The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1878-07-17
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
AMENDMENT NUMBER TEN.

Il
thousand dollars per annum, and the
Associate Justices of the Supreme
Cn,rt shall each receive salary Of six
thousand five hundred dollars per an.
nun, payable quarterly on their own
warrant.
This is an amendment of sma.l
Importance except as showing the
desire to effect reduction Of all sal.
ares. It will save the State several
thousand dollars year, and in the
Eight years during which the Judges
of the Supreme Court hold Office it
will save ,omething over twenty
Thousand dollars.
AMENDMENT NUMBER ELEVEN.
The General Assembly shall divide
the State into judicial districts, which
shall remain unchanged for four years,
and for each district one judge, learned
10 the law, shall be elected by a plu.
rality of qualified electors thereof. For
each district there shall be one district
court, except in parish of Orleans, in
which the General Assembly may es-
tablish as many district courts as the
lublic interest may require, not to ex-
@ed the number now authorized by
existing laws, except by two thirds
vote Of all the members elected to
10th branches of tie General Assem-.
Wy. Until otherwise provided by law,
d,e district courts now existing in the
parish of Orleans shall have the iuris-
fiction at present conferred by law; no
edistricting or change shall be made
10 as to take effect during the inoum-
bency of any judge. The number Of
districts in tile State shall not be less
Than thirty nor more than forty-fve.
The General Assembly shall provide
Iby law for at least four terms annually
lDf the district court in every parish.
HFhe General Assembly shall have
power to create circuit courts, to be
|constituted by grouping the district
bndges into circuits, and composing the
circuit court of tho judges Of the dis
[trict courts within such circuits. To
direct the place or places of meeting of
|said circuit courts SO constituted, and
Ito vest said circuit courts with appel.
Hate Jurisdiction from the district
courts within the circuit where the
amount involved exceeds one hundred
dollars ($lOO,) exclusive Of interest,
and does not exceed five hundred dol
lars $780, exclusive of interest. The
General Assembly shall have power,
by a two thirds vote Of all the mem
bers elected to both houses, to restrict
the appellate jurisdiction of the Su-
preme Court to causes where the
amount involved exceeds one thou
sand dollars ISL, OOO,) exclusive of in
.terest; and in case of such restriction,
the circuit courts so to bo created shall
have appellate jurisdiction of the Su-
preme Court. The clerks of the dis
trict courts shall be elected by the
qualified voters of their respective par.
ishes, and shall hold their Office for
four years.
Strike out article eighty three.)
We have read an article in the New
Orleans Democrat reproducing one
from the Opeiousas Courier, which
severely criticises this amendment,
and the Democrat is loud in its
praises Of the Courier article. The
burden Of their complaint is that the
courts ought, as to their existence
and jurisdiction, to be free from the
control of the Legislature. They OBJ
ject also to the system Of circuit
courts provided for by this amend
mont. We cannot agree with them
and their objections seem to as not
to be we'll taken. It is true that it
is left to the Legislature to organize
the circuit courts and to confer upon
them jurisdiction of appeals between
the sums Of 500 and $500 by 4 ma.
jority vote, and up to $1,000 by .
two thirds vote. 1t is true also that
the Legislature may or may not Gre
ate them as they think best. and hav-
ing made them, that it may at some
subsequent time abolish them, but
we fail to see any good reason why
the Legislature should not have this
power. 1t is proposed by the amend.
ment to try an experiment which has
not been tried before in this State.
1t may prove satisfactory, and it may
be that after q short while it will be
desired to abolish. them. With the
whole matter left to the Legislature
aud freed from the formalities re-
CURED to amend the Constitution,
the system can have a fair trial. / II
it should be found necessary to
change details, to confer auth orlty
here, restrict it there, change the
hours of meeting Of the circuit court,
ETC., it can be readily done by the
Legislature, without having to
amend the Constitution in every in
stance. This plan was adopted when
the Parish court system was first
adopted, which was afterwards re.
pealed by a subsequent Constitution.
al Convention, and it is, indeed, the
only practical way in which an ex.
pertinent can be tried. There seems
to be in certain quarters an unreas.