Telegram-herald., 1891-01-16

o<Asr canAs Wake - - - ksi1 ~ -
4~>skse sgstsnA
Gnnd Rspids i nos Aloae n seeking
relief frou tie ss1aoas fse sysssn ia
lust,css eoaxts- Even caicsxo. notori-
oas3y insens4bis - the exAs<nee Of
many radical wroaxs. Is aroused over
the sbomin.bas inequalities and
fAvorisisin II the relic OF fendsiisln per-
soaiEed IN the modern jussices' eourts-
30 grave and pronounced have the evils
becoms. thai Judge Aiigeld. of thai
city, hzs, Of h.s own solltson, prepared
. b Il 10 oe submitted 70 the Legislature
OF Illinois. winch - calculated 10 arrest
and eventually stop altogether the evil
practices howlhg from the present
system.
la speaking of the proposed change,
Judge Altgeid says:
''Juslsce. Is administered by the
justices Of the peace Of this city, Is :
disgrace to Chicago and scandal upon
our civilization. Not that want To be
understood as condemnsng the men
who hold those Offices; il - the system
that is To blame.
q have now under my hand the
rough draft OF bill that will be intro
duced in the general assembly in = lev
days 10 provide . remedy for the evils
OF this abominabie outrage on the rights
Of the American people. and especially
poor people. cannot give you copy
Of the bill. for haven't it ready, but
will cay that 1t contempiates dong
away entirely with the fee system that
id the root OF the evil. 1t will provide
for the payment of salaries Of justices
OF the peace, and TO constables Us well /,
these salaries to be graded according 10
the amount OF business done at each
Office, the same 10 be fixed by the
judges of the superior court, who are
the appointing power. You will readily
sec that this change will remove the
officials almost as far away from the
influence OF litigants as the judges OF
the higher courts are removed. AS
business - done now, each justice has
to depend on fees for his living. and
each IS therefore placed under certain
amount OF obligation to litigants who
bring them cases. In each Office there
are constables who derive livelihood
from the same source, who are always
hungry for fees and whose business
methods are OF the most disreputable.
''ln Baltimore they made partial
reform of the justice system by doing
away with fees in criminal cases. The
records of the city showed $4,000 ar
rests during the year previous to the
reform, and only little more than 81 (
thousand the year following; in other
words. nearly so per cent. of the arrests
were made for the purpose of furnish
ing fees to the Justices and constables.
This shows enough of the system to
make any community demand a
change.
1.-THE people who arc most injured by
this ubiquitous system are the poor.
The justice court is the poor mans
court, and l must say that some of
these people are literally robbed. They
are hauled into court without prOvoca-
ton or cause, kept there without cause,
and finally decided against only for the
few dollars of costs that they will be
made to pay. They have really no re-
dress. for if they should appeal to q
higher court it will cost them still more
whether they win or lose.
1--WE always try to get good men for
justices. but the temptation is strong to
try to drum up business, and the sys-
tenn of levying tribute upon litigants
has grown so common that even some
very good men take to it without hest
tation."
In many other cities the cry for a
change in the system is raised. 1t is
evident that modern civilization will
not longer submit to tedious exactions
from the poorer class of litigants.
Senator Doran will introduce his bill
changing the system in this city at an
early day.