The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-03-18

say that all they want is a warrant
and they will arrest anyone com-
planned against. GIVE me the papers
and l will get the man" is a slogan
adopted to fool the unlearned and to
hide behind in order to avoid doing
their duty. OF course he would get
the man. If he refused to execute the
warrant, he could be removed from
office. 1t is not the sheriff who gets
the man when he has a warrant that
is deserving of praise, but it is the
sheriff who will of his own accord
hunt up ~violators Of the law and make
prompt arrests, who are doing their
duty and who deserve public COM
mendation. Many a time have we
labored with the sheriff to get him to
make ar arrest without a warrant, but
without avail. If a sheriff should
see a burglar entering into your home
in the night, and wait until the next
day before making a move, and then
not until a complaint had Deer enter
ed and a warrant issued and deliver
ed over to him, you probably would
have him removed from office. Yet,
many sheriffs refuse to raid a gamb-
ling joint. a blind pig, or a red light
district because they have no war;
rant.
The laws of this state provide that
any peace officer may make an arrest
without a warrant when a. public Of
Tense is committed or attempted in his
presence, or when the person arrested
has committed a felony although not
in his presence, or when a felony has
in fact been committed and the official
has reasonable cause for believing that
the person arrested is the person. who
committed the felony, Or he may ar
rest without a warrant on a charge
made upon reasonable cause of the
commission of a felony by the party
arrested. And for the purpose of MAX
ing such arrest, a peace officer may
break and enter a building if admit
lance is refused him.
We find, then, that it is primarily
the duty Of the sheriff to enforce the
laws within the county. There is
absolutely no excuse for any sheriff
permitting open violations of law in
his county and whenever open. nuis-
ances are found, it is a reflection on
that official.
The states attorney has an i'm
portant function to perform j n the
enforcement of the law. 1t is his duty
to institute proceedings before
magistrates for the arrest of persons
charged with Or reasonably suspected
by public offense when he has in
formation that such offense has been
committed. He cannot simply wait
until a complaint is made before a.
magistrate or until someone complains
to him, but he is supposed to act: on
his own initiative where he has actual
knowledge that crime has been COM
mltted or is continuously being COM
mltted. He is not to resolve himself
into a. smelling committee, necessarily.
yet many OF our very best states at
torneys often accompany the shediff
In making important moves in law en-
forcement, or go alone in order to
make personal Investigations. But the
latter is the rare exception to the rule
Many states attorneys refuse to set
the law in motion unless formal com
plant is made in writing. Oral COM
plant will no suffice. Even when it
is reduced to writing. it is then hard
at times to get speedy action.
The district judge, likewise, is a
very important official in the enforce
ment Of law. His powers are not full
ly understood by the public. When a
district judge is ~apologized for by his
friends, they say that all he can do
is to rule on questions of evidence,
maintain order, and instruct the jury,
but that he does not enter into the
actual trial of the cause. This is
far from the truth. There is a dis
trict judge in this state who once up
set the plans Of the defense when the
prosecuting or complaining witness
had a sudden great lapse, of memory
and did not know or could not remem-
Der, or who had lost the sense Of
taste and could not tell an ~intoXicant
from water, or who refused to commit
himself on a vital point. The Judge
ordered the witness to be committed
to the county Jail for contempt. The
sheriff tool him away and as the ron
bars appeared before the witness. his
lapse Of memory vanished and his
sense Of taste returned with remark