Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-01-14
REFORM.
Criminal Costs and TaxatiOn-An Ina-
Portant Discussion of the Subject.

L II
suggesting meeting of Circuit Judges
and Attorneys General for confer
ence, ETC., together with my experience
OF the grievous burden of taxes under
which our people groan, and my OBJ
seryation of the various causes which
now necessitate the imposition of such
an onerous taxation, lead me to propose
discussion of those. causes through
the public press, in the hope that some
feasible plan may be suggested where
by the taxpayers of the country may
be relieved.
In order to draw out the opinions of
others who may have bestowed some
thought upon our financial troubles
and their remedy, propose with your
indulgence, to offer few thoughts and
suggestions, which, / may here remark,
areput forth with difidence. Atpresent
l shall confne myself almost exclusively
to statingmy propositions and sugges-
tons without much effort at demOnstra-
ton; but, should my views, as l shall
advance them, find favor with those
who have thought, and may think, upon
the subject, shall endeayor to support
my positions with statistical data, and
demonstrate thefeasibility of the rene
| dies / propose, by contrasting the prac-
teal workings of the system condemn,
with the one propose.
/ remark at the outset that / am In
formed and believe that largely over
one half the actual expenditures of our
State government go either directly or
Indirectly to the support of the judi
cial department, andthereforms mean
to propose are with reference to that
| department. .t.r-.
l cannot here take time, nor will l
occupy your space to speak at large of
the many imperfections of our judicial
system. A few viii suffice
Our highly respected Supreme Court
has recently been severely criticised,
more on account Of the system than
upon personal grounds or want of quail
ifcations. The one great evil in that
branch lies in the fact that too many
cases reach the court of last resort.
This grows partly out of want of quail
ifcation on the part of judges OF the
inferior courts, partly out of the fact
that appeals for delay can be prosecut-
ed at so little cost, and partly from the
fact that there exists no intermediate
appellate court.
But it is the subject of costs and tax
alton that l have more particularly to
deal with, and to that end l shall in a
great measure confne my remarks to
the subject Of our criminal procedure.
am told that it is no unusual thing
for the State to pay bills of cost in
criminal cases, ranging from $500 to
$1,000.
Our judicial machinery is too costly
and complex, and especially does it
cost the taxpayers too much to con-
Wet criminals under our present sys-
TEN. Let me instance a case In point,
strongly illustrative of the evils of
which l complain: About the year
1869 a man was indicted in the Circuit
Court at cambridge for horse stealing.
He was arrested and confined In Jail.
And here l may remark, in passing,
that his board during the whole period
of his confinement cost the State sixty
cents per day. He continued his case
from term to term, upon one pretext
and another, for something more than
a year, then changed the venue to Sc
vier county, where he obtained several
continuances. At last he was tried and
cOnyicted-the Judge set the verdict
"ud granted him a new trial.
asies' obtained several other
afterwards Us IN the sum-
eOntlnuances, was at iaSs' con-
mer of 1879, tried again and aganl
Ticted. He appealed to the Supreme !
Court, and in December, 1873, the Sg- |
preme Court affirmed the Judgment be-
low, and sent him on to the penitentia- |
~. Here was a case of four years
standing, IN which the iailor's fees
alone cost the taxpayers of the State
about $500, to say nothing Of witness
fees, clerks fees, jurors fees and Sher-
ifs fees.
Now there should be a remedy for !
this, and have one TO propose, and it
is this, viz: to have a general Jail de-
livery in every county on the first Mon
day of every month, and THUS save the
cost and expense Of feeding prisoners
in our jails from term to term of our
Circuit Court.
In short propose to abolish the
Circuit Court aud the County Court, |
as they are at present Constituted, and
in lieu Of them, establish a Law and
Surrogate Court In each county, with
all the powers nov vested in the Circuit
Court and the Quorum County Court,
to sit on the first Monday of every
month for the trial of causes, civil and
criminal, and the dispatch of such
business as is now done by the Quorum
County Court, the Judge Of this Court
to receive a salary about equivalent to
what is now paid the officers Of The
Quorum Court, or more, if that Is IN
sufficient, so as not to make the s3la-
ries paid these County Judges greater
than is the aggregate salaries now paid
to the Circuit Judges and the officers
of the Quorum Courts IN the State.
/ further propose that the Quarterly
Court shall be abolished, and In lieu of
it, that the Justices of the county shall
once a year for the purpose of
levying taxes and making apprepria-
lions for county expenses.
| further propose that prosecuting
shall be elected In every coun-
ty to prosecute on behalf of the State,
and that his fees shall be the same
as are now allowed the Attorney Gen
eral
/ further propose that the costs in
all criminal cases, whether felonies or
which, under existing
laws, would have to be paid by the
State, be paid by the county, and also
the salary of the Judge, and that the
monies for that purpose be retained in
the county, instead of having to be sent
to Nashville and then returned, as 1t
now is.
Should the laws be so modified as to
accept and carry out these uggestions,
l am persuaded that our taxes would
be reduced fully one-fourth, if not
more, and we would then have an as
surance of reaching a speedy end of
which is certainly very de-
sirable. Besides, we would have the
advantage of having all our county
business transacted by judges posses
sing the qualification of lawyers, and
competent to transact the county busi-
ness properly and expeditiously.
/ further propose that the number
of Chancellors be increased, and that
they be invested with appellate powers