Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-01-27
LAW REFORM.
TIE NECESSITY FOR SPEEDY AND RADr-
CAL cRANGES
cunbsrsoms Modes Of Procedure-virginia
Tagging B~shind-Ths Simpler Admin
istration Of Justice the Better.
To The Editor Of the Dispatch:


-
To The Editor Of the Dispatch:
Retrospective habits Of thought have
| pIaved an important part in law-making
in Virginia, hut daily experience is rapid
|, convincing those who come IN contact
with our law courts OF the imperative me-
cessity for speedy and radical changes in
the present forms of procedure, so that
tie solemn jugglery which suited the
imagination OF the eighteenth century
may give place to the practical convent
ence OF everyday life. Our legislators
have from the foundation OF the Com
monwealth been dazzled by the reverence
which surrounds Coke and Sir William
Blackstone. both believers in witchcraft.
There is a movement of law reform on
foot all over the world, in which Virginia
has taken an infinitesimal part. 1t is
chiefly in the sodes Of procedure. Ours
are nearly ms cumbersome and unwieldy
as they we're in colonial times. a ma
iority of the States OF the American
Union have adopted what is known as
| code plcading. The difference between
our STYLE of pleading and code plead
ina is as great az that between
travelling by canal and railroad. Water
TRANSPORTATION, however, is cheap
in this respect it is entirely unlike our
pleadiup. There is no reason IN 1t, and
very little Justice. 1t will take n good
LAWYER, who is an active, expert penman,
ten hours to bring ten suits on ten pro-
tested negotiable notes II he Drites and
files the declarations. The p%hraseology
of n declaration on an endorsed nego-
table note in its intense ~tautology and
weary length must have been originally
invented for a Judge who was an escaped
idiot but Notwithstanding this 1t Is as
unalterable as the laws of the Medes
and Persians. and sticks to the profess
sion like the shirt of Nessus. The
smallest variation in it may cause the
loss of the case or the term. There is
no Martin Luther in the law-reform
movement. but it is backed by the
irresistible pressure OF public opinion.
People who have business in the courts
nre tired Of hearing the sheriff open the
court as the same officer probably did on
September 30, 1066-the day after the
battle of Hastings. when Harold was no
more and Norman French was the
fashion under William the Conqueror.
Instead OF saying "Oyez! Oyez!!"
(Hear yel Hear We - he now
generally saws, so, yes! o, yes !"
having not the slightest idea what he
means. nor do any Of the uninltiated by
ISLANDERS. There are many anomalies OF
this kind. Section 1916, Code Of Vlr-
ginia, 1887. reads ono action shall
abate for want OF form where the deetard-
ton sets forth sufficient matter OF sub
stance for the court to proceed upon the
merits of the cause" This is what Is
called the statute of Jeofails, and is In
tended to cure bad pleading. But for
the pleader the miserable. moth-eaten
common law declaration is still his pro-
crastean bed. To read such stuff as this
well might Sir William Blackstone when
he began the study Of law bid farewellto
his muse and say:
"Adieu, celestial nymph, adieu!
Shakespeare 10 more thy sylvan son.
Nor an the art OF Addison,
Pope's heaven-strung Tyre, nor walters sase,
Nor MiltoDis mighty sef must please.
Instead Of those a formal band
In furs and colts around me stand.
With sounds uncouth and accents dry
That CRATE the soul Of harmony"
We have the underground of expe-
rience, and it is time for us to abolish
these senseless forms Of action.
Innovation within certain well-detined
limits is absolutely necessary to the safe
tv and we'll being of all free States. Ma
poleon thought that n nation should
change the tactical drill of its armies
once in ten years. Civilization is ne
cessarily progressive. Physicians have
long since abandoned the empiricism Of
S%ydenham.
instructions are generally wrong.
Revolutions are always right, for they
represent the moral force of the people
bent upon overthrowing some oppressive
grievance.
THE LEGAL REVOLUTION
now in progress as represented by tho
I'll kha .IaAI