The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-03-17

,I.,.,,xvs aswssrsesink, wsis 1iiS1en9sc %
r ~ and concise in what cay. Adjective
Hu 10 eply simes Vas sesoom
siss Legislative power proper: !ns 49, 80
ussrpisg the gers o. - Les's,a!aac, -
III chief Adhesive lnN'of h's owe coul
T'k;s kind Of lap wasth tho middle ases Wy
plicated. The schoinstso .subtiltscs VI
the scIloolmen were infused INTO y, when
would not have been true, had the broad
sense Of the people expressed through tnelr
legislation, and not the heis spiitt'ng aialec-
tics Of the judges, made il. The subtlit'es
OF adjective law were so great, and 30 many
that the learning OF them was esteemed the
most laborious and difficult part OF legal
educssioo. lnssansrsbis esses were won,
not because they were just. but because the
wi ner had secured mure expert legal trick
ster. A man could not tell his grievance in
plsin lapguage and demand remedy, but
Ike had to put some label on il, astrespass or
case. and il he made n mistake in the label,
no matter how just his case was, he must be
efeatcd. The obtainment Of justice did not
depend, on deserving IL, nor on having been
found to deserve IL, but SO to spenk, upon
The question Of which door of the court house
you came through; andif you suppose many
doors and the names on them TO be quiet H.
iegible, and the lawyers and judges them
selves, 10 be sometimes in doubt as to the
or per one by which to enter in y given case
you will not wonder, that many y luckless
sutton lost himself, and his rights, and his
money, in = fruitlrss pursuit VI very clear
Justice. I ere were many other grave evils,
but the need Of this label was, perhaps, the
mist serious. In 1928, thi, nuisance had
got to stink 80 10 mems noses that the pub
&c mind aroused itself TO insist on its adate-
nent. The reform was slow, and the men
Sho made money from The evil opposed its
removal. Besides the most honest human
nature cleayes to what il grows amidst.
The grand conception VI The reform move
ment, was that Of Wrestling ~ FAR rs practi-a
cable, the power OF taking adjective law
from the Judges, and placing is where our
CONSTITUTION places all law -making power in
the Legislature. This secured to IT an infu-
sion Of common sense and simplicity. In
1852 and "a, the English Parliament passed
practice nets. which swept away NIL the old
trash and tcchnicalitv which had been accu-
mnlating on, and rotting into adjective Law
for SO many years. The extent Of the Eng
lish reform Of adjective law viii goes far
Their than that Of most Of these States, is
shown on page 1873 Of the Report of Civil
Practice now before the Iowa Legislature.
10 lS4s, as appears on page $50, Of same re-
port, the reform movement was practically
introduced into New York. In le5l, the
system Of New York was introduced into
several States, and is now the adjective law
Of New York. Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky,
Wise nsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Oregon.
California, Kansas, Nebraska, and Washing
ton territories. Between pages 300 and 239
Of the Report of Civil Practice, are found
letters from both English and American
judges showing that the prejudice against
the new system is all removed and that its
worrying is most admirable. r5,s
Our Code 1852, aimed IL introduce this
new system in nearly its full extent, but it
wa. met by snch ignorance OF lis real aim,
AMI hy snch determined opposition that it
has failed TO do so. The courts have not
Intercepted lis spirit from its own terms.
nor gone TO the decisions Of sister States
where the same system was in use to learn
its construction; hut they have, on the con
tFary, interpreted it in the spirit Of the old
system, which II was meant To dlsplace, and
have thus defeated its beautiful simplicity,
and deirauded us out Of the benefits oil cheap
and speedy justice, which it was intended to
confer.
This misconstrnction has lead to the de-
mand for new Practice Act. The Code of
Civil Practice now presented endeavOr>, by
beng more full, and by speaking in greater
detail to make its purpose so clear that no
honest man can doubt it, and thus assure to
us the reform which wis meant to be secu-
red hv tho Gnla NJ 1871 ~ s Er
Where the new code fails to be rs extreme
in its reform AS the old one was, which holds
true OF its chancery proceedings, it is be.
cause deeply rooted prejudice, fostered by
II few fossils, and surrrpii,iou-lv in,ercala-
ted into the new constitution is deemed to
demand such retrosression.
A FRIEND Of THE NEW CopE.
Des Moincs, Feb'y 18th, 1860.