The Law Must be Enforced at Any Cost

New York, 1895

When the people consider the reputation District Attorney Noble has made as a grabber of salaries they must laugh at his plea for economy in the letter which he wrote to the excise commissioners of Jamaica. Mr. Noble expresses the opinion that excise violations ought to be tried before petty justices for the cheapness of the thing. The enforcement of the law, and the maintenance of peace and good order, does not seem to enter into the consideration at all. The people want the laws enforced against evil doers at any cost.

But Mr. Noble's letter to the excise commissioners comes in conflict with his record, and the record and the letter taken together convict him of insincerity. He has permitted all sorts of petty offenses to be heard by the Grand Jury, and indictments have been found, and days of time and thousands of dollars have been spent in the trial of them. A petty larceny thief, who stole a few dollars, was indicted and the trial of the case occupied two days. A case of mere disorderly conduct occupied a day of the court's time. The record is covered with such cases.

If thousands of dollars may be expended on these and like small offences, why should the question of money come in when it is proposed to enforce the excise law by indictment? That it should be raised at all is disgraceful. One unlicensed rum shop is a greater infliction upon society than a score of petty thieves, but the District Attorney does not seem to see it in that light.

Mr. Noble is not big enough to block the door to the Grand Jury. The excise commissioners can get in there in spite of him. Any citizen has a right of entry to the Grand Jury room, and a refusal to let the citizen enjoy that right is an offense punishable by removal from office. If the commissioners will but state their case to Judge Bartlett on Monday, when the Grand Jury will reconvene, there will be no further obstruction. It is a very serious matter, for, as the case stands, the unlicensed liquor dealers are practically protected, and the evil will grow rapidly.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 4.