The evening world., 1894-02-01
BY ALL.
Many Complaints About the Fifth
District Court.
Neglect and Delay Alleged by Law
yers and Litigants.
Even Worse Charges Are Made
Justice Goldfoglc's Denial.

over on the east eide OF town loud
complaints are made regarding the i'm
proper manner In which the Fifth Judi
cial District Court Is conducted.
Litigants. rich and poor alike, complain
Of neglect. delay and miscarriage s OF
justice. Attorneys at law condemn
Court and clerks. and from one end OF
the district to the other there is n howl
Of Indignation.
The Fifth District comprises the Sew
cnth. Eleventh and Thirteenth Wards.
and the civil Court is located in a dark
and dreary old building at l54 Clinton
street.
Being situated in the centre of the most
densely populated portion of the city, 1t
Is not surprising that the Fifth District
Court Is the busiest in the city. The liti-
giants who apply here for legal redress
are mostly poor people, in fact the poor
est of the poor, for in no part of New
York is poverty so apparent as upon the
great east side.
Justice Henry NJ. Goldfoglc. who Is
the occupant OF the Fifth Court bench.
Is an attorney-at-law. with "A downtown
office, at Pei Broadway. Like the other
Civil Court Justices his salary is 5000
per year. or $780, 900 for six years.
mere ore At the present. NlltlIb s'N-
erul hundred cases pending in this court.
and while delay and neglect are two Of
the evils of the court, there are others
1t is commonly supposed that Justice
Goldfogle holds court at l5i Clinton street
on Mondays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and
he devotes to his private business. to the
neglect of his court duties. remains to
be seen.
During the month Of December. for
| ipatun,a I,,atipa (.nl1fnUla was In nt-
tendance at the Superior Court, and alb.
sent from his own court. for "A period Of
eight days. He was attorney FOR a
the Superior Court while the business in
the Fifth District civil Court went along
as best /. could without him. g..
asked n score of lawyers, who have oc-
caslon to do business in Justice Gold
fogle's Court, for their candid opinion OF
the conduct OF the Court, and in every
the Court.
I'm the first place. said a well-known
lawyer Yesterday, "Justice Goldfogle
vatc law practice hat he has very
little time left to devote to the urgent
business of his court.
In court half an hour or more late,
greatly to the Inconvenience OF attor-
neys, l~itisants and witnesses. l fail to
remember when Justice Godlfogle has
f..'N 80 '''' - '''''
The attorney for a large corporation
said to an Evening World' reporter
"The Fifth district Court calendar IS
n perfect terror. | dread the idea of do
ing any business In that court. for things
move so peculiarly and SO slowly that a
gees into Goldfogle's court as a defend
ant. and happens to have a little political
pun. am certain L. can have his case
in question. which action ! have been
trying to put to trial for the past six
months. It has been adjourned time and
again at the Instance of he defendant,
and commence to doubt II 1t ever comes
to trial. I am simply disgusted."
A. big downtown law firm makes this
Judge Goldfogie's court: ="
One OF our clients had an execution
In the Firth District Civil Court for the
expenses for collecting these executions.
such as marshal's fees, shall be paid by
the plaintiff in the case. Our client
happened to be the defendant. Well. one
to the marshal Of the court. When the
matter came up for settlement the mar
shal kept 81 for his trouble, and the clerk
who gave the marshal the case kept $50
for his trouble. When the s12 finally
reached u client 1t had dwindled down
to $3.50. The marshal was entitled to 10
per cent. commission. to be paid by the
plaintiff. Instead Of receiving 81. 20 as
was his due, this marshal kept lust 81
after making the rong man pay for It.
Another well-known attorney in citing
his experiences in G~oldfogie's court,
said:
at has frequently occurred whore
cases of mine before Justice Goldfogle
have been set down for a certain date
for trial, and when / went into court at
The time specified / was astonished to
find the cases hal been dismissed on the
so frequently that I have reached the
conclusion that prejudice holds sway IN
this court, know many ATTORNEYS who
will not take cases in the Fifth Court,
for the reason they cannot get square
treatment"
The poor litigants in the Fifth Dis.
trict are equally severe in their Cri'i.
cisms of the Gollfogle court. They rom,
plain Of an organized band of .'shyste,
, lawyers" and hangers on about the
court. These sharks are to all appear
? ances receiving the APPRECIATION and
= protection OF the court officials.
The poor people in the Fifth Dis'rtc,
nothing else, that the court holds trIa
sessions every day In the week. Ser,
wants and laborers with suits for wages
against employers cannot secur speedy
1, relief in ihts court. and their cases ar,
dragged along, postponed and adjourned
without II lust cause or reason, unit
a the poor wrge-WOrkers abandOn theil
claims In disgust; a ~workIngman VIII
sues for a hill of say 81, cannot aCfor,
" to dance attendance upon the court fol
' weeks and months at n time. simply t.
- - - ''''N N'''N WI
officials.
Just - Goldfogle SAYS that the charge
made against his court are ~unfounde,
ana unjust. lie says that the amount o
work which he has performed, when h
looks back upon It. surprises even him.
81 have frequently. when occasion re-
quired. held court from Q o'clock in tn
y, morning until 3 and sometimes Q o'cloCl
u at night; often taking no recess eNCep
2 to go to my room for n cup of coffee.
he says.
II have made 1t a point to be punctua
at court. although on some few occasion
/ may rave been half an hour late.
II have never left the court unit
every case marked ready was dispose
V OF, and have attempted rlgidlv to er
n force the rule which ! have adopted t
grant no more than one adjournment |
> cases for the recovery of wage or IL
labor performed Even where thes
cases were adjourned too frequently h
mutual consent of the parties | hay
tried to force them to trial, because
had r~ecognizrl the necessity of
speedy disposition OF them.
- 81 have never allowed my private n
fairs or practice to interfere with III
business of the court"