Historically before telegraph, telephone, and computerized records if you got arrested you could just skip out. And you might not need to go far either. If you

Historically before telegraph, telephone, and computerized records if you got arrested you could just skip out. And you might not need to go far either. If you lived in New York in 1890 you probably could just switch jobs and rent another apartment. So bail in order to compel people to show up to court. Much harder to do that today. So much less need for bail.