, 1892-03-12
COURTS OF LAW
Judge Conway Addresses tho High
School Pupils.
And Describes the Duties and
Functions of Court.
Apt Illustrations of Methods OF
Legal Procedure.

LII Epltc VI u1diShhhC iho
consciously swept over the plains around
Cheyenne and vicinity yesterday, a fairly
large number of visitors mingled with
pupils of the high school to listen to
Judge A. B. Conaway's address on State
aud Federal Courts"
When Miss Tough introduced Judge
| Conway, Just as the hands of the clock
touched the 3 o'clock mark. he was
greeted by q round of enthusiastic ap-
plause. After which he spoke succinctly
what follows:
''The last time I had the pleasure of
speaking to you collectively was last
| Arbor day, and the recollection OF that
occasion will ever linger as an evergreen
in the garden of my memory. In the
brief time allotted for me to explain. to
you something of the courts of this ooun-
try. 1 shall of necessity have to talk rap
idly. 1 am apprehensive that you will
think the law q very dull and dry subject.
but 1t is hone the less IN important one.
"When an explorer begins an expedi-
ton into some unknown country he gen
orally starts from, and in fact surveys
some point with which he Is quite familiar.
Consequently / shall start with a state
court of which your are all doubtless
more or less familiar. That is the court
OF a Justice OF the peace. This court is
the lowest one in our legal court %curricu-
lum, but it fills an %irreparable necessity
The speaker then detailed the powers
conferred upon a justice Of the peace in
Wyoming and in general and said from
an every day practical standpoint the
court of a Justice Ut the peace was one of
the most useful courts in the country.
1.-THE next tribunal we will consider is
the next highest one, the state district
court" Then the speaker again went
into the details of the functions of the dis
trict court. He very cleverly illustrated the
powers and duties of this court by pre-
Stunning a real case, in which Polly Hop.
kius sold a COW to Tommy Moore.
Tommy was to nay Polly $25, but when
the note was due Tommy rang in q
stand off. or rcbutted it, by saying another
one of Polly's COWS had broken into his
garden and destroyed 1875 worth OF cab
bage. He also showed what steps would
have to be taken in the case, should
Tommy be a resident of Colorado and
Polly OF Wyoming. Polly would have to
invite Tommy over the line into Wyo-
ming to a ball and then have him ar
rested.
The state supreme court was next dis
cussed. The supreme court tried no
cases, or If it did certain peculiar stipula-
tions occurred. Its main function was to
examine cases which had been tried BY
the court below. As a generality the
supreme court of the state heard no evil
dence, examined no witnesses, but simply
decided whether the case it was lnvesti-
eating had been properly disposed of by
the court below. If it was a civil case,
there had to be more than $1,000 in
volved. If it was in the criminal cata-
logue, 1t was different and could generally
be taken to the supreme court very easily.
This practically disposed of state courts,
and the next thing the speaker would
briefly touch upon was the federal courts.
There was no federal cou correspond
ing to the state justice of the peace. The
federal judicial system did have, however,
a board OF commissioners. hut upon this
feature he would touch very lightly for
the fact that he had very little time for
the discussion. The speaker very infinitely
described the process OF the United States
district court. and what it constituted to-
gether with its powers. Wyoming was
constituted into one district. Some of
the older states were divided into three
separate districts. All these districts
were presided over by a district Judge.
The next highest court in the federal
system was the United States circuit
court. The United States was divided
into nine circuit districts. These nine
districts were presided over BY circuit
judges and each district was also looked
after by one of the associate justices of
the supreme court. The speaker gave
details constantly of the functions of this
court and impressed his points by clever
illustrations. He then noticed the
United States supreme court giving its
duties and methods and paid a glowing
tribute to the various tribunals of this
country. They were the best ar
ranged of any in the world. They
were the only ones where no one felt
their oppression. With an appropriate
and u~nostentatious notice of the country
in general and its laws, Judge Conway
closed his remarks. having spoken forty
five minutes.
The high school choir rendered some
excellent music and the program was