The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-01-22

SEate, which would otherwise in large part
pass away with the lapse Of time. The entire
collections of the society are the property OF
d the State. and the most valuable pOrC OTS OF
them arc tie free gifts OF lis members and
other voluntary contributors. These coliec-
tons already lncllGe over l6-UsJ books. news
paper files. and pamphlets. nearly all relating
to or connected with the history and devel-
orment of the State. The people. believe,
approve any reasonable apPro opristoGs fo-
continuing the work of TIE HistorlcGl So
. c.CJy.
DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS.
State officers are required by law 10 men
ton in their reports TO the Legislature such
apparent defects, Inconsistencies, omissions,
or Unequal or oppressive provisions OF law
as they may have discovered Il is alleged
taat very few suggestions and rccoTlaau5a-
tons made under this requirement 10y officers
~ the head of various departments Ot the
STATE Government have secured the atten-
ton OF the iaT-Iaaking power. This. pfOba-
bly,. is cue 70 the fact that il is often diff
cult 20 interest members of the Legislature in
measures not coming within the scope Of their
own personal experience or knowl- now
TO appoint a Legislative Committee
charged with the special duty of
considering the suggestions ana rccOIpmeE-
dations thus mace and Before which the
officers at Jac heads CT the various depart
nlents might appear. and verbally present
their viewsI surely the results Of the OBJ
SerTat-oaS and experience OF the department
chiefs would frequently be o. great 5eneit
to the law-HaAiHs power III the discharge on
its duty.
TIE JUDICIARY.
The Constitution provides for three Jus
tees o. TIE Sjeprcile Court. 1t WaS adopted
when thc STATE had less than cnc-;wCiith OF
its Prcsen. population. Tncrc has been, Of
course. Il cOrrn- spending increase ~ Eli.-l-
zion. and IS consequence the Supreme
Court Justices E3vc imposed upon them
labors and rcSpOns. b.iit.CS not only over
tasking but inconsistent with that dcliDer;t-
ton. research ami study which ought 10 wait
Oh their judgments. Article OF tie cOnSti-
tuition should be 50 amendeCt s. 20 authorize
five Justices OF the supreme C0Urt.
There is a graVeconP Piaint. alS=2, concerning
the unequal division Of judicial labor be-
tween our district Judges. In four or five OF
the eighteen districts the Judges are over
Duriened with work, while in some OF the
other districts the labOrs of the judges are
light u is probable that we have enough
district judges TO discharge all the duties
de"OlviDg on them with ease l. these duties
were equally distributed. general and
equitable rcdiStricJing OF the State, so IS TO
fairly appOrtion it's judicial labor. would lie
the best method OF remCdying the evil com
planned OF. II this can not be accom- p9ished.
something should be done to relieve the
judges in those districts where, with courts
almost constantly in session. and business
dispatched with the utmost expedition il is
impossible to keep the Gockets clear.
REVISION OF LAWS.
There has been no authorized revision of
the statutes since lsuS The work of that
year was not only Il revision, but also par
iial cOditicGtiOn. An authorized r3viSiOn, at
al early day, is imporatiyely required, and
the time IS fast approaching when the whole
body OF the law should assume a statutory
form. This subject is now attracting much
attention throughout the country, and many
OF the most enlightened lawyers and juTistS
are favorable To codihdation. In this con-
paratyely new State, we have thirty
volumes OF supreme Court Reports, with
enough material in decided cases to make
two more volumes. 1t now requires, yearly.
