New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-12

successf n one court by not stating that his ap-
pjication has h"ea refused NJ Is abe 10 "DIa S'
courts This condition Of affairs ought not 10 eN'st
Ore court ought to have control ~ al cquity, dC
lions. 'rhis change alone would make The admins;
trati3n Of Justice WuCn more certain anu VIZ.
prevent one man from obtaining relief IN one court
Two ways of organizing The courts Of New YORK
hEys Cfsn e the con-, Of common Pleas ana
the Superior Court Thd maze connan.o1 Win ihis
plan II is proposed TO have only one Genera! Iertn
perior Court and the Court OF Common Pleas ana
Judges Of the Supreme Court Then tne 2ppeals
would 90 TO General Term. that General Term
70 have power to send caseS 70 ether court HUN
The other pan IS to consolidate the three courts
IN ths dsHC O., t ," ys9n5an equity division
and common law d!vieion-the General Term N OF
this court to have power to assign the judges from
division to the other, as the business OF cunt
be making specialists OF the Judges, but 70 M M
there should be objection. The courts OF tns,,
un1ersfonI that the system has given satisfaction
There are specialists in all professions, and es-
such a division would undoubtedly expedite busi.
ness. and would be decide nptoVeinslhit upon M
IS very important that an effort should be made
p gtVf n Us interests or wishes OF any particular in
divIdua should stand in the way This can only be
present situation ard Of what is needed
SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE.
Justice Ingraham's further experience on the
Supreme Court bench has only deepened his con-
viction that some change is necessary. He said
a few days ago in application Of the foregoing
Interview
Tier is 'r cT The Circuit ,RT cSnTs q the SUI
preme Court are nearly two years Dehlhd IN their
w. Years behind: With the criminal cases that are
thrown upon this court. It Is Impossible 10 Keep up
70 tho exp Renee e al persons who have studied the
subjec' that there should b three courts II concur
c9m, neccesary 70 divide the labors as TO- give
Judges special classes u cases II few )nq .i
there should be some provision which will divide the
work that judges may benefit by their practice 10
become Experts; they Culd then DO what was set De-
fore them better and more quickly. ,.,..
Every time judge holds Chambers, suits invoVrr
trust funds belonging to infants widows, or luna
ties. perhaps come before him. It depends on rs rs
care whether such property shall be protected ne
that kind. When I return from my vac a[o- !;
facility in deciding such questions. 1t is OF he
utmost importance that as few men as possible e
sit in equity one day in a criminal cause the next
and on. IS opposed to the principles OF reason
Judge Ingraham believes there should be only
one division Of the Court OF Appeals. The plan
Of having two he says. has been tried with no
success. "a court Of last resort" he declared
"should by all means be consistent in its deci-
sions Lawyers should be able to know what the
law f. Two courts OF last resort cannot agree
absolutely Even If one does not fatty contro-
vert the principles laid down by the other, 1t dis
tinc,,ishes cases with subtlety that It is hard
70 follow II IS most important that decisions
should be certain and consistent.
Judge Ingraham favOrs the appointment or
permanent body OF referees. like the old masters
in chancery and the present English system lie
thinks they should be paid in fees as now
Int there should be a limit 10 the size OF the Tees
II both parties desired it. an outside man might
be appointed referee. but his compensation should
be no greater than that allowed by law Inc
principle Of allowing the lawyers to consent to
a different f4e than that fixed by law ne con-
s!dered unfair 10 the htgants, as IL iHcIedSeu
their expenses unnecessarily
Judge Ingraham believes that an excellent way
Of decrease the labors of the courts would be
TO have the appellate courts give the right )udg-
ment instead OF granting new trials, In cases IN
which an error had been committed. Thus, II
the General Term held that Judge erred in not
disnissing suit It should itself take that action,
instead OF remaining the case 70 the lower
court The Tilden will case was tried In the
Supreme Court, and the will was sustained. on
appeal, the General Term reversed this judg-
ment. Then the case went back to the Supreme
Court and was again taken to the General Term
Thence 1t was carried to the Court Of Appeals
directly from the General Term to the Court OF
Appeals in the first instance. and thus to 90
away with the second proceedings in the Su-
preme Court and the General Term.
JUDGE ANDREWS on TAXATION.
Justice George p Andrews. of the Supreme
Court believed that the tax laws needed reVi-
sion. He said:
IN my Judgment personal taxes should be
abolished. think the present system is unequal
and unjust. A large part Of the personal prop
erty Is not reached and never can be.
Justice Andrews also favors a change In the
system OF referees. lie said he had not read the
bill which had been introduced into the Iegisla-
ture providing for the appointment Of a fixed
number Of saaried referees. but thought that
such bill ought to pass His objections to the
present method were that it was expensive, often
caused great delays in litigation, and subjected
the judges TO great annoyance, as they were con-
stantly being solicited for references.
OPINIONS OF JUDGE MADAM.
Judge McAdam OF the Superior Court. gave
the following as his views on the constitution
Of the Court Of Appeals: There should be but
one division of the Court OF Appeals, consisting
of twenty-one judges, divided into two parts Of
seven each This would leave seven judges off
the bench. who might devote their entire time
TO writing opinions. There would be no dll-
fcuty in arranging the judges VINO would be OK
court duty, this would depend upon the
amount OF unfinished business on hand. This
would enable the Cour; to have consultation In
regard TO all important questions, and would
lead to uniformity Of decisiOns--a very desirable
end.
I'm an emergency there could be three parts Of
the court held. This would speedily clear the
calendar and prevent OYercrOwding or delay.
Judge McAdam believes that the present svs-
tenn OF General Terms needs no revision. Abo-
litiOn Of the Superior Court. or the Court OF
Common Pleas or both. he would regard as UNI
wise, "as the present system gives a suitOr TIE
option OF applying to either court he pleases--a
privilege which the experience OF the past proves
to be an important one" He favOrs making the
City Court a constitutional one. The present
system Of referees, in his judgment. should con-
tinue.
1t is Judge McAdams belief that taxes are
being multiplied unnecessarily. He Is opposed