Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-08-28
THE RUTLAND HERALD
THE COURT DOCKET.

wv ~ u
The calendar of the September term
Of the Rutland County Court, printed
for the use of the court ana par mas
been published and circulated, SO that
the public and those interested can see
about what amount of work is set down I
for the consideration of that tribunal
when il convenes at the Court House, In
this village, on the ninth day of next
month. If the court works hard Tor
four weeks trying cases by jury, they |
will try and dispose of from ftteen 10 |
twenty cases; then the court will, in the |
next two weeks, probably dispose CT
from thirty to forty more cases. by that |
time. parties, witnesses, lawyers ana the
court will be entirely exhausted, that
cases will be settled or continuedn sheer
desperation, leaving the next calendar TO
start off with about the same number OF
old cases as the present. The lucky ones
who get their business done will give
sigh of relief, pay their costs and return
to their everyday life to earn more
money to replace what they have lost by I
an indulgence in the luxury of law
suit, while the disappointed ones, who
are most numerous, surlily turn towards
home anathemizing the lawyers because
they did not hurry up and try their cases.
This book, which is now before US, has
four hundred civil cases left over from
last term, twenty-five criminal cases,
and ninety-two suits in equity. OF the
civil law cases, one hundred and five
have been set down for trial by jury, the
remainder will stand for hearing on re-
norris of Referees, Auditors and for trial
by the court The new entrys Will IN
crease the number of law cases from one
TO two hundred more, but as they will
all be continued, of course, upon appear
ance entered, they will not take much
time, and the time of the court will be
mostly occupied in the disposition of old
cases, and some of them very old at that.
Were we to write the history of some OF
the dozen first cases, both at law and in
chancery, that come before this term, we
should have to go back to near the close
of the Mexican war, and there, among
the mouldy pilesof forgotten papers and
facts, sort out the materials that sci
the machinery of justice in mo-
ton. We find the first nine cases
upon the law docket, tell tale which
we do not delight to hear; two of then
have had but one side represented fol
more than twenty years. Five of then
party has died in since they were com
menced, and three of them have been en-
Joined by the Court of Chancery, one il
1857, one in 1860, and the other Il
1861.
The State of Vermont, and especial.
Rutland county, has ever been fortunate
in having upright, learned and homes
men to represent the public on the Ju
dicial bench, but her methods of dom!
business, were inaugurated when tn
country was new and the business of tn
State in its infancy. When it took fou
DAYS to reach Boston from this county
and our largest town was few straggl
ing houses located on one straight street
with a court calendar of nearly tw'
dozen cases, two brief terms per yea
of the courts could satisfy the needs o
the people; but with all kinds of busi
ness increased tenfold, the old system
of courts is not ample enough for tn
business that comes before them, and on
lingering eternities of law suits are dis
grace to our people and the State. TIL
Legislature owes it to the people of tn
larger and more prosperous counties O
the State, to give them better facilities @
obtaining justice in their courts.
We have not further time or space
refer to particulars of this interestin
document, the Court Docket, now, b.
we intend to call attention from time
time to the defects of our judicial sy
TEN, and hope we can animate the pc,
pie to an investigation, for we belie1
the evils would disappear soon, iif Il
public understood fully the mischief +
sulting from them, and especially fro
the long, cumbrous chancery method I
preventing justice. With the enlarge
court facilities that we need, we shou
have fundamental change in the pra
tice of granting continuances. A par
ought to have legal right to trial
his cause at the first term it is on t
calendar, and no case should be co
tinued unless the court should adjudg
upon hearing, that the purposes of il
tice require postponement. We won
not even allow the State to be burden
by the continuance of cause when no
parties agree to it, unless they could co
vince the court that there was son
cause for its remaining longer in coul
1t is for the interest of the State and
parties that litigation should be broug
to speedy close, after it gets before t
tribunals of justice, and we hope
soon see the end of continuanc
ofscourse, and adjournments by agrt
ment.