The Washington herald., 1922-12-04
LARGE BONDING
HOUSE To CURB
CRAFT PLANNED
Reputable Lawyers Propose to
Fight Fire With Fire, Should
Court Fail in Its Purpose
HAVE LOST MANY CLIENTS
Law Prevents Capital Attor-
ney Acting as Bondsman,
But He Can Back Company

A serious effort will be made
by reputable members of the Dis
trict Bar Association to put the
"shyster" lawyer and the unscru-
pulous bondsmen out of the run
ming by forming a bonding cor
poration of their own, it became
known last night.
FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE.
Fighting fire with fire has been
talked over for some time by
lawyers who have run afoul Of
the bondsmen and police because
they refused to split fees. Now
that the courts have taken judicial
notice of the unlawful practices
the possibility that the dishonest
bondsmen may be put out OF busf-
ness by competition with a big
organization seems more and more
certain.
Under present rules an attor-
ney is not allowed to be both
bondsman and counsel. But there
Is nothing to prevent reputable
attorneys from either forming a
bonding company of their own OF
forming an alliance with a COM
pany already in existence for the
avowed purpose of protecting them
selves and their clients.
PLANNED SIN MONTHS.
The idea. which has been stead
ny growing du' ing the past six
months as a direct result of the
rapacious bondsmen, has the ap-
proval of the majority of the men,
bers of the District Bar Associa-
ton.
II the Police Court investiga-
ton is successful, the proposed
bonding company may remain a
paper proposition only, but II the
members of the bar who have been
constantly offended by the bonds
men and police are convinced that
the investigation will fail. then the
new company will have an excel
lent chance of coming into being.
The court has come to the conclu-
sion since the idea of having a spe-
cial investigation was formed that
there is not single bondsman in
the city who can be said to be
actually vicious, even though the
methods employed seem to indicate
that some of them are.
DEAL WITH UNFORTUNATE.
These men. before entering the
bonding business, were in a business
patronized for the most part by the
poor and unfortunate-yet they kept
within the law. To take the whole
pay envelope of a man, to the detri-
ment of his family-but of course
with the mans consent-was
weekly business with the bondsmen
under suspicion. Therefore the
term Immoral is used instead of
the word criminal" as there is
nothing in the law books to stop
one man taking another's pay en-
velope if both parties consent to the
deal.
MAY CHARGE PERJURY.
\ Another certain resultN from the
invest CATION will be that the courts
will teach some of the bondsmen
an entirely new code of morals or
else go to the trouble of having war
rants issued and charging the Of
tenders with perjury. The perjury
charge may arise when aNbOndsman,
who is compelled TO make an affi-
davit every ninety days, swears
falsely in the affidavit that he is
not acting in collusion with any
person whatsoever in obtaining the
privilege of going on the bond OF
prisoner. The court has no doubt
now but what several of the bonds
men think nothing now of swearing
falsely.
The court also has taken notice
of the fact that to identify the po-
licemen in the pay of the bondsmen
will be difficult because the police
are the principal beneficiaries. 1t is
admitted that the police could. in "A
week. put a stop to the obnoxious
business by refusing to have any
dealings with the bondsmen.