The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-05-03
AN EXPENSIVE AND USELESS LUXURY.


AN EXPENSIVE AND USELESS LUXURY.
Some time ago, in order to show that no
necessity existed for the municipal court
of the village of Rutland, and that it was,
at the best, an expensive luxury, we called
the judge a hard worked and poorly paid
officer, and said "The state of Vermont
&C pays a salary of three hundred dollars a
&c year to the judge of the municipal court
" of Rutland and from the annual town
/" and village reports for the last year, it
'' appears that exactly one case was tried
" in this court during the year and for this
d" case, the judge received, in addition to
I" his salary, double the fees which would
g have been allowed a justice of the peace
" If the case had been brought in a JUS
4" tees court" As the correctness of this
statement has been called in question, we
now and here reiterate it, and declare that
it is true just as it appeared, and just ex-
actly as it would be understood by every
one capable of comprehending the English
l~anguage-and repeat that the annual town
and village reports show that ''exactly nj
case was tried in this court during the
"year," and do not show any more.
The court was established, as was urged
at the time and as, indeed, the act itself
shows, for two purposes-to provide a tri-
bunal to dispose of prosecutions for viola
items of village ordinances, and to provide
a summary manner, "subject to such res
q" trictions as may be prescribed by the viii
- lage trustees" for the abatement OF nui-
sances. 1t was essentially a village court,
and was intended as such as its name I'M
plies. During the past year but one case
has been tried before this court which
would come under either of these heads,
and that was for a violation of a village
ordinance. To make the court a little
more respectable, however, it was, at the
same time, given the same jurisdiction in
civil and criminal cases that justices of the
peace had, but as appeara by the annual
town report not a single criminal case of
the kind was tried by the court during the
year-at least, no report was made of any
such case.
In order to make an excuse for taking
three hundred dollars annually out of the
state treasury, the jurisdiction was further
extended and a speedy route was estab-
lished by which a person exceedingly anx-
ious for quarters in the state prison could
get there In a hurry. Under this provision,
| as we are now informed-we were una
| ware of i. at the time of writing the first
item, and the fact does not appear in the
| reports to which we alluded and, in fact,
| does not properly belong there-two men
have, at their W request, been sentenced
to the state %prison-the whole proceedings
In the municipal court occupying some ter
or twenty minutes of the valuable time Of
the judge.
But it is stated that 'about eighty cases
" were tried in the municipal court las
A" year." Although this is stated as {
/" tact" we very much doubt Its truth, buI
will comment thereon the same as if thu
writer thereof had accidentally hit the trutl
once. C%onceding then that it is a fact
and neither the concession or the fact de-
tracts from the truth of our original state
m~ent-does 1t show that there is a necessity
for the municipal court, that the court il
anything but an expensive and useless lux
ury, or that the judge is a hard WORKED
official struggling along under an made
quate salary?
Let us look at the bearing Of this real o.
supposed fact. During the greater part o
the year, the judge Of the municipal cour
was, also, a justice of the peace, and we
" about eighty cases were tried in the mu
4" nicipal court last year." Why SOP Doe
the same person dispense purer justice o
expound sounder law as a municipal judg
than as a justice of the peace? 1t may b
so, but If he had tried these eighty case a
a justice his fees would have been one hun
dred dollars, while trying them as
judge his fees were two hundred do
inAo 10 thOlo any IChbUu uuueT uchfc
why unfortunate debtors should be con
PEELED to pay double fees for the blesse
privilege of being tried by the same persoc
as a judge instead Of as a justice Thi
extra n hundred dollars is a direct an
unnecessary tax-we will not say extortio
upon suitors. Ought it to be permitted
We care not who ia municipal judge-on
man is as good as another, and we have n
sort of objection to the late incumber
either personally or oficially-but we sui
init that this whole business is a fraud VI
on the state and upon %suitors, that the o
fee of judge is a ~sinecure, and that I'll
court ought to be abolished. We ougl
] not to require the services of such hal
worked and poorly paid officials. Instea
, of receiving only three hundred dollars,
would appear that the office was wort
some eight hundred dollars the past year
I which, we take 1t, is altogether too small
II Il a..A. 10. ~ vn..nI w.1wIx