Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-04

spoke of the impossibility of the Supreme
| Court taking care of its cases. stating tnat
there were 1900 cases on the docket, and that
it takes three and half years before case
can be reached. THE best" said he, that
can be expected of the Justices at present IS TO
dispose of as many cases as are added, whcn,
of course, leaves the same number always
pendingn
MAKING BETTER PROGRESS.
The Chief Justice thinks that the court is
now disposing of few more cases than tor
some time past, but says it has been hampered
by not having the full number of Judges on the
bench. He referred TO the proposition OF
dividing the Court into sections, either 1ncreas-
ing the number of Judges or leaving the num-
Der as it is, and allowing the sections to pass
upon certain classes of cases, the court as a
whole having TO dispose of constitutional dueS-
tions, or the opinions in all cases to be exam
ined by the whole court and said that such
division might result in reducing the docket
somewhat, but he thought it would detract from
the dignity and weight of the tribunal, and
would probably add to the labors of the Judges,
instead of tightening them. As to the PROPOSE
tlon Tor the creation OF an intermediate ap-
pellate patent court at Washington, which
would find the facts and to that extent simplify
the work upon appeal. the Chief Justice thought
that this would probably reduce the work one
sixth. He spoke in high terms of the late Sen
ator Davis bill for the formation of an inter
termediate appellate court, and he SAID that
such court had proven successful In illinois.
JUSTICE JOSEPH P. BRADLEY
has been on the Supreme Bench for 20 years.
and is regarded as one of the most learned
jurists in the country. Although a years of
age he is extremely active, and does more work
in a day than the average man of 80 Judge
Bradley is essentially self-made man. and the
attainment of his present position is the result
of his own indefaCigable efforts prosecuted
often under the most adverse circumstances
His knowledge of patent law and mechanical
devices is prodigious, and he figured with
especial prominence during the recent patent
litigations before the court. l called upon him
at his residence on street last night, and he
stopped from his legal tasks in the midst of
pile of law volumes to give me his views.
Said he:
Although either Of the measures before
Congress would relieve the surplus business
before the court, would draw up measure
different from either of them If the matter
were in my charge. The members Of the court
feel oppressed with the enormous quantity OF
cases before the tribunal.
TRULY A SLAVES LIFE.
81 am up at o'clock in the morning and do
an hours work before breakfast, after which
go directly back to work again and continue at
it until go to the court After it has ad-
journed for the day the opinions are to be
written, and am here in this library continu-
ously after dinner until midnight. 1t is
slaves life. The public has very little idea of
the slavery of judges life. Sitting in open
court, as you see, is not half the job.
"If the court we're divided into three
branches" continued Judge Bradley, 'three
justices would have to do the entire work of its
section, including the writer of opinions, which
Is the hardest part of the work. 1t would, OF
course, facilitate the work, but the judges
labors would be increased even much beyond
..1,n.,, haa
sented, to my knowledge SO far, which is en-
tirely free from objection, but all the justices
are of the unanimous opinion that some ex-
pedient should be adopted to afford relief.
A CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION.
There is difference of opinion as to the
constitutionality of any measure to divide up
the court for facilitating its business and the
Constitution says there shall be one Supreme
Court only. The highest courts in England
and France. however are divided up into
number of courts The English High Court of
Justice, for instance, is divided into a dozen
branches whers equity, criminal, ecclesiasti-
cal admiralty and other cases are tried separ-
ately. and the English have court OF appeals
above and as a par- of their High Court of
Justice, which is their highest tribunal next to
the House of Lords. The Cessation Court of
France is divided up into several departments.
Justice Brewster though the youngest of the
Judges comes fresh from the law, and he is
perhaps the best representative of the feeling
of the people as to the hackwardness of the
business before the court Said he: "The con-
dition of the Supreme Court business is an out
rage upon the people. Cases are not reached
tor from three to four years after they are
placed upon the docket, and the greatest of in-
Justice often results from such delays.
TWILL CITE ONLY ONE
instance, and that is in life insurance cases. A
man insures his life with the idea that if he is
n fncn rvil1 for ~
support of his wife and the education of his
children. He insures, we say, for Sc, 900 in two
or three companies. He then goes on with his
work, satisfied that his children are provided
for. He dies, and for some reason or other the
insurance companies refuse to pay the money.
Suit is brought and decided in favor of the de-
ceased. The case is appealed by the rich cor
poration. 1t comes before our court, and it
takes four years for us to reach it. By the time
it is settled the children who were to be edu-
Gated by this money nave grown up and the
wife, it may be, has lived in the most destitute
of circumstances The lawyers throughout
the country are interested in the question, and
it is a question which ought to be settled by
the present Congress. This is the long session
of Congress- and it is the first session after the
Presidential election, when there usually is
much business and little politics. [ have
thought over the matter for years, and the
opinion have is not the result of the short
time have spent in washington on the bench.
the other Justices.
FAITH IN INTERMEDIATE COURTS.
Ibelieve there should be interme date ap
pellate courts" continued Judge Brewer, TN
each of the districts, to decide all cases of a
limited amount, their decision being subject to
appeal when the sums involved exceed that
amount or when great questions or great points
of law are involved. For instance, if such
courts had the settlement of all cases of $4,000
and under, the burden taken from the court
would be immense and in addition to this, if it
were possible would like 10 see, and l think
many of the other Justices are in favor of it,
an intermediate Court of Appeals for the
United States to sit upon patent cases here at
Washington. AS h is, One-fourth to one-fifth
of our business is made up of patent cases."
what should be the nature of these inter-
mediate courts? asked
'sSuch courts" replied Justice Brewer
"could easily be constituted. We have now
two classes OF District Courts-the District
Court proper, which tries only criminal cases,
and the Circuit Court which tries civil cases.
CIRCUIT COURTS FOR APPEALS.
at might be arranged to have the District
Courts made trial courts for both classes of
cases, and the Circuit Courts made courts of
appeal. Two Judges would need to be added
to each Circuit Court, making the number
expenses of our judicial system, and it would, L
think so reduce the volume Of the business
that we could manage il"
Justice Lamar was recovering from an at
tack of the grip when called upon, and his
voice was so hoarse that he couQ hardly speak.
He told me that there was no doubt of the i'm
mediate necessity of the court being relieved,
and he thought that a division OF the court
into sections, which should pass upon certain
cases, would be Of no avail, as these cases
would have again to be passed upon by the
whole court. and allowing them TO be decided
without being so passed upon, he said, he con-
sidered unconstitutional, and he seemed TO
favor the Davis bill, and believed that there
should be some kind Of an intermediate appel
late court or courts
FRANK G. CARPENTER.