The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1876-07-06
Parish Courts.
SHALL THEY BIZ ABOLISHED ?
From The n. 0. Democrat

EDLGUh 1EMUJMAE'-~AAA AAAAU4& 6&k&
acts passed by the last L,egisIa-
ture-s so CalIed--and which the
de facto condescsnded 30 sign, was
one enaCtiug that several amend
ments 10 the present State Consti-
tuition be submitted for adoption
by the voters Of the State at the
next election. Among these sew
eraI amendments there is one. the
adoption of which. in my humble
opinion, would result fearfully to
the detriment Of the interests Of
the people. / mean the amend
mept to abolish the parish courts
Of the State. That such scheme
should have found its paternity 10
the breast 81 William Pitt Kellogg
is not remarkable. Ut is only Id
keeping with several other at
tempts on the part OF Kellogg and
bis gang to abolish and to reduce
the fees and salaries of officers Of
the State-in some inskances-to
almost nothing, as sort of pnn-
ishment or reprisal on the demo
cratic party for putting radicals
ont Of Office and putting them
selves il. The whole design, in 4
nut shell, is this Kellogg and his
gang of rufians, recognizing the
fact that their party is going ont
Of power. have determined to
abolish all the Offices and reduce
all the fees and emoIuments aris-
ing from those they can not abol-
ish to as low rate and make
them as little lucrative to those
who hold them as possible.
Hence, the proyiso in every law
where reduction Of fees or salsEiss
are established, that they take
effect from the first day Of jam
ary, 1877, when the RAIDS know
that by that time they will nearly
all of them be out of office. But
that the demnCratic-cunservatiye
members should have fallen into
KellOgg's trap and passed that
amended law to abolish parish
courts, is what ] can not Compre-
hend. IL parish courts be abOl-
ished and their business turned
over 20 the district courts, then
the number of district courts must
be doubled, or else the judges Of
the district courts must hold their
sessions continuously, especially
in the parishes bordering on the
river, or as q last consequence the
vast mess Of the smaller cases Of
litigation, such as the parish
courts now adiudicates would not
be reached and settled for years,
which is about equivalent % say
ing that if the parish courts are
abolished the poorer classes who
now constitute the masses of our
citizens, may as well, and better,
ralinquish all their rights in the
courts and suffer themselves to be
filched and robbed BY their
stronger or richer neighbOFs. The
parish court is emphatically the
poor mans coalrt, and when you
take that from him, you deprive
him Of his greatest boon under khe
constit1tion-ths right to be heard
in the courts-tor which right he
does and viii contend.
Everybody at al posted in our
judiciary history knows that after
the abolishment Of the old parish
court system By the new constitu-
ton OF 1916, how greatly the
rights of Iitigants suffered for the
want Of time 10 the district courts
TO attend to the smaller cases, and
bow such cases would hang on
from court to court, sometimes for
years, before adjustment. espa-
oially succession cases and how !
il became q provaEb that when Q
man died Ia Louisiana his debts
died with him, OF that yon might
as WeEl give up your claims and
also how much the people were
disappointed aud dissatisfied be-
cause the constitution Of 1852 did l
not provide for . parish court, or
s0ma tribunal Of that character.
Anyhow, strong this feeling was /
among the peop9e aud the bar 10 /