Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-06-11
ORIGINAL SAM FELDMAN
Noted Russian Jew Lawyer Vha
Works for Under Dog.
TEHPERs JUSTICE WITH HUKOR.

Known in New York as the Public
Defender and Relies Largely on Hi.
Wit to Get His Clients Out o'
Z Trouble.
Charles W. Wood.
I The Society for the Suppression OF
Sam Feldman Is we'll under way. They
don't call 1t by that name. and few oi
It's members would admit that 1t has
any such purpose; but 1t has Its
headquarters right in the criminal
court building. where the unique. in
stitution known to every district at
torney of Manhattan as Sam Feldman
has been actively tempering justice
with humor for the past twenty years
The new organization Is known as the
Public Defenders; and II. In their sys-
tematic way, they succeed In defend
ing all the defenseless who are caught
in the district attorneys net, Sam
Feldman's job Is gone.
OF course he will get a better job:
for the vaudeville promoter who
wouldn't give Attorney Feldman big
money for transferring his pleadings
10 The American stage has overlooked
a peculiar opportunity.
Ever since he came from Russia 35
years ago. 1t has been Attorney Sam
ucl Fcldman's one ambition in life to
secure a square deal for the under
dog. He. used to attend trials In Rus
sia, where the frown Of a magistrate
was equivalent to a conviction. Being
q Hebrew, the law came easy to him:
but being n citizen of the world. he
realized that he would have to dig
deeper than the law. So he began to
study the frown.
And when he arrived in New York
and found himself just naturally
pleading for the under dog, a good
part of his attention was centered on
ways and means of driving that old
judicial frown away. He determined
not to let any jury frown; and the
%ay 10 keep them from frowning, he
reasoned. was to make them laugh.
And SO. before he had hardly mastered
the English language, the case of the
people against Slavinsky (Attorney
Samuel Feldman assigned to the de-
fense) began something like this:
The court: "Is the jury satisfactory,
Mr.. District Attorney"
The district attorney: 1T is salts
factory, your honor"
The court: "Is the jury satisfactory,
Mr.. FeldmanT
Attorney for the defense: "They are
a fine looking body of men-except
No. g."
The only frown left was No. 6's, and
that didn't count.
II q man took your watch out Of
- pooi.At- .dtseoyereh .'.at II ,Yas q
f9Ez watch and generously handed 4
back to you, possibly because hi
thought you had caught him in the act
and n dollar watch Is of no use to g
pickpocket anyway, do you think YOU
would have any trouble in convictine
him? Such was one tough case tc
which Attorney Feldman was assign
cd.
Il claim, your honor" argued Field.
man, that no crime has been shown
All the cases agree that where a man
has intended to commit n crime bu;
repents at the last moment the inten-
tion cannot be construed as guilt"
Cite your cases." said tire prcsid-
ing justice.
81 haven't them at hand, but I'll pro-
ducc them at 2 O'clock" said Field
man.
At two, the attorney for the defense
came into court empty handed. He
had found no cases which paralleled
the one against his client.
Possibly" said his honor, you are
thinking of the case of the Crown VI
Jones in England. where the defendant
was charged with taking trout from a
stream in a private estate. 1t was
proved that the trespassing fisherman
had not caught any trout, although he
admitted that ne had been fishing fol
them, but he had caught n few suck
crs and thrown them back in tho
stream. On proof Of this the greater
charge was dropped. the court holding
that nothing more serious than tres
pass could be sustained. Do you think
that covers your point, Nr. FeldmanT
cxpectedly admitted. Il think that de-
cision was based on the long estab-
lished rule that the law protects trout
but doesn't protect suckers"
One assistant district attorney does
not like Attorney Feldman overmuch
This Is how 1t happened:
The prosecutor has a habit of wig.
wasging his assent or disagreement tc
whatever Is going on in the trial by
very pronounced significant shakes OF
his head. II what a witness or a law
yer says pleases him, his large and
stately dome bobs up and down SC
that no juryn1an can miss his mean
ing. But Attorney Feldman was scor-
ing points. and the great head was
going to the other direction.
Don't you be afraid. gentlemen
said Feldman, reassuringly, because
this district attorney Is shaking his
big head at you. assure you, gen.
tlemen, there is nothing in It,"
Your honor, I've stood enough OF
this" cried the prosecutor. II Insist
that this flow Of insults be stopped
But 1 insist" argued Feldman
that the point in question is not one
for the court to pass upon. There Is
no question of law involved. 1t is a
question Of fact"
And 1t is a matter of record that
Feldman's point was sustained.
II you hear something like the fol-
lowing on the vaudeville stage, you
will know that It had its origin In one
of the Feldman Dleoa.