Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-01-13
oftbe district and circuit courts Of Ohio, prob

time JURISDICTION dS neT oouifoiH heiShoou',
there are, he apprises US, $50 suits standing
over; and the gentlemen of the bar OF Nashville
where the only remaining circuit court is held,
have stated that there are so suits depending
Now, sir, it is to me highly gratifying, amidst
this array ofjudicial distress, to derive, from
the same authority, the most consolatory IN
! formation That, in the circuit court OF Ken
lucky, to which Judge of the supreme cour
has long been allotted, and who also resides
in Kentucky, this accumulation OF suits is not
to be attributed "either to negligence OF duty
or swami of industry" and this information Is
moreover corroborated by the extraordinary
fact, derived from the same source, that, in this
single court, in the short period OF three years
more than 1000 causes have been actually tried
and decided. Now, sir, a very simple opera
ton of common arithmetic will determIne the
true extent of this delay; and its results mani
tests that, with the same diligence that has been
hitherto manifested by this court, eighteen
months, will clear It's docket Of every cause
now upon il And in what description of eau
SEES does this eighteen months delay occur? Sir,
many of them must be land causes, carried in
10 the federal circuit court, for reasons well
known; causes involving the collection of
mass Of testimony, to be gathered by surveys
in the remotest forests Of the state, to be col
lected afterwards, and investigated, with pain
full labor, by district Judge, assisted by
Judge of the supreme court, who, though resi-
ding in the state of Kentucky, and justly vene-
rated and beloved, has been, for some time, la
boring under the in6rmity of "a disease, which
our bill, should it pass, cannot remedy.
And is this delay either extraordinary or
peculiar to the federal court Of Kentucky? Hap
py, sir, should l be, were not compelled to as
sure the honorable and learned advocates OF
this bill that the courts of the district and OF
the commonwealth, in general, which | have
the honor, in part, to represent, know no such
despatch, even where the temporary disability
or misfortunes of Judge constitute no imped-
iment 10 the progress Of justice.
We are not informed by the committee with
what rapidity the causes on the docket OF the
circuit court for the district of West Tonnes
see are disposed of, nor those OF Ohio; but, Il
bear any toerable proportion TO that Of Ken
lucky: and they have the same presiding Judge,
both courts will be speedily disencumbered
without the aid Of the bill on your table The
mountain of distress, built up by the judiciary
committee, turns out tn be but an optical illu-
sion, and, on examination, unlike the works OF
nature, turns out, when approached, to be but a
mole hill.
While OH this branch Of my argument, beg
leave 10 present to the committee document,
derived but an hour ago from the deputy clerk
Of the supreme court, which is alike applicable
in its results, to our whole subject Of debate,
but more especially to topic to which the ho-
norable member from South Carolina so forCi-
bly, called our attention-the inequality and in
Justice OF our present judicial system, in allot-
ing supreme Judge to some districts, and de-
nying his services to others.
Among the best tests of tho sound atiminls-
tration Of Justice i'm the courts oil the United
States which have original jurisdiction, Is the
contenlment OF the suitors, or the absence oi
appeals from their judgments, to the court liz
stitu,ed for the correction Of their errors And
the conclusion, thence to be inferred, is irresis-
tible, where, as in the case OF Kentucky, the
progress of justice in the court OF original ia
rsdiction is SO rapid as to dispose Of more
than six hundred and sixty cases in the short
compass Of single year. The ordinary inter
val betwee tine dockeiing and the decision OF
a cause by the supreme court OF the United
States, is, | am told, about four years; and
there are pending, upon the docket OF that court
for the approaching term, one hundred and for
ty-three causes. Ofthese causes, FIVE are from
the district court Of Louisiana; two from that of
Mississippi; three from that Of Alabama; one
from the district court of East, and nine from
the circuit court Of West Tennessee; = from
the circui, court Of Kentucky; nine from the
circuit court of Ohio; one from the district
court of Indiana; - from that of illinois; from
Missouri, none; from the western district court
Of Virginia there is one; from that OF Pennsyl-
vania -; aud from that Of New-York -.
Now, sir, this l'tie slip Of paper, from the
face of which, repeat those facts, is 10 me a
volume of more important testimony than the
Judiciary committee nave afforded US, and
which beg leave to recommend to the solemn
consideration Of this committee. Several livery
interesting conclusions may be dcduced from
il, in relation TO the actual wants OF our coun-
try, and their pertinent and best remedy, if any
be required. And among these deductions Of
r, ason from recorded facts, comprehend this,
that even in Kentucky, the numerous CAUSES
carried up TO the Federal court are not taken
there because difio ull of investigation, but for
more perfect remedy Of that injustice Of
which the sutton complains Inc larger fees,
indeed, every where paid to counsel in the fe-
deral cour, Of state, might tend, especially
where the plaintiff is, as mus. be the case here,
a non resident, to the increase OF the business Of
that court, in every state. But the land laws,
and the replevin or relief laws of Kentucky.
neither this committee, nor this Congress, OF