The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-02-08
A NEW DISTRICT COURT FOR NORTH
LOUISIANA.

At tho past several sessions of Congress q
proposition has been made looking TO the re-es-
Enlistment Of the United States District
| Court for North Louisiana and the division Of
this State into two judicial districts as was the
case before the war. This measure has been
renewed In the present Congress and with q
promise Of SUCCESS, and IL Is 10 be hoped that
our members Of Congress will leave nothing
undone that will contribute thereto.
| Tho necessity for another district court In
this State Ia too manifest for argument, and
that ono has not been established Is due TO
the opposition brought 10 bear by the bar and
the officers Of the court In this city. These
influences. which are purely selfish. should
not be allowed to longer Interfere with the
wishes Of the people Of that section. to the
serious injury Of both themselves and the
government. The present arrangement, by
which the whole State Is comprised In one
district. with q single court holding sessions
nowhere outside OF Now Orleans. amounts to
a practical denial Of justice by reason of the
unusual hardships which attend the exercise Of
even the most ordinary functions Of the court.
Except In cases to which persons residing
In this city and the parishes Immediately &C
oessible to II are parties the costs Of court are
so excessive and the difficulty Of procuring
witnesses and tho expense necessarily in
VOWED In the attendance of the principals
upon the trials are so great as TO make of the
court rather an engine of oppression and ex-
tortlon than tribunal OF justice,
These troubles, which are incident to the
most ordinary civil proceedings. arc vastly
multiplied In criminal cases, In which they
amount, practically, to cruelty and persecu-
tion In such cases the expense TO the gov
eminent Of procuring witnesses y exorbitant,
| while tho difficulties In the way OF the party
accused In this regard are SO great
as to deprive him OF all opportunity for de-
Tense. Take. for example, the political prose-
cutions now pending In the United States
courts In this city against citizens Of the
! remote parishes Of the northern part OF the
State and we shall Immediately sne the neces-
sty for tho creation Of another district court
In this State. These trials operate the great
est possible wrong 10 both the parties &c
cused and the witnesses, both on the part OF
the prosecution and the defense. They are
taken long distance from their homes at
great expense to the government, and are
themselves subjected to an expense which
should not be rendered necessary by
the processes Of any court. There
is not prisoner or witness concerned
In these oases which will cost the govern
mant less than from $50 to $50. for mere
necessary expenses Of service and Transports
tion. while the parties themselves are sub
jected to an enforced expenditure of even
larger sums. This Is simply outrageous, and
| the government that does not supply better
| facilities for the execution of Justice has no
right to assume or exercise judicial jurisdic-
| uon ut all.
| It is very easy to see how disinterestcd
parties, mere witnesses. would be driven to
evade attendance on the courts under such
distressing circumstances as these, and
to the defeat OF Justice. It Is the
manifest duty of the government to
supply the people with ample faclli-
ties for litigation while every considera-
ton OF public economy demands the estab-
| lishment Of the proposed new court. The
difference In the expenses OF the election
cases alone, could they be tried In the par
ishes where the parties accused reside, would
more than pay the expenses Of the court for
the next two years.
The difficulty and costllness Of making a
defense In the Federal courts by parties in
| the country Is well known in this city, and Is
often the motive which prompts unscrupu-
lous lawyers and creditors to resort to that
Jurisdiction to enforce their claims know
| ing that the party defendant will most
| likely compromise Mt u disadvantage rather
| than incur the expense and trouble Of such
legislation. The simplest suit even on q
promissory note against citizen OF Caddo
parish must involve bill of court costs OF
several hundred dollars, besides the personal
expenses of the party in attendance on the
court. This fact, we are informed, Is fire.
quently taken advantage of by the merchants
of this city against their country debtors. The
custom is daily increasing of transferring
such claims to correspondents In other States
In order to give jurisdiction to the United
States courts, and then to have suit brought
In those courts against persons residing In re-
mote parishes. This is certainly very dis
reputable system OF Matchmaking which
would be put to an end by simply supplying
proper and adequate facilities for the admin
istration of the laws.
These the bill now before Congress would
amply provide, and 1t should be passed. 1t
divides the State into two districts and pro-
vides for regular terms Of the court at Shreve-
port, Monroe and Alexandria, thus affording
ample facilities for litigants all over the
State. refusal to pass the measure would
be gross wrong to the people of the north
ern portion of the State, to whom the-present
lack of all court facilities is tantamount to an
actual and most oppressive denial Of justice
or the means of obtaining 1t. We hardly
think that Congress will hesitate to grant the
relief asked for when it Is put in possession
OF the facts.