The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-22

The Sheriff OF Richmond 10 paid a
salary of $4,000 per annum n may
retain az foes received by his office.
And the Sheriff OF New York county
has a sa.ary of $4,000 per year, in
addition to which he is perm tied to re-
tain lne-ha,f OF ali the fees Of his
office, Il h. 80 desires. II may be re-
marked In passing tina he generally so
desires.
AS an illustration OF what the Sheriff
Of New York county may receive 1t
may be said that in addition to the an
nual salary of sl2 900 a year the fees
for the line yc1cs l906-li aggregated
the considerable sum of s4Os,S2i.44.
OF this sum Nicholas j. Hayes 1905
O) received fees Of s7O,l93.9l. Thomas
T.. f'o,cy u90S-09) received fees of
So, 59iSi. John j. Shea received fees
G9l0-lD amounting to s95,623.9l.
Julius Hamburger I9l2-l3) sos, 1924.
And in 1914 Max $. ~Grifenhagen's fees
amounted to s45,l47.3+.
BE it remembered that these fees in
each case were IN addition to the
ShCrid's annual salary of $l2, 600.
Those who support the plan OF paying
these large fees say that they are
Justified because the Sheriff is SON.
ally Liable for torts committed by him
incident To the performance of his
official duties and that IL is only right
for him to have some means whereby
to protect himself when compelled to
repay such liability.
On the other hand Mr.. Bruere n
Mr.. Wallstein remark that the Sheriff
l. 81, NlA- 4 80 - 400 ia N
counsel at 81 5000 n an assistant
counsel at SO, 900 to advise him in all
legal matters. also that he Is entitled
To demand indemnity from parties In
tcrested before he proceeds in any case
I'm which exists even a possibility of
personal liability. Furthermore, the
Sheriff receives at the city's expense
indemnity from such of his subordi-
mates as can by any possibility subject
him TO personal liability in the per-
Torrance of their duties. And to
clinch this matter of apparent exorbi-
tant payment In fees they assert that
an investigation proves that since the
year 1900, at any rate, there has been
no instance of any Sheriff sustaining
such personal loss.
Sheriff Dunn, who held office in
lS9S-99, did sustain liability, which
probably could have been avoided by
the exercise of the greater degree of
I caution which his successors have
manifested" In other words 1t APP
pears that a Sheriff who exercises care
and listens to the advice OF expert
cnccd lawyers h are paid by the city
to advise him need have little fear that
We will ever he called on to give up a
part OF his large income by reason OF
acts referred TO.
A part OF the Sheriff's duties is To
care for civil prisoners in the county
jails, who must he kept apart from
criminal offenders. These civil pris-
oners, and certain witnesses detained
by the state. as we'll as those detained
on crim!na. charges in certain of the
counties are looked after by the
Sheriff. Now look at the figures un-
oarthed by Mr.. Bruere and Mr.. Wall
stein, which show the cost Of guard
ing these prisoners-not OF feeding
and maintaining them, but simply OF
guarding them. The 1915 budget
places the daily average cost OF guard
ing prisoners in New York county
AT S3.49 each: In Kings. 1921: In
Queens, $500; in Bronx, 81 cents; IL
Richmond, As cents. In contrast witt
these sums, records in the Depart
ment OF Correction show hat the cos
of guarding prisoners solely Is as fol
lows: In the workhouse, one keeper
10 1875 male prisoners. IS cents pc!
prisoner per day; II matron or or
derby to twenty-four female prisoners
at a cost Of less than 7. cents per pris'
oner per day; in the penitentiary. on
keeper to seventeen male prisoners a