Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-06-30

=
districts require more than one law
Judge, he gives this act a one of his
reasons for preventing the bill be-
coming n law. The insinccrity Of
Governor Hoyt in this part of his
message is manifest when VIC remem-
Der few facts. Crawford county has
a population of 6S,604 Erie, 74,68l,
while Northampton has 70,3l6, less
than two thousand more than Craw-
ford and more than four thousand less
than Erif, aud yet the legislature at
its last session passed a special act
giving Northampton county an Ad-
ditional Law Judge, which act Cover.
nor Hoyt approved and promptly ap.
pointed General Reeder one of the
pets of the Republican party to the
new judgeship thus created. Now If
it was SO clear that northampton
county with a population of hut TO-
316 needed an Additional Law Judge
that it was necessary to rush through
a special act for that purpose, it can.
not be 20 clear that Crawford and
Erie with their population do not
need more judicial help that the Gov
ernor should make the increase a rea-
son for vetoing a general apportion.
ment bill required by the constitution.
Whenever a county constituting a sep
arate district increases in population
and business to that extent that one
law judge cannot do all the business
As rapidly as it should be done there
Is no remedy but to give such "A county
an Additional Law Judge-the dis
trict cannot be decreased in size as
may be done with a district composed
of several small COUNTIES. In every
instance where such increase is neces-
sary, the work for two judges will be
light at first. No county from having
only work sufficient for one Judge.
ever increased at once to having full
'nork for two Judges. BY the consti-
tn,ion FfTe-iegislaiureis made The sole
judge Of the necessity for such in
crease.
But the Governor objects generally
to the increase of judges provided for
by the bill. As an argument against
it he states that the number of Judges
in Pennsylvania exceeds the whsle
number of judges in all the Federal
Courts Of the United States, and that
the salaries paid judges in Pennsylva.
MIA exceed the salaries paid all the
judges in the Federal Government by
more than 100000 per annum. 1t
would have been equally true, equally
sensible and pertinent, if he had said
that the number of judges in the little
county of Philadelphia exceeded the
number Of judges in the great terrific
ry of Ethiopia, and that the salaries
paid in Philadelphia far exceeded the
amount of judicial salaries paid in
Ethiopia. The Federal courts have
jurisdiction over but n few questions,
and a few kind of cases while the
State courts have to deal with all
questions, both criminal and civil.
The number Of causes tried annually
in the courts of Pennsylvania no
doubt far exceed the whole number of
cases tried in all the federal courts.
The Governor says that when this
legislature met there were seventy.
seven law judges in Pennsylvania and
that this bill makes eighty-six, an in
crease of nine. This is not honest or
candid. There was an increase of
t,eo the additional law Judge in
Northampton and a second Orphans
Court judge in Allegheny, made by
special acts which the Governor APP
proved before the passage of this bill,
so the actual increase made by this
bill was only seven instead of nine.
The new constitution having made
population of 10000 inhabitants the
basis of judicial district, If the APP
portionment does not give more judges
than one to every 10000 ii cannot be
said to violate even the spirit Of the
constitution Re the cansua of IQQn