The Portland daily press., 1870-01-03
'erms $500 pen. AMMAN. ;,, oa,oace
Is There Luck I'm Ca.

10 the Editor of the Press:
hitherto, man whether civilized or
ponte OF DarDarous, pagan, Jew, Mohammas'e'
OF rChristlan, has shown himself to be like -
Athenians OF old sin all things too supersti
tious Hence the oracles, omens, and auoeria.
of Greece and ancient Rome the inpumerabI.
miracles of modern Rome, the ghosts ana
witches of our forefathers, and the rappipo,
tppings and other similar manifestations" Of
our day. To the same family belong the
uniucky fridays the efficacy of the last Sum
day in the month as a calender for the next
the dry and the wei seasons, the sad influence
OF sneeze, the virtue of an old shoe thrown
after.a departing guest, the evil fortunes of the
moon over the lett shoulder, and the good luck
in odd numbers.
Our forefathers with all their sterling COM
mon sense, firmly believed in and stoutly con-
tended for them; our parents believed them
without exactly admitting it, and we-of
course course are quite free from any such absurd
men are. '"' We
30 pat we think we can demonstrate that in
m s1iie Eases there is luck in odd numbers after
az, ,;a anu y Inat is on the Supreme Bench of the
'.,o,te. ," states whose number is nine, for no
niatter now close case is IL IL once oets befora
them 1t is sure to be decided o,,a - or ths
other, ana whlle one party gets what he wants
the other mas at least the satisiaction ol ha;no
put out OF his misery, while the neonIs are
litigation. "'ern'isaoie
for this reason we have hitherto escansd th.
endless suits of the old country so bandso,oa1n
ridiculed by some of the best English writers
Unlucklly an euen number crept into our
State Judiciary in 1856, and since that time
there has been a slow but sure accumulation
OF undecided cases, cases not only undecided
but absolutely unbeatable, because the learn.
ed Judges are split exactly in the middle.
30 that II case once gets fairly into that
eddy IL must continue to revolve hopelessly
until somebody's death, resignation, or expiTa,
tion OF once; but either OF these events is by
no means sure relief, for in case of expiration
OF term the incumbent is usually re-appointed
anu IN either OF the.other contingencies (both
appointee is just as likely OF course, to accent
the question. ''ee "
The existence of such state Of things Is bad
eVeryWay-it delays, wearies, harasses, vexes
and exhausts the patience and the peace of
both parties, it hinders other cases, it adds to
the public expense, it violates the constitutions al
guaranty Of speedy justice" and it fearfully
weakens the public confidence in the wisdom
of cur judiciary.
When the federal court decides an important
case by vote of five to four, the losing party
may perhaps suspect that the decision is not
lnfalhble, but when our State Supreme bench
leaves cases suspended for years like Mahomet's
SoAhht oNe"Och ncdSCu anu eartn, DV division
of four TO four, both parties and some of the
people may be pardoned for the thought that
a good old deacon once expressed about his
worthy wife, that he "did wish Miss C
would get well or suthin."
We would respectfully suggest that thu
Legislature give us this winter the good luck
which an odd number would be sure to give In
TINS particular. or pass an act transferring the
-four and four cases to the Ecumenical Coun-
Gil now luckily sitting at Rome, which being
infallible, would doubtless be happy to dispose
of few such trIfiing affairs as partune or in
terlude to the graver matters OF a more doc
trinal type which have been accommodating for
the last three centuries. JST
PORTLAND, Dec. 80, 1862