Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-02-28
I From the Spirit of Jefferson.
EXPENSIVE COURTS.


and we trust the matter will be
thoroughly ventilated--for verify
our people are previously affiict-
ed with courts.
Your correspondent ''* = ~ falls
into errors which are natural to
one who has not investigated the
subject; but we see from his ar
ticle that he is a man of sense,
and we are confident that he will
be the first to appreciate his mis-
tale when the case is fairly pre-
scented.
He thinks the time of the County
Court is needlessly consumed by
the long speeches of the lawyer.
But don't it stand to reason, the
less the magistrate know about
law, the longer the lawyer must
talk? 1t is the province of the
court to declare the law; and
when the judge don't know the
law,it is the duty of the lawyer to
teach him. Give good lawyer
plenty of time and he can educate
any intelligent man up to the
point at which he will compre-
bend and properly apply a
principle of law.
When sensible men are about to
discuss a question, they first find
some common ground from which
to start, viz: pick out the propo-
sitioRs about which they agree.
Is it not evident the nearer home
that common ground, The greater
the number of propositions about
which they agree, the shorter will
be the discussion. Don't we have
more trouble to explain u matter
to an ignorant man, than to one
who Is we'll informed. Can't you
give directions about the crop to
practical farmer, quicker than to
a man from the city. Tell me
then, by what rule can you meas
ure a lawyers speech to the Coun-
ty Court? His client has case
which depends upon the intelli-
gent application of twenty or
thirty different principles of law;
the magistrates don't know
these principles and when
they are enunciated will not
see their application to the facts
before them Hence, to secure
justice, the lawyer must explain
each principle he mustshow how
they have been applied in other
cases, and then he and the court
will begin to find some common
ground to stand upon but even,
after the most elaborate argu-
ment the decision of the magis-
trates must be unsatisfactory.
There were men on the last court
as intelligent as any in the coun-
ty, go ask them ifthey understood
single case they tried. We are
informed nearly every decision
was appealed from. A good judge
not only declares the law but
gives the reasons for his decision,
and when that reason is satisfac-
tory there is no appeal.
But the fundamental mistake of
'# ~ lies in the idea that a
man who has not studied the law
is able to deal with "the common
sense, which is the Sout OF the
law" The law of to-day is the
accumulated wisdom and expert
ence of upwards of two thousand
years it has come down to US
from Rome and England, the only
two nations that ever worked out
complete and perfect system of
jurisprudence. The same rules of
civil conduct which regulate our
intercourse with our neighbor to-
day governed the intercourse be-
tween man and man long years
ago, in the times ofwhich we have
no written record. Law is the
philosophy ofhuman conduct in "a
state OF society, and it takes long
and patient study-ayeand special
aptitude for his vocation, for one
to qualify himself to apply its
maXims 10 the workings Of civili-
zation. A case must be decided
to-day precisely as il would have
been decided centuries ago. The
practice Of law is simply the appli-
cation OF custom to the different
combinations of events as they
arise, a wise man has said that it
is far more important that the law
should be settled and known than
that itshould be right.
We cannot 60 deeper into the in
quiries ma newspaper article, but,
perhaps, we have said enough to
explain the growth Of that body
OF men who ever occupied a most
conspicuous position in every civ
iliZed community who spend their
lives reading books never read by
any other class in society. We
have said enough to suggest why
1t is, that we all go to lawyer
and buy law knowledge precisely
as we go to our doctor and pur-