Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-01-22
THE JUDICIARY.


The Constitution provides for three
Justices of the Supreme Court. 1t was
adopted when the State had less than
one-twelfth of its present population.
There has been, of course, a correspond.
ing increase of litigation, and as con-
sequence the Supreme Court Justices
have imposed upon them labors and re-
sponsibilities not only everlasting, but
Inconsistent with that deliberatiOn, re-
search and study which ought to wait
on their judgments. Article III of the
Constitution should be so amended as to
authorize five Justices of the Supreme
Court.
There is grave complaint, also, con.
corning the unequal division Of judicial
labor between our District judges. In
four or FIVE of the eighteen Districts the
Judges are overburdened with work,
while in some of the other Dis
tric.s the labors of the Judges
are light. 1t is probable that we
have enough District Judges to discharge
all the duties devolving on them with
ease if these duties were equally dis
tributed. A general and equita bic re-
districting of the State, so as to fairly
apportion its judicial labor, would be the
best method Of remedying the evil com.
planned of. If this cannot he accom-
plished, something should be done to re-
iieve the Judges in those districts where.
with courts almost constantly in session,
and business dispatched with the utmost
expedition, it is impossible to keep the
dockets clear.
REVISION OF LAWS.
10, hao,, No o,fbori 1aI royic1op
of the statutes since 1868. The work of
that year was not only revision, but
also a partial codiication. An author
lied revision, at an early day, is impera-
lively required, and the time is fast ap-
preaching when the whole body OF the
law should assume statutory form. This
subject is now attracting much attention
throughout the country, and many of
the most enlightened lawyers and jur-
lists are favorable to coditication. In this
comparatively new State, we have thirty.
one volumes of Supreme Court Reports,
with enough material in decided cases to
make two more volumes. 1t now re-
quires, yearly, two volumes of over 800
pages each, to keep up with the decided
cases, although very little space is given
to briefs, and most OF them are entirely
omitted. In our sister States the accum-
ulation of Reports keeps pace with our
own, SO that in State and Federal Re-
ports about one hundred new volumes
are ad led, each year, to the legal litera-
ture of the country. A very large part
of each volume consists of the
arguments of the Judges as to
what the law is upon particular subjects,
and the opinions are made up largely of
the arguments of other Judges or of
great lawyers, which are scattered
through thousands of volumes of Re-
ports and textbooks, and which are
often quite conflicting. 1t results that
the difficulty of ascertaining the law on
any particular subject is increased rather
than diminished by the multiplication
of reports and treatises. 1t would seem
that, with the immense wealth of legal
learning now afforded by our great law
libraries, code of laws sufficient to de-
fine the rights and obligations of every
person, in all the relations of life and of
business, might be framed, which should
be embraced within the compass of two
or three convenient volumes. This
would relieve the Appellate Courts from
the greater part of their drudgery, and
would also very much tighten the labor
of the inferior courts. When the work
of revision is again commenced, it would
be good policy to further extend the
system of codihcation as far as practi-
cable.
One of the most tedious and oEerous
duties devolving upon Clerks of the Dis
trict Courts and Justices of the Peace is
the taxation of costs, embracing in some
cases hundred items or more, of few
cents each Sometimes the taxation of
costs involves more labor than all other
services in the case, and the system is so
complicated and intricate that it rarely
occurs that any two officers, however
honest and capable, tax the costs at the
same amount, ever approximately. If
the fees of an officer were SO grouped to-
gether in the law as to consist of two or
three items only, there would be great
saving of time and labor, and the officer
and the litigant understanding how
much the law allowed the officer to COL
lect and required the litigant to nay,
both would be better satisfied.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
Every Governor of the State during
the past ten years has called the atten-
ton of the Legislature to, and advised
a repeal or modification of, the act of
March 2, 1872, which abo.ishes capital
punishment by indirection. In my
Judgment it would be better to abolieb
the death penalty absolutely than Is 49,
tinue in force the present law.
THE PARDoNING POWER.
The Constitution vests the par10ning
power in the Governor, under regula-
tons and restrictions prescribed by law"
Such regulations and restrictions should,
it seems to me, include a tribunal of
some character through which all ap-
plications for pardon should come to the
Governor. The granting or refusal of a
pardon is SO grave responsibility that it
should not be decided without the most
thorough and patient investigation and
consideration. Very often the Chief
Executive cannot, with due regard for
other duties of his position, devote the
necessary time to this work. And in any
event, the ends of justice would be much
more effectively subserved if he could
have the benefit of the advice and coun-
sci of responsible tribunal charged
with the duty Of investigating the al
legged facts or reasons on which an ap-
plication for pardon is based, and re-
porting to him its findings and con-
clusions.