge in every case. His roputa-
ton does not result from the number
he gets In Wethcrsheld but from the
number he gets permanently upon the
side of right
The public generally will take no IT
tic interest in this, tho largest docket
in tho history OF the local court with
but one or two exceptions the cases in
volVed are of n unsensational charac.
ter, which fac seems only to illuminc
the theory I, t the hard times have
made an inei "e In crime the natural
result and &c present more effective
plea for lenit ncy The results Of the
session will be vital to the little groups