Deputy Marshals

TIie.ro are two classes of deputy marshals, kuown respective! y as genera] and special , the former being regularly attaehed to the marshals ofÖce, and üh; latter áppomted, as the same implies, i'or special service. Tlie lawmakee no limitatioifas to the-number of these deputies, and tjierefore a partlsan marshal, sustained or directed by a Fraudulent Administration itkethe presentí or by au extreme partisan President, regardlesa of deeency, likeGrant, could appoint whatever aumber might be needed to carry anelection in my particular place, where the force conld be concentratéá. They receive live dollars a day eacfe svhi'ii employed, but they are limiteÖ t tcndiiys lor election serviré. Therefóre it wbiïlfl toe competent, ia lavv now stands, for évery deputy to receive tifty ilollars for that duty alone, il the marshal thouglit proper to exercise his discretion. The usual practico, no wever, is to mnltiply the number of these official partisans, vvhich practically meaos buying so maiiy votes apd so mucb influence at the public cost. Jt is notorlons in the great cities that these special deputies are mainly chosen f rom among the criminal classes, such as former convicts, bullies, keepers of low groggeries, frize lighters, and the like. They are not only billeted on the Treasury, bu't are clothed with enormous power over the persona and liberties of citizens, who are taxed to support them, as the following extract fromthe Rovised Statutes shows: "Sec. 2.022. Th marshal and his general deputies. and such special depxitieR, shall keep the peace, and support and protect the supervisors of election in the discharge of thcir du ties, and immediately to arrest and take into custody, with or without process, any person who commits, or attempts or offers to commit, any of the acts or ofïences prohibited herein, or who commits any offence against the laws of the Ulited Btates." IIow far this unconstitutional power may be carried was illustrated by the thousands of arrests ordered by John I. Davenport in this city last fall. These special deputies are thus constituted the judges of the offence upon which they make arrests without process. And thus it comes to pass that felons who have served terms in the penitentiary, and others who ought to be cracking stones in striped suits, are the chosen instruments of this infamous partisan statute, to drag respectable citizens to prison upon charges made by themselves and executed by themselves! All inquiry as to the exact number )f these general and special deputies, md the amounts paid to them, has 'ailed to bring out the extra facts. Che accounts are purposely kept in a nanner to exclude this information. Dhe returns are made in a lump; ometimes they are held back or mys;ifled, and instead of special items, by which each payment of a deputy iccounts are stated in general terms, jo that there is no real check on the marshal. When this subject was before Conress in the last week of the late session, Mr. Atkins, Chairman of Appropriations, sought to get explielt answers to certain questions, which he iddressed to Mr, Devens, that are embodied in his answersof June r4, 1879, Erom which the extract below are taken : "VVhenone of these marshals presented an immense bill for political service last year, the Comptroller refused toallow it, becausesome of the charges were unsupported by even the formal vouchers that are so frequently and easily manufactured. But Mr. Deyens approved it, with the single remark that there was perhaps "a little too mucli sugar in the bill." In order to keep up thia corrupt machinery, and to manage elections by a campaign fund drawn from the Treasury by partisan marshals, the Fraudaleut President vetoed the bill which approximated six lnindred thousand dollars for the service of the courts. He demanded the electioneering deputies, and delied Congress.- N. Y. Sun.