Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-02

provement upon the present methods 0
litigation; but imagine very few will
take kindly to the suggestion offered a.
the recent meeting of the State Ba
Association, to establish an appellant
court through which all cases must pass
before reaching the supreme court
With only two courts it requires from
three to five years to reach final ad
justment of any case of great lmpor
tance, and if there were third the time
would probably be extended to seven
possibly ten years. myself have haC
everything l possess involved for the
past three years in a lawsuit, and, not.
withstanding there have been two de
cisions of the supreme court and one o
the lower court in my favor, am tolC
by my attorneys that it will be at leas
another year before the matter is settled
beyond appeal. All of this, too, on 6
mere legal technicality in the face of the
fact that my equity was so clear and un
mistakable that any intelligent, honest
man would have decided the case in ter
minutes.
Under these circumstances it is but
natural that l should give the matter ol
our judicial system Cor lack of system,
| good deal of thought. and the result
has been that have formulated sys-
tenn that, am satisfied, has very many
advantages over that now in use, the
chief of which are the following:
First. In every case speedy decision
will be reached, and, in at least half Of
them, the decisions will be just.
Second. 1t will greatly lessen the
cost of litigation and to great extent
prevent crime, for the certainty that
punishment would be meted out to al
least half of them, would have very
salutary effect upon the criminal
classes.
Third. 1t would greatly reduce the
number of courts and abolish the office
of that Unsuitable vampire, the court re-
porter.
would have in every county two de-
partments, civil and criminal, but sc
expeditiously would the business be
disposed of that in all, except three OF
four of the most populous counties, one
judge would be able to preside over both
| departments. AS is the case now, q
man would need to have no special
knowledge of the law to make him
eligible to the office of Judge. In addi-
ton to the judge and clerk, the only
other adjuncts of the court would be a
| blind boy and a lottery wheel. In the
wheel of the civil department there
would be one hundred cards of equal
size, on fifty of which would be printed
the words 'For the plaintiff" and on
the others the words "For the defend
ant" In the wheel of the criminal de-
partment fifty of the cards would have
printed on them the words "Not
guilty." and the others the word
Guilty" The court being in session,
when case was called by the clerk
the blind boy, after revolving
the wheel rapidly a few times,
would thrust in his hand and draw out
a card; when this was handed to the
Judge he would announce, ''For the
plaintiff" 'For the defendant y
f'Guilty' or "Not guilty." as was indi-
Gated by the card which had been
drawn. The clerk having entered the
finding would proceed to call the next
case. AS fifteen minutes would afford
ample time for the trial of any case, one
Judge would be able to dispose of al
least fifteen cases day, or three hun.
dred per month. In this way every
case could be tried within twenty-foul
hours after it was placed on the docket
would of course provide for appeals
but the supreme court would be similar
to the lower court in it's method o
transacting business, and as each of it,
| two departments could try three hun
dred cases per month they would never
be behind. Thus there would be nc
possibility of any case lingering in the
courts more than week or ten days
In addition to the advantages that
have already enumerated, / think the
knowledge that such speedy justice (ol
retribution) will be accorded them will
deter many from "going to law"
am aware that the plan will in 6
great measure take away the occupa
tion of the illegal fraternity" but ]
contend that if need be the state car
support them as pensioners for much
less than is now paid them for "obstruct
ing litigation"
The jury, that "grand bulwark O
criminal liberty" would relegate tt
the limbo land of the lost and un
lamented, as the grandest illusion of any
age.
All candid persons who have takel
note of the defects and abuses of ou
present system, the purchase of courts
and the bribery OF juries, must at one,
recognize the great superiority of tn
one l have described above, but ever
thisis open to abuses, for the Judge nigh
be bought or the blind boy educated t.
distinguish the difference between tn,
feeling of guilty" and mot guilty
card. 1 am making still further i'm
provements, and hope that before the
next meeting of the legislature 1 shal
be able to perfect "slot-and-nickle'
machine that will dispense with tn
judge and the blind boy.
If l am successful with this latter i'm
provement, the plaintiff, by dropping
twenty-dollar gold piece into the ma
chine with his complaint, may at onc
receive the judgement of the court.
As the HERALD is progressive jour
nal, shall hope to have the weight O
its influence in procuring the adoption
of the above. Yours truly, SIMPLEX.
NO SPECTACULAR WEDDINGS