The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-12-07
year, provided the recommeudstton msds

uGa1ly bhfeN III tnLS ucpdItulenL alone. W.
row have eighty four county, eight eo,no
ration, and: sixteen circuit Judges. Soma
time since, for the purpose ofobtaininp car,
tain statistical information. I prepared and
had mailed to each county and corDoratinuu
fudge In the State q blank form. wits a' tSa
request that he oil the same I'D with tho tho
Information desired, and return Il IN ~. u'
About sixty responses have been recnirsJ
and are on file in the Office Of the Secrs,s..
Of the Commonwealth. From these s,:'
tistics deduce the conclusion that ill.,
county courts are doing two-tbirds N aII
Che new legal business in The State, and tbs,
the litigation. except in old cases, or pro~
ing OUT of old cases, Is very light, and wha,
is more gratifying stu. Is gradually decreas.
ing. We shall hereafter, and for the nevt
decade, need but one court Of original in.
risdiction. Corporation or hustinps cont,
are distinctly provided for In the Coustitn'
tion, and must be maintained but the cir.
cult courts are subject to tue will OF tbo
LEGISLATURE, either TO increase or decre,so
their number, and the Jurisdiction Of tho
county courts may be enlarged or dimin,
Ished ut your discretion. Now, the Led.Ia-
t,lre may either enlarge the number of cir
crit courts sufficiently to transact all tbs
current legal business necessary 10 bn
done in court OF record, except probsts
business, and reduce the county court. IN
courts of probate only, with compeusation
derived from fees alone or, II may en,rve
the jurisdiction OF county courts and df,
minish the number OF circuits to one or
more, and limit their jurisdiction to chan.
cery business only, although the iurisdir.
ton of the circuit court OF the city OF Rich.
moud, as now provided by law, must, Of
necessity, be retained. II authorized nv
the Constitution. should prefer the abo.
lishment Of all circuit courts except that Of
the city OF Richmond, and the constitution
of our corporation and county courts as the
only courts Of original jurisdiction, and the
diminishing OF the number OF county Judges
saw to one for every twenty thousand in.
habitants, or rs nearly so as circumstances
would admit Of. The number Of county
Judges might thus be reduced to sixty.opc.
and the corporation judges TO six, and, In.
cIudiug the circuit judge and the judge Of
the chancery court OF the city Of Richmond,
sixty-nine Judges in all. At the present
time the salaries Of the ono hundred
and five county, corporation. and cir.
cult Judges amount 10 Sll9,0I5. With
the number Of these judges reduced
TO sixty.nine, and with the CONSEQUENT
puC suiht tCo Aht ttes VI
and other officers, and the fees OF Jurors
and other expenses, the amount above
named which might be annually saved to
the Commonwealth Is not too large. Our
courts, too, should be made seleSupport.
ing, or nearly so. a system Of fees should
be adopted adequate to defray all the OK.
penses of the courts in civil cases, eycept
the Judges salaries, and the larger portion
of these also. "While our courts should
be freely open to all, and the costs incident
to litigations ought not to be SO high as to
amount, in any sense, to denial Of justice,
vet 1t is right that suitOrs should bear to
some extent, the increased expenses they
OCCASION" This system was recommended
in nv message of the 9th OF February, 1870,
and in the main was 'adopted by the Legs.
lature, except that the fees prescribed were
too low. The expenses incident to the ad-
min,straton of our criminal Jurisprudence
ought not to be any Charge upon the State
treasury whatever. / cordially approve
the recommendation Of the Auditor upon
this subject.
He say S in his report OF PAGE Il, 81 think
every county should pay the expenses OF
the administration Of criminal Justice
within its own limits. Were the laws so
framed as to provide for this, feel salts.
fed that while the State would be entirely
released from the burden Of this charge,
the counties could reduce 1t probably one
half" Aud If he had added that II our
courts would in the punishment OF lesser
offences more frequently resort to Zines,
our criminal Jurisprudence might be rem
dered comparatively inexpensive, provided
the fines were collected and applied 10 tho
LIQUIDATION Of these charges. A reform i,
also demanded in Our laws for the trial and
punishment Of these lesser offences.
1t appears to me that all eases OF petit
larceny, except for second offence, and ali
cases of assault and battery, except with a
deadly weapon-in fact, ell crimes Of 4
lesser grade than felony-shoulI be summa.
rily tried by q justice Of the peace. with or
without jury, at the option OF the sc-
cused, reServing. OF course, the right Of ap.
peal TO the county court upon questions OF
law and In cases Of conviction the pun
ishment inflicted to be fine, or imprEsor.
mcnt in the county Jail, or hard labor upon
the public roads or elsewhere. (MeEsago Of
9th February, 1872
Now, if the suggestions herein made for
economiZing and retrenching our expendi.
lures are carried into practical operation,
and they are all susceptible Of it, it will be
found that $500, 600 will be ample to meet the
current expenses OF the state Government
including legislative expenses. Add to this
sum the annual interest Of Sl,620, 900, and
We have the sum OF S2,220.QO0, which |,
will be necessary to realize annually from
taxation, aside from what may be appro.
,priated for school purposes. The TIca>u.
rer reports the receipts from all source, the
last fiscal year at y, ISL ,S51.9l, and the ex.
penses for all purposes at 81, S53, l62.b -
showing balance Of receipts over expenses
of $923, 899-S5. ] have shown that the cX'
penditures, aside from the appropriation
for school purposes, can be reduced 10
5000, 600, and add to this the amount
expended Tor sehools-ylz., f:3S22 co..
it would only make the sum OF
$685., 900, which would, on the basis Of
last years revenue, leave Z balance OF 81
100, S51.9 sum amply sufficient to meet
the interest upon the public debt. But
do not suppose that the receipts OF the li.'
fiscal year are correct criterion hy when
to judge Of the present or next year. lhe
Auditor estimates the total receipts IRON
all sources the present fiscal year at g
"a, 1927, and the total expenses st 81,
020, 900; but in the latter estimate be In
cludes $500, 900 Of interest upon tho public
debt and 100000 Of current expenses o
Government, 1887 ,C6i.4j for school pur
poses, In all 81 ,I3i .0Gt a more than DO
and of that sum 100000 may be throw
out of our calculations provided the re
commentators herein made are adopted
by the General Assembly. Then, too, h'
estimate Of receipts does not irciude any
or, II any, an inconsiderabls amount oi
revenue to be derived from railroad ant
other corporations, which ought to smoun
to very considerable sum. Two year;
taxes are now due and urcollected from 81
or the most important railroads In the Sts'e
Some few Of them shield themselves under
some pretence Of exemption from taXsli9I
by their charters, and Others have no eXcus'
at all.
know of no reason why corporate pro-
Derty ehould he any frear from tho burthsT