two volumes of over 500 pages each, 10 keep
up with the decided cases, although very lii;
tie space is given to briefs, and most of them
are entirely omitted. In our sister states
the accumulation of Reports keeps pace with
cur own so that III State ahd Federal Reports,
about one hundred new volumes are added
each year 70 the legal literature Of the coun-
try. y very large part OF each volume con-
siSts of the arguments Of the judges as
to what the law is upon particular
subjects, and tie opinions are made
other Judges or of great lawyers. which
are scattered through thousands of volumes,
of reports and text books, and which are
often quite conflicting. II results that the
difficulty of aScertaining the law on any
particular subject is increased rather than
diminished by the multiplication of reports
ana tTcatiScS. 1t would seem that with the
immense wealth of legal learning now af-
forded by our great law Libraries, a code of
laws sufficient to define the rights and obliga--
tons of every person, in ali the relations of
life and business, might be framed, which
should be embraced within the compass OF
two or three convenient volumes. This
would relieve the appellant courts from the
greater part of their drudgcry. and would
also very much tighten the labor of the in
feriOr courts. When the work OF revision is
again commenced. il would bc good policy to
further extend tEe system or cOdIncdtOn aS
far as possible.
FEES.
One of the most tedious and CrcrOus dutie
dcyolving upon clerks of the Districts Court
and Justices OF the Peace is the taxation OF
costs, embracing in some cases Il hundred
items or more, OF few cents each. Some
times the taXatlon OF costs involves mere
labor than all the other services il the case,
and the system is so complicated ard. intri-
cate that it rarely occurs that any two Off
GERS, however honest and capable, tax the
costs ut the same amount even approx
lnatcly. il the fees of an officer were so
grouped together in the law as to consist on
two or three items only there would be
great saving OF time and labor ard the OFF,
Ger and the iitigant understanding how much
the law allowed the officer to collect and re-
qu:red the litigant TO pay, both would be bet
ter satisfied.
CAPITAL. PUNISHMENT.
Every Governor of the State during the
past ten years has called che attention of the
the Legislature To. and advised Il repeal or
modification Of, the act Of March =, lS.-, which
abCliShes capital punishment by iniirectOn.
IN my Judgment It would be better to abol-
iah the death penalty absolutely than.to COLI
tinue i'll force the present law.
THE PAtDONING POWER.
The constitution ycstSthc pardoninC power
in the Governor, under regulations and re-
tons and restrictions should, it sccEs TO ne,
include Il tribunal OF some character through
which all Applications for parGonS should
cCBe 20 the Governor. The grintng or re-
f;.saI of a pardon is so grave Il possibility
thar il should not be decided without the
most thorough and patient investigation GDi
consideration. Very often the Cn ef EIecu-
tive can not, with due regard fO- other duties
Of his position. tcvOte ;he necessary timc to
this work. And in any event, tine endS OF
Justice would be much more effectively sub
served if he could have the benefit OF the Rd-
vice ana counsel of Il responsible. tribune
charged with the Guty OF investigating the
alleged facts or reasons on which an applica-
tion for Il pardon is based, and reporting It's
findings ana conclusions.
PURPOSES OF CORPORATIONS.
Almost every Legislature amends previous
acts defining the purposes Tor which corpo-
raJIouS may be formed, 50 as to. embrace
neH CLASSES Of enterprises. 1t would be well
to provide. once for ali, as in Colorado, that
corporations may be formed "for any lawful
purpose.
The prevailing rates of interest throughout
the country seem to require L reduction in
this State to sax per cent as the legal rate, or
not exceeding ten per cent. by special coR-
tract III writing. instead OF tho existing rates
OF seven per cent. and twelve per cent. res
pectively.
IMPROVEMENTS by OCCUPYING CLAIMANTS.
The assessment of the value OF improve
ments made by occupying claimants is under
the present regulations, very expensive and
often unsatisfactory. Twelve jurors are
draw n and summoned from the body of tae
county. unl they are required 10 view the
LreiuiseS ans! report certain findings of fact.
some OF which can not be sSccrtali,ed except
from testimony, or from the conflicting
STATEMENTS of interested parties rot under
oatn And yet there Is no provision made
for compelling The attendance OF witnesses,
aud the mode Of procedure is vague and i'll
definite
THE CRIMES ACT.
Oar crimes act originally brought over
1-=S N~xATN
much attoutiOp from the Legislature. Ii
needs revision and amendment. But your
attention will be called only TO one import
ailt point that has teen the subject OF much