Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1858-09-11
Communicated

ed him to take this important step. Du.
ring the time lie has occupied his pres
ent exalted position. he has been indie
fatigable III the discharge Of his duties,
and his decisions manifest great ability
and research He is quite a young, man,
possesses a. clear intellect and quick
perception and promised fair to be-
come one of the best Judges we have
ever had; aud he has, I believe, given
very general satisfaction to the members
of the bar throughout the State.
That he has felt it necessary to resign,
after having run to fill the vacancy oc-
casioned by the resignation OF Judge
Campbell, in 1854, shows that there is
something wrong in our Judiciary de-
partment which calls loudly for reform.
The office of Judge of the highesttribunal
in this State, one would suppose, would
be sought after by lawyers of the high
est talent, but it is not; the case is ex-
actly the reverse, and this is not because
the salary is insufficient, for it is higher
than in any other State i'll the Union
except California, and the Judges them
selves are satisfied with it Or they would
not have accepted Office in the first
instance.
One of the most serious evils COM
planned Of, and out of which, in fact, all
others arise, is the immense amount OF
labor which the Supreme Court has to
perform. This evil has been increasing
from year to year, until it has now
reached a point where something must
be done to remedy it or we might as
well abolish the Court entirely. The
present state of things only tends to in
crese the difficulty. The great number
of cases decided by the Supreme Court,
in which the members of the. Court diff
fer in opinion, renders our jurisprudence
so uncertain that an appeal is taken i'll
almost every case where the amount is
sufficient. Were time given, sufficient
to enable the Court to give every case a
thorough investigation, there could not
be SO many dissenting opinions, for 1T
cannot be believed that FIVE learned
Judges, men Of clear intellect, enlarged
and comprehensive minds, could fail SO
oftensto agree upon points Of law, had
they sufficient time to give the subject
a thorough and careful examination
Nor can it be expected that the Judges
are to work night and day, almost with
out cessation, their constitutions are not
made of India rubber, to stand the con
stantly increasing labor which they are
called toperfornl, and they would do right
were they to inform the Legislature that
they have more work before them than
they can perform faithfully and with due
regard to the interests Of parties liti-
giant, and that they will hereafter take
up and decide cases in the order in which
they are tried, and devote to each case
as much time as may be necessary to
enable them to investigate the. matter
properly and decide it correctly. This,
it is true, would cause a great deal of
business to accumulate ON the docket.
The fault would lie, however, not with
the Court, but in the, system, and it
would compel the Legislature to take
immediate steps to correct the evil
There is Q great deal Of the work
whichis now performed BY the Supreme
Court which is purely the business
of an accountant or book-keeper. Often
in the settlement Of SUGGESTIONS as well
mother eases, there are a few simple
questions of law to be decided, upon
which is. based the settlement of long
and intricate accounts, or other compli-
Gated matters. An appeal is taken
from the decision Of the District Court
upon some Of these legal questions,
which could be determined by the SD
prene Court without difficulty or delay,
or perhaps, as is frequently the ease,
the very point may have been justdeci-
ded though not published but if the
Judgment Of the lower court is reversed,
On any of the questions. Of Law, the SUI