are required for the efficiency of almost every branch
of the public service. Without these officers
there would be no means of executing the warrants,
decrees, or other process of the courts, and the judicial
system of the country would be fatally defective.
The criminal jurisdiction of the courts of the United
States is very extensive. The crimes committed
within the maritime jurisdiction of the United States
are all cognizable only in the courts of the United
States. Crimes against public justice; crimes
against the operations of the Government, such as forging
or counterfeiting the money or securities of the United
States; crimes against the postal laws; offenses against
the elective franchise, against the civil rights of
citizens, against the existence of the Government;
crimes against the internal-revenue laws, the customs
laws, the neutrality laws; crimes against laws for
the protection of Indians and of the public lands—all
of these crimes and many others can be punished only
under United States laws, laws which, taken together,
constitute a body of jurisprudence which is vital to
the welfare of the whole country, and which can be
enforced only by means of the marshals and deputy
marshals of the United States. In the District
of Columbia all of the process of the courts is executed
by the officers in question. In short, the execution
of the criminal laws of the United States, the service
of all civil process in cases in which the United
States is a party, and the execution of the revenue
laws, the neutrality laws, and many other laws of large
importance depend on the maintenance of the marshals
and their deputies. They are in effect the only
police of the United States Government. Officers
with corresponding powers and duties are found in every
State of the Union and in every country which has
a jurisprudence which is worthy of the name.
To deprive the National Government of these officers
would be as disastrous to society as to abolish the
sheriffs, constables, and police officers in the several
States. It would be a denial to the United States
of the right to execute its laws—a denial
of all authority which requires the use of civil force.
The law entitles these officers to be paid. The
funds needed for the purpose have been collected from
the people and are now in the Treasury. No objection
is, therefore, made to that part of the bill before
me which appropriates money for the support of the
marshals and deputy marshals of the United States.
The bill contains, however, other provisions which are identical in tenor and effect with the second section of the bill entitled “An act making appropriations for certain judicial expenses,” which on the 23d of the present month was returned to the House of Representatives with my objections to its approval. The provisions referred to are as follows: