Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-07
DRILLERS CHARGE
CONSTABLE ERRED
Five Men, Arrested While Passing
Lancaster, Complain of
Unjust Imprisonment
LABoRERS FEAR HIGHWAYS
Fee System Declared to Be Re-
sponsibIe for Excessive
Activity of Officers

Five young men, formerly employed
as oil drillers in the Bakersfield and
McKittrick districts, who were arrest
ed at Lancaster several days ago by
Constable Carter while walking to Los
Angeles, where they expected to find
employment, are lodged in the county
jail serving sentences of 120 days i'm
prisonment each imposed on them by
Justice Of the Peace Buckley of Lam
caster.
The men are Joe Welsh, George
Herring, William Welsh, Peter Daley
and Patrick Corrigan, graduates of the
New York public schools. They We're
arrested shortly after they purchased
dinner at Lancaster and were prepar-
ing to pass the night on platform
near the railroad tracks. All had
money on them when arrested. They
are all cleancut looking young fellows.
The palms of their hands are cal
loused from hard labor.
CONSTABLE STOPS JOURNEY
1--WE spent our money as fast as we
made it, said Daley, one Of the pris-
oners yesterday. "Then we decided to
walk to Los Angeles and save car
fare, buying our meals along the way.
We thought we could get work in big
city that would be more congenial. All
went we'll until we reached Lancaster.
Shortly after we arrived there ana
bought our dinners were arrested.
The constable drove us into town like
a herd of cattle and put us in dtngy
iail along with seventeen other young
men, some of whom were tramps, al
though many of them were working
men like ourselves.
zone man had a watch on him. They
took 1t from his person and later In
the night passed him a bottle of whisky
in its stead. In the morning the sew
enteen other prisoners were released
and we were taken into court and SEN
fenced to serve 120 days in Jail. None
Of us ever had been behind the bars
before, but here we are with the shame
Of 1t standing against our names. Our
only offense seems to be that we
walked along a public highway instead
Of riding on the railroad train. L
can't see the justice of it, but here
we are and the only thing to do is to
serve our sentence"
Many similar cases have been called
to the attention of the authorities re-
Gently. In fact, a majority of the pris-
oners now serving short sentences In
the county jail are workingmen, tenn
porarily out of employment, who were
arrested on charges of vagrancy while
walking from one city to another with
only a few dollars in their pockets.
This money they intended to utilize in
procuring food.
FEE SYSTEM Is BLAMED
It is asserted that the majority of
these cases have come from Justice
Buckley's court. The fee system, 1t is
said, Is the root of the evil. A consta-
BILE or his deputy obtains 81 head for
each vagrant he brings in, with an ad-
ditional Is cents for mileage fee. Un-
der this system the county is placed at
considerable expense, not only in pay
ing the constable or his assistant for
his arrest, but in supplying the prison
ers with food and clothing while in jail.
There are numerous other little cases
that come to the attention of the au-
thorities where aged men are impris-
oned for apparently trivial offenses, and
with certain judges are given stiff
sentences
N. Seidlinger, 70 years old, who was
sent to the county Jail September IA to
serve a, sentence of 200 days for selling
a small bottle of grape Juice, which he
had squeezed from grapes picked by
the Wayside, for 10 cents, Is one of
them, Seidlinger used the 10 cents to
purchase two leaves of bread, and when
arrested was munching one of the
loaves to ease his hunger.
Cases are also cited where school
bows are arrested for playing ball in
public school yards during vacation,
and pending the investigation of their
cases by the probation officers are
lodged in the Juvenile ward of the
county jail.