The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-02-13
THE INDIANA SUPREME COURT.
What Reporter Dice and Judge Elliott Have
To Say Of the Work and the Reports.

IT want to say something about the value of
my office" said F. M. Dice, reporter of the Su-
preme Court, to journal reporter yesterday
Its good paying Office, it is true, but there's
not nearly the money in it most people suppose.
In the first place only thirteen hundred copies
of each volume of reports are issued. Of that
number the State takes $40, of which the Secre-
tary of State sends out two to each county in
the State and one to each court in the State.'
And the remainderl"
''The remainder, after that distribution, are
turned over to the law librarian. These he eX-
changes with other States for their reports and
also keeps up the current text books for the
library and the use of the Supreme Court. You
will that leaves only no for to sell to the
lawyers or really only 700 as about 70 are left
over. Sometimes hundred are left, as the de-
mand varies. The Office is not sinecure. Be
sides my own work keep three clerks. While
| have been in office, now three years and one
month. I have got out eighteen volumes
of reports-that is, an average of six volumes a
year. Even now there is complaint that do not
get them out rapidly enough Some time ago
there was article in one of the city papers
saying that each decision was the individual
opinion of the judge who rendered it., That is
not correct Each opinion is read in consulta-
ton with every member of the bench, aud the
opinion is reached by majority of the court
before 1t is filed in the Supreme Court Clerks
office. This court has never had its just deserts.
There is no harder working set of men in the
State and if that fact was understood do not
believe it would receive the censure that it has.
L can afford to talk freely, because 1 do not
intend to be candidate for denomination. Mr..
Browder, my deputy, who has been in office
eleven years, first under Colonel Black, Repub-
ican, then under MI. Martin, Democrat, and
now with me- will be candidate for the Repub-
hcan nomination l have had the Office while
the commission has been in existence, which
will make my term almost equivalent to two
terms, and as I do not wish to be candidate
will so announce it."
Meeting Judge Byron K. Elliott: II wish"
said the Judge, you would correct an impress
sion that is given by the Journal. The truth is,
before an opinion is rendered every case is care
fully gone over and the full bench consulted. The
Supreme Court passes upon /, 100 cases each year.
There is no court in the land that do as much
work as we do. The commissioners do not abso-
lutely relieve us, as we are responsible for their
pass upon the commissioners opinions. The Re
porter of the court is always about sixty days be-
hind u.s. None of the old bench worked as hard
as we of the present bench. We keep well up
with our work, and are now delivering opinions
on cases submitted in November. Our docket
next term will be much smaller and the system
of reporting pursued in Indiana ranks as high as
any IN the country, really better than any, being
eerfrom typographical and other errors as every
citation and quotation is carefully verified. 1t
is not in the power of the Supreme Court to re
form law. If more capable men were elected
as prosecutors there would be fewer blunders
made in indictments, and consequently fewer
appeals would be taken The trouble is with
the law, which says every person of good
moral character, being voter, shall be emit
tied to admission to practice law in all courts of
Justice That is the root of all the evil in In
diana 1t is the most consummate piece of dem
agogy ever fabricated No knowledge of law re-
quired, you see Here is another thing to in
crease our work. In nearly all the States of the
Union parties are required to print much of
their record as they desire the court to examine,
and, if they fail to do So the court is not re-
quired to examine it, Here the cases frequently
come to us not merely written, but written and
arranged in exceedingly troublesome shape.
Cases come to us that would make old Lord
Coke rustic in his grave.
'In Ohio there is the same number of judges
and commissioners five of each, as in this State,
and they file only about three hundred opinions
yearly while our court renders many more than
three times that number. Mr.. John Norton
Pomeroy of the University of California, one of
the ablest lawyers in the United States, has
praised Indiana again and again for the liberal
spirit in which its Supreme Court constructs the
code. 1t is section 3, article of our constitu-
ton that sends so many cases to the Supreme
Court, and multiplies the work of that bench
1t says: The Supreme Court shall, upon the
decision of every case, give a statement in writ
ing of each question arising in the record of such
case and the decision of the court thereon Thus
case after case comes to the court that were the
needed change made in the constitution would
otherwise be summarily disposed Of"