ISO THK AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
declares that " the position of police justice is more important to the community than that of judge of the Court of Appeals ; the latter finally settles the law, but the former applies it in the first instance, in nearly all cases affecting the life, liberty, and property of the citizens." Mr. Conkling, in City Government in the United States, says: "The police magistrate is generally an absolute autocrat in the cases that come before him." To illus- trate : in two different districts, on successive days, the magistrate sentenced two women, both "old-timers," for soliciting on the streets ; one received a fine of $10 or ten days, the other a fine of S500 or six months. The usual penalty for this offense is from S3 to Sio fine. This demonstrates, not only the auto- cratic power, but the widely inconsistent sentences of the magis- trates, upon which there appears to be no check except the extreme limit of the law.
There are, too, extraordinary contrasts in the manner, tone, and general behavior of the magistrates. Magistrate No. I is an excellent lawyer, but cranky and severe; he lost his temper frequently ; complained of the drafts from the windows, while the police guyed him almost openly. A wife appeared before him complaining of abandonment ; the husband, on being called to give his testimony, vituperated the wife; the wife "jawed" back, and the magistrate scolded them both, much to the enter- tainment of the onlookers. He seemed to have a special grudge against foolish, incoherent, and tearful women, though his manner was certainly calculated to frighten out of the prisoner or witness whatever sense she had.
Magistrate No. 2 was a cheerful person, with a rich foreign accent and a lively manner. As one of the police officers in court said : " He plays to the gallery." Magistrate No. 3 was much like No. 2 in manner, but without the accent, and his gay demeanor was attributed to his former experience as a newspaper man. Both Nos. 2 and 3 listened to each prisoner with the ironical, indifferent air of one who had heard all that before and who knew the man lied ; neither took the least pains to get from the prisoner what he really had to say in his own behalf, or to give it reasonable consideration. Both signed papers incessantly
