Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1884-06-17
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.


To the Editors of the Appeal:
"When in the course of human events
it becomes necessary for our people," in
order to carry into effect section II, arti-
Gle ] OF the constitution of Tennessee,
which declares that "all courts shall be
open, and every man shall have
remedy by due course of Law, and right
and Justice administered without sale,
denial or delay" a decent respect to the
trust reposed in the dominant party by the
people of the State, requires that whit n
the old agencies fail they should be abol-
ished and the people afforded an opportu
nifty to establish new ones. Long ago the
accepted judicial policy was to keep up
the partition wall between law and equity
courts, out for years that wall has been
crumbling, and now, practically, it is
down. One may now sue in ChanCery on
legal as well as on an equity claim
at law, he may bring an equity suit for
the partition OF property, as Tor divorce,
slimony, the custody of children, ETC.
matters which involve the incest possible
questions OF equity and good conscience.
In most other suits, as in this, the old
technical rules oi pleading have heen
abolished, but they have very sensibly
gone further and require9that the courts
shall have separate law and equity dockets;
u
on the wrong side il il transferred on
motion to the other; ii an error in plead
ing has been made, it may be corrected as
soon as discovered, and the trial of The case
on its merits is &llowed 10 proceed. The
settled old forms, as well as the luxury OF
idle Judges end supertiGous officers, as
thereby dispensed with. True, under s.ioh
a state of things eminent judges might not
be the most honored guests on all festal
excursions, or even iinh time to 60 on all
occasions, everywhere, as hanored dele
gates to all kinds of humanitarian, scien.
tific or political assemblages; but we
might at, least realize the old-fashioned
idea of fair play and honest work.
Loag ago, when railroads were unknown,
the law very wisely provided that a term
of the Supreme Court should be held an
nually at Knoxville, another at Jackson,
and third at Nashville, to meet the con.
venience OF parties in the respective grand
divisions of the State, who had to go on
horseback 10 attend TO their cases, but
now there is no reason for this state os
things. We have a capitol at Nashville, it
belongs to the pecple of the whole State;
was built for and by them; the archives
of the State are there, a library is there,
and our Supreme Court should sit there,
where all its opinions can be seen and
known. There is no possible reason why
five supreme judges should daily sit for
hours, hearing long -winded statements of
the contents of voluminous transcripts,
then refer them to single judge
tc be worked up. and after time
sraveiy decided as the opinion of the
whole court, when, in iaet, the other
four, and it may be the fifth, don't know
what is in the record. There is no possi-
ble reason why system should be sub
mitted to from year to year, and from de-
cade to decade, under which the court is
eternaliy falling so far behind that in
sheer desperation parties interested viii
submit to commission courts, referee
courts, or il it were suggested, game of
''old sledge" to decide who should win.
There is no possible reason why any
abortive relief system should be adhered
to, which simply relieves the docket of
easy oall' cases, and relieves the indi-
yidual judges of the obligation to inyesti-
gate facts, but fails utterly to make ma
terial progress in the important litigation