The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-11-05
THOMAS ARCHER DEAD ne WANTS ASSISTANT


George A. Huron. police judge. has
told the city commission that he 10
overworked and needs an assistant. In
q written communication read to the
city commission this morning, he ex-
plains the situation as he sees It. Judge
Huron's letter il a. follows:
1.-THE undersigned police Judge OF The
city of Topeka respectfully calls your
attention to the fact that the volume
of business that necessarily cQme9 be-
fore the police court - beyond the
power Of any man to properly trans
act unless he has competent help to
do a large portion Of his clerical work.
.'Since the It'll day of April last. more
than 1000 cases have been commences
In the police court. being an average
Of over 800 cases per month. The state
ment Of this large number can not
give you an adequate knowledge OF
the work and time required without .
personal inspection as to the volume
and character of the business. OK
course you will agree that It u OF vita,
interest to the city that this work shau
be done thoroughly and well. The bust
ness Of this court IL lot for day.
ALSO 1t il impossible to decide in
advance as to whether any part OF the
work can be omitted. In fact. there u
no legal way to shift or shirk the du-
ties and business OF q police court any
more than the duties Of courts con-
sidered higher up. could be shifted or
shirked.
For the past Ave months you have
kindly provided me clerical help that
has enabled me to gain upon the work
that has accumulated, but am still
behind. Again considering the crimi-
nal business OF a city OF $4,000 inhabit-
ants and a large floating population
that must be attended to. it seems
-
ness will not materially diminish.
II. therefore. request the appoint
ment by your body OF committee to
investigate. and report fully as to the
necessities of the case.
Very sincerely yours,
GEORGE A. HURON.
Police Judge"
In compliance with the request Of
fudge Huron. Commissioners Bone
and Tandy were appointed commit
tee to investigate and report whether
or not an assistant is needed.
1.-THE, If there have have been more than two
court" since April Z. as Judge Huron
says, the number Is greatly in excess
of the number Of arrests made during
that time. The apparent discrepancy
is due to the fact that the Judge
makes a "case' out Of every complaint
filed, whether an arrest il made or
not. There have been only 1879 ar
rests made since Judge Huron took
office.
Mayor Cofran this morning in dis
cussing Judge Huron's request stated
that more arrests are being made by
the police now than ever before in the
history of the city.
Gee whiz! what's the matter with
the city. is it going to the bad?" he
| was asked.
mo, we are trying to clean the city
up. and that IL why 80 many arrests
are being made, and the reason the
Judge has more to do than any police
judge In the city's history ever had to
do before declared the mayor.
An investigation Of the police blot
ter, however. shows that .thezmayor IL
mistaken on this point. and also that
Judge Huron has not had as much
work to perform as have other judges
preceding him, for between April l.
1913. and November 1. 1913. only
1879 arrests have been made. Judge
Huron took office April Z Of this year.
During the same months last year, the
records show that 1898 arrests. or
fourteen more. were made. and the
any clerk and was yet able to keep
up with the work. while Judge Huron
has been allowed q clerk.
1t is also a case in point that only
one other police judge in the history
Of the city has ever had or needed a
work. Years ago when Judge Lindsay
was police Judge. he had an assistant.
1t is also in point that nothing like
every person arrested goes before the
judge. A great big percentage of ar
rest, rests are ..s OF persons 1as TOR safe keep;
are released by order OF which ever
police officer is in charge at the po-
lice station, and the Judge never hears
of or has anything to do with these