Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-02-15
THE UNITED STATES JU-
DJCTAL SYSTEM.

The constitution of the United States
(Art. 8, Sec y says, g The judicial power of
the United States shall be vested in one
supreme court, and in such inferior courts
as the Congress may from time to time
ordain and establish" The power delegated
to Congress to ordain and establish inferior
courts has been exercised by the establish
ment of circuit and district courts. The
judicial machinery, like that of the State
courts, for the most part has been found IN
adequate for the transaction of public bust
ness. The supreme court of the United
states is three years behind on the calendar,
and at the present rate, it will soon take as
long to get decision as formerly in the old
chancery court of England.
The truth is, that the whole judicial sys-
tenn of the United States, both federal and
State, is a muddled complication, and needs
revision and simplifcation, so that the peo-
pie may have speedy and prompt remedies.
But the difficulty does not consist alone in
the inherent defects of the system,
nor in necessarily oyer-crowded calen-
ticians and men unlearned in the
law. Law students and briedess lawyers,
and successful politicians are elevated to the
bench, either by popular election or by ap-
pointment. They are neither men of ex-
perience nor learned in the law, and the re
suit is that it takes lifetime for them to
study the case. Everything from the sim
plest motion to tho most abstruse legal pro-
position is tak:n under "advisement," and
kept there, sometimes, for years, until the
parties are dead and forgotten, OF have given
up in despair. Judges should know the law
and be able to decide issues as and whe1
presented to them.
Still there is need of a revision
of the judicial system of thu
United States. There are now two
bills pending in the Senate, one by Davis, O.
Illinois, and the other by Conkling. Th,
object of both is to relieve the Supreme
Court, and Circuit Courts also to some ex
tent. Both bills provide for an intermediat
court of review, composed of the Justice o
the Supreme Court, the Circuit Judge, an,
all the District Judges of the District, thes
to constitute quorum. The Supreme Jus
tice presides as now, and in his absence til
Circuit Judge, and in the absence of botl
the senior District Judge. Appeals to tn
Supreme Court are allowed in admiralt
either on questions of law or fact, unles
the amount exceeds $4,000 This is Conl
ling's bill. The bill of Judge Davis provide
for the appointment of an additional Circu
Judge in each circuit, while Conkling's bi
! provides for the appointment of an az
ditional District Judge in each circuit. II
plan involves the appointment of MOI
judges and the establishment of an inte
mediate Appellate Court.
This subject requires the most serious COZ
sideration. The Importance of well organ
: lied judiciary cannot be over estimated, an
changes should not be made hastily. Th
is no field for empirical experiments. It is
question whether the whole judicial bushes
apart from that original production belongin
to the Supreme Court might not be left
: the State courts exclusively. If the prese,
system is to be continued, it would be bette
to increase the number of District Judge
abolish the Circuit Courts and establish il
stead Court of Appeals and Review, con
posed of the same number of judges as Il
Supreme Court, or otherwise.
We conclude, for the present, with the +
+ mark that the inalienable right of every me-
to speedy remedy, as guaranteed in Il
charter of liberty, and the bill of rights al
in every constitution, as the laws are no
being administered both in Federal al
State Courts, is becoming solemn farce 9
Justice and law.