Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1873-02-27


Oskaloosa or Eddyvillc. The build.
of the Cedar Rapids Il st. Louis road
from this city to Cedar Rapids, this
season, will give the 81. l.. Il. c. Il n,
road just as good il not a better line IL
st. Paul than the other. Such line
will have the advantage OF n direct
connection with Dubuque and the lead
miles of Galena, by the Dubuque
Southwestern, SO that under the cir,
cumstances this route will be preferred,
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To the Lawyers.
The following notice to the Bar OF
the State has been issued:
DIES MONIES, Feb. Is, 1873.
lam directed by the Court to call
the attention of the Bar to the matters
referred to in tho following extract
from an opinion recently filed:
"'Thc facts OF these cases are few aud
not at all intricate, when discovered
among the immense amount of matter
that is presented to us under the name
and semblance Of abstracts Of records.
After winnOwing with much toll and
no little perplcxity and vexation more
than two hundred pages of chaff-.
which is called printed abstracts-we
find small measure of grain-a few
facts that could have been and ought
have been fully and clearly set out in
one tenth the Aumber Of pages. There
is, too, a wonderful absence Of order
in the arrangement of the matter be-
fore ns, aud great disregard of the
rules applicable to the preparation of
abstracts there is no indcx--in the IT,
ties OF the cases it is not indicated
which party appeals--the different
parts OF the record arc not given in
their proper Order--the wrong party
is often referred to az appellant or ap.
pellee: and exhibits are referred to
without their dates or contents being
stated, which are only asccrtained by
patient search through the great mass
of undigcstcd matter. Many other de-
fects Of this kind could be pointed out.
These things have cost each of us many
hours of Improbable labor. We call
attention to this matter that il may an
swer as All introduction to the an
nouncemcnt that slch things will not
hereafter be tolerated. Hereafter up-
on the discovery Of such delinquen-
cies, the submission in the cases where
they may occur, will be set aside and
counsel will be required to furnish
properly prepared abstracts. In such
cases counsel for appellees are not en-
tirelv blameless, for they are required
to submit additional abstracts when
appellants are insufficient; and they
ought to make, at the proprr time, OBJ
lection to the submission OF cases
when appellants havO failed to
comply with the law and rules
of the court. They therefore COM
plain on account OF delay which may
result from the course we propose TO
pursue. In these cases but onc-third
Of the costs Of the appellants abstract
will be taxed. We think the case
would have been more clesrly present.
ed by even less outlay iu printing
The object of the rules requiring alb.
stracts Is TO secure an abridxment of
the record, which will, in the briefcst
space present all the facts in the case.
The great increase Of the business OF
this court impcratively demands that
we have aids OF this kind; they are
essential to the disposition OF the bust
ness without its accumulation from
term to term. The practice of print
ing the record in the very form in
which II is filed in this court in manu-
script, prevails with some attorneys
This tnust be corrected. What our
rules require IL an abfidgment or All
abstract, and they must be observed. .
The Court also directs attention 10
the following suggestions and require.
ments that hereafter must he followed
in the preparation of abstracts and
arguments:
First-Covcrs to abstracts and aryu-
mcnt ought to be dispensed with, and
indexes must not be printed in any
CAGES upon them. They increase the
bulk of the abstract and are of no
benefit.
Second-Evidcnce of the service of
abstracts, where there is no appearance
and argument of the appellee, must in
all cases be filed.
Third-ln many instances mistakes
and errors are found in abstracts: fig.
ures and words are often misprinted,
resulting from the fact that the proof
has not been read by the attorney
These give the judges unnecessary la
Dor, and sometimes mislcad them.
Fourth-Thc abstracts and argu-
ments are often not divided into para
graphs, and the titles and headings Of
ten are such as to confuse and pcrplcx
those who read them.
Fifth--Indexcs are not omitted. The
rules direct that they should always
accompany the abstracts. These re-
quirements will hereafter be strictly
enforced. G. LlNDERMAN, Clerk.
We find the following in our morn
ing exchanges which gives the residue
of the action in the House, Oh Poland's
Credit Mobilier report:
Mr.. Poland declined to yield to have
the substitute offered, but opened the
case for the prosecution, in a speech
reciting the facts justifying the report
Of the Committee.
When Mr.. Poland had concluded,
the clerk of the House proceeded to
read the argument of Ames,. which
was listened to with great attention.
1t rccitcd at length the history of the
Credit Mobilier transactions, and con-
tends that it is unreasonable and UNI
just 10 accuse OF bribery, where il is
not shown that any one was bribed.
Ames occupied one of the front seats,
and with his head resting on his hand,
watched attentivcly the effect on the
audience.