Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1918-02-21


4 zzn Il not necessarily : nzs.ei
q the peopls SIMPLY beezrse the Deo
gls hoaor him with 4 puslic office
TOO many officials young men, %
pecizlIy) dslute themselves rith the
nO-iOn that there Is something szcreI
about their names and corpoFezl per.
sonzges when they are togg=d ou'
with lsErsIs Of dignity that belong
70 public Office. This dslusiou Il
somstimes fatal II would b 5et.s.
70 cut oEt that feature Of this COZ
troTerEy and ge; down 70 fzcts.
A Prominent Suspicion
There can be 10 doubt that prevz-
lent suspicion ehzrzcterizes = part o.
The official Eork necesszry 70 de..roy
the criminal traffic II booze a. Al
effort TO protect the higher-uDs By
dealing exclusively with sioOl-pigsons
and go-betweens That custom has
for years been prevalent IL certain
local option districts in California and
Washington. There the officials who
desired to make z showing" IN the
matter Of record" o. their work
against those who illegally traffickad
in Intoxicating liquors used Zo-be-
tweens as the real offenders, caught
them with the aid Of convenient
stOol-pigeons and at once proclaimed
their triumph to the dear people as
evidences Of their sagacity, vigilance
and untiring devotion to their Off
cial duties. When that suspicion
generally permeates the public moo
die, Mr. Official would better look
out It is up to him to make good
some other way.
Some Cases In Point.
The go-between is usually one Of
those good fellows" only, the des-
ignation is too severely abbreviated.
Really, he is one OF those good-for-
nothing fellows. But, when he Is
caught, the higher-ups step right in
as another class OF good fellows and
plead with the court for leniency.
Perhaps they let him serve a few
days In bastile and then quietly urge
that he be paroled-let out of Jail
and told to go again and do likewise.
and he generally does 1t. II he be
caught too often, he Is instructed to
enjoy a vacation in some other com.
munity for while.
Apparently analogous cases may be
found in this community. Let US
mention only few:
Carl Reed, an old offender, was
committed on March 26 for 80 days.
Ee was quietly excused" in less than
a month.
George Hill got 80 days. He
served less than half of his sentence.
Rankin Estes got six months in
jail for most fragrant violation OF
the liquor statute. He served about
two months and then, because he
pleaded that his family needed an
income from his services, he was re-
leased. Immediately he returned to
bis booze traffic, was again arrested
and again let out to make prepara-
ton to go somewhere else
c. A. Perry was given a sentence
Of six months. He served less than
three months.
The Leniency Route.
These fellows do not get out Of Jail
assistance. Who gives it?
appeals to the prosecuting
attorney for leniency for the boys"
Possibly the jury in hurriedly tried
case recommends leniency. The JUS
lice court receives these appeals with
a tender heart. He might sit back
on his dignity and say: Let the law
take its course. 1t is righteous law
and must be respected. 1t is the
attorneys business i'm
to try those cases under that
aw; the duty of the jury to render
an impartial and just verdict and the
lnquestioned authority of this court
20 pronounce sentence and enforce
he penalty"
But Justice Glenn o. Taylor has
not done that. The appeal for Glenn
,ncy generally makes direct hit.
rhe bootlegger is released.
That is what the people are denom-
mating a disgusting travesty on JUS
ice. 1t is neither lawful nor just, no
natter how much it may popularize
,ourt officials who yearn for contin-
lance in the service of the dear peo-
lie. And for that reason people
AVE ground for complaint that there
s too much politics of petty kind
n the administration Of law. That
s why they have called halt and
Isked for the stool-pigeon counter.
ign.
More Record to Come.
Only an intimation Of record Is
,iven in this controversy-and that
! given for the purpose of meeting
ertain whispers of criticism to the
fsaot that tho American ought not |