The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-14

WIG uehiihiohotoh Va JecefeS Us ss.sS N''~sN
A judgment is vacated by an appeal, Is 1t
not +? A judge of the county court has
nothing to do, In his official capacity, with
''staying and setting aside the judgments
of the municipal court" in this way, has
he ? But supposlng he has, what of 1t ?
How many judges of the county court
have we had, who were not at the time OF
their election, and through their whole
terms Of office, also justices of the peace 7
Cases pass by appeal from Justice OF the
peace to the county court. The county
court "revlews and acts upon" the judy
ments of justices of the peace, does II not
And yet who will say that all action by
Judges of the county court is contrary to
public policy and illegal, because of this
fancied incompa,ibility If there is any
incompatibility, then, according to the ar
gument, every judicial act of the judge or
of the court of which he is a member is II.
legal and void. Look where we might, 1t
would be impossible to find a valid judg-
meat in single county court in the state.
Will anyone seriously contend for so mon
strous q doctrine rs this ? Can anyone,
with any show of law, reason, or common
sense, seriously believe that the bar Of
Vermont have been 50 ignorant of law that
they have failed to obtain valid judgments,
and have allowed their clients to become
possessed of and traffic in real estate, the
title to which is derived solely from void
execution-from a mere blank piece of
paper
To this extent the arugment goes, and
it needs but the bare statement of 1t to
show its absurdity. If the offices of judge
of the municipal court and of the county
court are incompatible, then are those of
Judge of the county court and of justice of
the peace, are they not =? How is it with
| judges of the probate court Can they be
judges of the county court The argu-
ment of LEX" says no, facts cay otherwise.
John Strong was judge of the Addison
county court and judge of probate fourteen
years. Rutland county has had the same
/ PSiSOh oNSupyiuS bOti ohnSeo III thC
| time, and SO have other counties in the
| state. Samuel G. Crafts was town clerk of
Craftsbury, justice of the peace, register
of probate, representative in the general
assembly and Judge of the Orleans county
court at one and the same time. Dillon
says, in substance, that person "canno'
be judge and minister of the same court
but William Slade ,oas, at the same time, {
| judge and the clerk of Addison county
court. Were all the judicial acts of these
| judges void Certainly they WERE if The
doctrine goes to the extent claimed, be-
cause, by accepting other offices. they va
Gated their judgeships. Is Martin G
Everts states attorney He also claims tt
be and acts as a justice of the peace, hay
Ing been elected and qualified as SUCH Il
]. J. r. Randall a justice of the peace
He has been, since he became a justice o.
the peace, elected grand juror for the
| town of Rutland and has qualified and
| acted as such. Are the acts of Mr.. Everti
and Mr.. Randall as justices void ? Is ar
attachment made by virtue of a writ signed
by either Of them an act of itrespass by thu
officer This is the argument.
The argument goes further than this
Sixteen lawyers have been judges of thu
Rutland county court, and have not ceased
to practice their profession on their eleva
ton to the bench. A lawyer is an office
of the court, but did he cease to be a law
yer when he became judge, or vacate hi
judgeship when he appeared in court TO
his client If person cannot hold an OF
flee when he ''cannot, in every instance
discharge the duties" have we ever had {
legal supreme court Have all our judges
been usurpers, because, forsooth, they
could not, sin every instance, discharge
the duties p They could not discharg,
the duties. could they, in cases where the,
had been counsel, or where they were re
lated, within certain degree, to the par
ties litigant There is vast differenc,
between a real and fancied Incompatible
tY. A states attorney cannot be municipa
judge, the two offices being incompatible
because the law, quoted above imposes
Numerically opposite duties on the tive
officers. There is no such incompatibility
between the offices of municipal judge an(
judge of the county court. The right o
"reviewing and acting upon former de
cisions' which a judge of the county cour
is assumed to have over the municipa
court is made great stress of as showing
"incompatibility. To this we may repl,
that a court often reviews its own decisions
and "vacates and sets aside" its own judg
ments, and that the statute expressly au
thorizes, in certain cases, the presiding
judge of the county court to sit in the SUI
preme court and shear and determine
causes which he has tried in the court be
low. Moreover, the law, recognizing tina
in certain cases there is manifest impro
priety or ilegality in judge of the county
court participating as judge in trial, ex
pressly provides that, in all such cases, on
judge may "try and determine any case.
Our conclusion is that law, reason ant
common sense unite in holding that Jacol
Edgerton can be judge both of the mum
cipal and county courts.
The Missing Bermuda Steamer
There are now serious forebodings re