One of the most efficient, effective, and important criminal courts in the civilized world is that established for the trial of misdemeanors in New York County. Three judges, each having an equal voice, act as arbiters of both law and fact. Originally this bench was filled by three regular police magistrates sitting in rotation, and in many cases the same judge before whom the prisoner had been arraigned in the first instance assisted in determining the final question of his guilt or innocence. But the old Court of Special Sessions acquired a very unsavory reputation for many reasons, the chief among them being its alleged susceptibility to political influence and the looseness with which its funds were handled, and it was finally legisl............