not see the gradation. On the one hand we see the rich woman, the
millionaire art dealer, the financial pirate being leniently dealt
with, on the other hand we see the little milliner, the Italian fruit
vender, and the peddler receiving harsh sentences.

The sharp contrasts make good newspaper stories that are appealing and
touching. What the public does not see is the whole picture of all the
cases of alleged inequality that come into court. These are only six
out of seven hundred cases, chosen because they are melodramatic.
There were nearly seven hundred other offenders that were let off
with suspended sentences or light fines, of whom nothing is heard,
but these three are conspicuous on account of their wealth, and the
cases of the milliner, the mushroom vender, and the peddler are
reported for the same reason--of being conspicuous. They are unusual
on account of the sentences. The harshness of their sentences is
remarkable. There may be special reasons. The six hundred and
ninety-odd who are punished lightly in the same way as the rich man
are not noticed.

As a matter of actual experience, the rich man has a harder time in
court than the poor man. The inequality of justice, if there be any,
is rather against him. Because he is rich and notorious the public
prosecutor cannot let him off. If, for example, a poor man who is
undoubtedly insane, commits a murder he is not tried, but is sent to
an asylum for the insane. If, after several years, he recovers and is
released, nothing is said about it; the public does not know. But let
it be a rich lunatic and the public prosecutor is bound to bring him
to trial. Public attention demands it. He may know him to be insane,
but he must still prosecute him. The jury declare him insane. After
years he is released from the asylum, the public thinks it a
miscarriage of justice, forgetting in the meanwhile the inconspicuous
poor man who unnoticed has gone through the same experience, and been
released years ago.

The delays of the law are partly due to the system of courts and
partly to the dullness of court procedure. The inefficiency of the
system of courts and judicial procedure is shown in the practical
workings of the civil courts of New York City. The antiquated
organization of all the courts is like a patchwork quilt where each
additional one has been added or increased as New York has grown from
a village below the Indian stockade at Wall Street to its present
size. So