The Portland daily press., 1890-03-12
The sIddeford Municipal court.

The act creating the municipal court for
the city of Biddeford is found in Chapter ISL
of the Public Laws of this State. The act
provides that it shall be a court of record
with one Judge; and specifics the extent
and nature of its jurisdiction.
Section of the act provides that
~ shat be the duty of the judge of said court to
make and keep the records OF said court or cause
the same to be made and kept, and to perform an
DINER duties required Of similar tribunals and
copies OF the records of said court duly Certified
by the Judge shall be legal evidence in all courts
Section 8 of the act provides that
The judge shall appoint recorder, who shall
De Justice Of the peace and quorum duly quail
Heai VINO snail be sworn by said Judge and who
quested SO TO do by said judge
1t is obvious enough that in this court the
judge is the only recording officer recognized
by the act The recorder is sort of spare hand
held in reserve for emergencies. The Judge
may call upon HIM to make the record and
he may call upon him to perform the judicial
duties of the court All his records when
acting by request Of the judge as recording
officer must be certified to by the Judge
before they are legal evidence in the
courts He is in no legal sense
of the term clerk of the court That is evil
dent enough from the language of the act,
and 1t is made still more evident by the fact
that when the legislature intended to make
clerk for municipal court, as in the case of
the Lewiston court, it distinctly provided
that "clerk" should be appointed with all
the powers and duties of ''clerks of the Su-
preme Judicial courts" 1t being shown
then that the municipal court of Bddeford
has no officer distinct from the Judge who is
entitled TO be denominated clerk, it remains
to consider whether a court in which the
Judge Is recording officer as well as Judge
can be construed to be a court having clerk
within the meaning of the act of Congress
which declares what courts are competent
to naturalize aliens. The reliance of those
who contend that it can is upon case de-
cided in Massachusetts by the law court of
that State in which Chief Justice Shaw de-
livered the opinion of the court The chief
question there in dispute was whether the
police court of Lowell had clerk within the
meaning Of the Act Of Congress. In the
course of the opinion, after deciding that the
c0ufSYas court of record with a seal, Chief
Justice Shaw said:
The only other requisite for the Act of Congress
is that such court shall axe. clerk or prothono-
tary. This clause requires, we not that ths
court shall have an office denominated 4 ~etsrk or
prothonotary, but recording officer charged sszAhu
the duty OF Keeping true record of its dongs and
aiteiward authentieating hem. 1t might be urged
with some pausibility that il the Judge is special
ly vested by law with the clerical AUTHORITY. the
court has aclerk within the letter and equity Of
the statute.
1t turned out, however, that by subse-
quent statute which the directors to the
power Of the Lowell court to naturalize had
apparently overlooked that that court had
been authorized to appoint clerk and haa
actually appointed one, and it was on this
ground entirely that the Massachusetts court
affirmed the competency Of the Lowell court.
1t has been inferred in some quarters from
the language Of Chief Justice Shaw quoted
above that the Massachusetts court inclined
to the opinion that court, like the Bidde-
ford court. in which the judge is Soth Judge
and recording officer, might be properly con-
strued to be court having a clerk within
the meaning Of the Act of Congress, and 1t is
upon this Inference entirely that those who
afiirm the right Of the Biddeford court In
naturalize rest their case.
In 1854. however, ten years after N. ..sa
cited above, Judge 3. B. Curtis OF the TTn,,sS
States Circuit Court and Judge Snragra ~
the District Court were called upon to de-
eide as to the competency of the police conIt
of the city of Lynn to naturalize. The on,n.
ion of the court was delivered by Judge Chr
It's and concurred in by Judge Sprsgue. II
is so exactly applicable to the case of the
Biddeford court, and so thoroughly disposes
of any inference from Chief Justice Shaw's
opinion which might be drawn in support of
the competency of the Biddeford court to
naturalize that we quote it in full:
This is an application by Michael Gregg,
an alien, to be naturalized. To show COM
pliance with the requirement of the Act of
Congress to make a previous declaration of
intention to become naturalized, he produces
paper which pqrports to be copy of a
of the city of Lynn, in the State of Massa-
chusetts. 1t is admitted by the petitioner
that 7. b; Newell, Esq. who signed the
paper as clerk, was also judge of the police
court, and that there was no other Judge or
clerk thereof at the time.when the petition