The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-02-16

Atftft lHGIu Blu II llilS WHY. 4 Nou}H nave
the court enlarged to fourteen Judges
would have. say, five sit as appellate
Judges continuously, say for two years,
and then have them go on circuit and
i've other Of the judges Of the oour3 re-
place them.
l think the practice of having ten
judges in training in the trial of causes
IN the subordinate courts a good one
The Judges of the United States SUI
preme Court sit on cases in Circuit. OF
course the addition of five Supreme Court
judges would do away with the necessity
Tor The lay Judges.
s'The reasons for their presence on tho
court are obsolete y
When asked il he thought the Judges
sued the influence of their close relation
ship as coordinate officers OF subordi-
nate court in sustaining each others de-
cisions, Mr. COrbin replied
Log rolling among the supreme Court
Judgesg Oh, no; don't think that ex-
Councillor John Linn consented to be
interviewed. He said the Court was cum
bersome and unwieldy
He thought that the Court of Appeals
should be an indepenpat tribunal The
Court Of Appeals of the State of New
York was the mode of an appellant court.
The lay Judges he thought useless ap-
pendage. Their Judgment was largely
judges.
asked Mr. Linn if he thought the SUI
preme Court judges agreed among them
selves TO sanction each others decisions
and he said:
LOG ROLLING SUSPECTED.
I'VE lawyers all feel SO. OF course we
cannot say so positively. Ceraain decis-
ions on appeal have looked suspIciousIy
as If that were the case as certain in-
huences must be unconsciously at work.
No body of men can be associated inti-
mately without its presence It's
Mr.. Linn also said he advocated the
abolition of the Chaneery Court. Its
presence was an anachronism.
No palpabie distinction exists between
equity causes and law causes that a law
court was not competent to pass upon.
The very Masters in Chaneery were
merely lawyers trained in exactly the
same manner that practitioners before
the law courts were trained.
Ex-J Judge Garretson said that the re-
form Of the Judiciary had been talked of
for some time. Lawyers felt that some
reform was necessary, but had become
accustomed to he present practice.
No definite plans had been formulated
for the reform. He could not indicate
precisely the changes he would recon-
mend, as he had not thought of it lately.
and { I'D not express himself without
delIberdlion.
A CUMBERSOME FAILURE.
What people want are lawsuits as In
expensive aud free from appeals pos
sible," said Washington b. Williams.
The modern jury system is a cumbrous
failure in the trial OF civil controversies.
Il is expensive, inefficient, blundering
IL requires constant ingenuity of Judge
and counsel to keep it from laundering
1t involves great expense, and occasions
great delay, by having regular terms.
At the same time the united opinion of
several business men ON any given con-
troversy is valuable, and apt to be right.
How can we get small sized jury OF
good men? is the question. If this can be
done it will strike at the root of the great
sources of error and expense.
1t is great mistake to set cheap aud
ordinary Judge to try a cause the first
time. The best talent should be set To
work for the first trial and thus save
numerous appeals. There is no trouble
in securing good appeal judges, and hav-
ing appeals fairly heard, but to improve
the first trial is TO diminish the necessity
for appeal
Nothing is gained by attacking courts
ofeduity or chancery. You cannot abol-
ish the business those courts have to per.
form, and they are twice as important to
civil controversies as the court of law.
But all should be blended in one general
court of general power, acting in depart
ments and reinforcing one department
from another, and sitting all the time. witt
no regard to terms, so that the suetor
need never be turned out of court to be-
gin again, and need not wait term after
term while an accumulated mass of cases
are taking their turns. | would favor a
separate Court of Appeals, not because /
think it The best way, but because the
increase OF business seems to demand it. =