The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-06-26

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OFFICE. "a CAMP s7RIET. tsecond Floor
Monday Evsning. Juns 20. 1875.
THE SUPREME COURT AT OPELOUSAs.
The history OF no judicial tribunal on
earth, whether In q civilized or savage
land, can furnish an example OF such
marvellous expedition In the dispatch Of
business ~ that just now displayed by
the Judges cf the Supreme Court OF the
State OF Louisiana at the Opelousas
term. In Ave days they have disposed
Of one hundred and tt0cntv cases In
volving, in the aggregate, hundreds Of
thousands OF dollars In money or pro-
perty, and intricate questions Of fact
and grave problems In law, over which
judges who had not the prescience OF
gods or the levity Of devils, would pom
der long and studiously ere they would
venture TO render final and irrevocable
decree.
At Opelousas these unique judges had
to meet and dispose Of the accumulated
business 81 two terms, having failed
last year to present themselves at the
June term at that place. The records OF
the cases In the country are usually vol
luminous, frequently relating to land
titles, to conflicting mortgages and priv
ileges OF large amounts, to SUGGESTIONS
and rights Of inheritance, and to the
thousand and one matters OF more or
less serious importance that give rise to
earnest litigation In rich agricultural
communities like those composing the
Opelousas district OF the Supreme Court.
The cases are prepared and tried with
great care by able attorneys In the lower
courts. The records are made at heavy
expense to the litigants; tho attorneys
and for months, 1t may be, collating the
evidence into logical sequence In their
printed briefs. and ransack their law
libraries for legal precedents and au-
thoritics applicable to their causes,
which they cite conspicuously in their
briefs by reference to volume and page,
often quoting pat decisions OF these
same judicial luminaries. And 10 after
ali their pains and labor In preparing
their cascs, and the expense of printing
their briefs and Of attending the session
Of the court, they have the pleasure Of
sitting by and seeing four judicial jacks
decide one hundred and ttcenty cases In
fUe daysi
They moreover have the exquisite
satisfaction, In many instances, OF hear
Ing the facts In the record grossly mis-
stated, or wholly disregarded by the
judges, and q long line Of precedsnts,
often their own reported opinions, ig-
nored by them and trampled under foot,
showing beyond doubt that these judges
read with no sort Of care either the
transcript or the briefs, and never
trouble themselves to consult the au-
thorities cited.
Il IL a moral and physical impossible
ity that four judges, less than gods In
mental accumen, could read and proper
~ digest the facts and the law of hun
dred and twenty diverse cases, so as to
enable them to render just decisions In
the short space Of five days! It is diff
cult to understand how they could per-
form the manual labor OF writing their
decisions within that briefs space OF time.
1t shows q levity on the part Of
these flippant judges in the highest
degree criminal, for which, in normal
state OF society, they should be and
would be promptly impeached and
hurled from Office. It shows an utter
contempt on their part for the rights
and interests Of litigants. 1t shows
shameless disregard OF duty and OF
their official oath. There is no excuse
for this indecent haste, as the law has
given them one entire month to devote
to the business OF each country term,
and one month Of conscientious labor
should have been devoted to the one
hundred and twenty cases at Opelousas,
which they have tossed of in five days,
with the levity Of montebanks.
Such, In brief, is the administration
Of justice In the country districts by our
highest judicial tribunal. And yet the
State incurs the preposterous expense of
reporting these disgraceful decisions,
and the lawyers have the folly to buy
tho reportsl Such is at present the
Supreme Court Of Louisiana--the most
intolerabie curse that Radicalism has
fastened upon us. 1t is part, an effl-
clent part. Of the complicated machine
~ Of spoliation devised by mon con-
summate IN oil the arts Of wickodness,
for the ruin and humiliation Of this fair
DtAtB. 84 90
Were there no other incentive to
supreme exertion on the part Of our
people TO regain control of our State |
the hope Of being able to
rid ourselves Of the vile mon who dis
grace the judicial ermine should inspire
~. one and all, to unremitting exertion.
These judges are as thorough paced
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