The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-02
THE JUDICIARY.

:. ,be Editor OF the Democrat:
W,at compliment you upon your articles
,he subject OF the judiciary, and indicating
Y. changes which time and experience have
a.r,o to be necessary in our system of
ps ,,ts You seem to thoroughly understand
y" ~ vants OF the country parishes In this
respect
.s.res your views substantially. We are all
ssraed that something must be done to cor
~ the crying evils now attendant upon our
sssem Of courts, and that this duty devolves
non the approaching constitutional conven-
/ ton.
The judiciary should be remodeled SO as
n do away with the tedious delays and fear
n costs now inherent In our system. When
clain, is placed in the hands of lawyer for
stteption, it should not require two or three
vars TO merge 1t into judgment. A means
orbt 10 be devised by which claim, what
sver It's amount, shall have speedy settle
rant In q court of law. 1t Is the theory of our
,rasent constitution that courts shall be al
rays open, but practically, they are open
nut twice a year, wien the amount in con-
troyersy happens to exceed $500. This is
radically wrong, and must be corrected by
The convention. A resident Judge, learned In
as law, In each parish, and Of unlimited
dyil original jurisdiction, win remedy this
asfect and solve the problem of open courts.
Another crying evil which demands atten-
dan Is the present system of fees OF officers.
Things have come to such a pass In this re-
suect that poor man. although he have a
rod cause of action, is practically debarred
from appealing to the law for redress Of his
nievances. The reason Is obvious. When a
man wishes to go to law, it is natural for him
10 ask what will be the cost Of proceedings.
The attorney can fix his fee, but cannot for
he life of him, even approximate what will
be the costs OF court, The consequence Is
that many poor man would rather loose his
claim, which he has earned by the sweat OF
bis brow, than litigate fol- it. This has happen
ed frequently In the experience Of the writer,
and no doubt every lawyer in the State can
bear the same testimony. Now, this Is o
practical denial OF justice, and calls for a
speedy and adequate remedy.
The remedy Is fortunately not very diff
cult to find. 1t consists simply In giving
fixed salaries Ito the sheriffs and clerks OF
court, abolishing the system of fees alto
gether. There is no more reason why the
Judges should be paid q salary than that the
ministerial officers OF their courts should be
compensated In the same way. Ii man
should be paid according to amount OF labor
performed, why not pay the judges by fees,
allowing them 80 much for holding court, 30
much for rendering judgment, and so on2 1t
has never entered the mind OF man to dream
that judges should be paid In this way. On
the contrary, they have always been treated as
servants of the State bound for fixed salary
paid by the State to perform all the duties
devolylng upon them by virtue Of their posi-
ton. They are none the less efficient, because
for their services in this way.
Then why not treat the sheriff and clerk of
court as servants OF the State, and pay them
IN the same manner that judges are paid
Why not give both these officers fixed salary
md do away forever with that abomination,
The fee. bill ? Every lawyer will tell you
hat he has had, at some time or other Of his
career, to dispute some over
,harges in the bill Of costs of either the
sheriff or clerk. This, to say the least, is a
7ery unpleasant duty for a lawyer to perform,
md creates hard feelings betw cen the men,
,ers of the bar and the officers OF courts, and
mpairs the usefulness of the bar to a certain
,xtent. But even when the charges are made
,ut strictly in accordance with the fee bill,
he total, in many cases, l may say In the
he amount involved In the suit. When a
nan RECEIVERS judgment for one hundred dol
airs he cannot but harbor the thought that he
9 swlndled when he Is made to pay ninety
dollars as costs OF court Cases such as this,
which Is taken as an illustration, are by no
means uncommon. When, at the end Of every
erm of court, plaintiff is presented with a
arge bill of costs, he realizes that the admin
stration of justice Is delusion and snare
md finds 1t hard to believe that he ought to
be made to pay such heavy costs long in ad
vance OF the decision Of his case. 1t seems
1nIr rV.h
,osts when he Is the party aggrieved, and 1t
hardly satisfies him to be told that he is only
making an advance Of the expenses Of litiga-
don, subject to be reimbursed by the defend
mt when he RECEIVERS judgment. La many
Instances the defendant has no property upon
which the Judgment can be executed, and the
'laintif 3 victory Is thus barren OF results.
Salary the clerk and sheriff, gentlemen OF
ne convention, and such q state OF things as
described will cease to exist, and never again
2 possible In Louisiana. In conclusion, Mr..
!ditor, continue your efforts In the direction
this much needed reform, and the bar and
eople Of the State will sustain you.
COUNTRY LAWYER.