The Caucasian., 1895-07-25

Atlanta CooSaafuf1onl
Mr.. Joseph Choste, Of tie New
York bar, in . recent address,
brought out the surprising fact that
with 30, ,00o, 900 people England does
not have % many judges - any one
Of out larger States.
In England there are thirty-two
judges of the first cla1, while New
York has l4O, and Illinois l78. The
English courts dispose of .buainess
more rspidly than ours, and yet Hti-
CATION is much lighter in that coun-
try than it 10 here.
just complaints are made of our
complicated judicial machinery, the
facilities afforded for appeals and
new trials, and the indulgences grant
ed to lawyers who are fighting for
delay. In almost any case, when it
is to the interest of q lawyer to pro-
long the proceedings, it is impossible
to secure a prompt and final decision.
Commenting on Mr.. Choste's address
the St. Louis Globe Democrat says:
The truth 10 that in our anxiety to
provide ample means for the adjust-
ment Of legal difficulties, we have made
our judicial system . source of endless
trifiing with the interests of the peo-
pie. Our multiplicity Of statutes is di-
rectly conducive to litigation, and the
courts attach so much importance to
precedents and technical;ties that the
lawyers can keep . case in course Of
trial almost as long as they please. In
England, where there is supposed to
be much more formality than in the
United States, the ordinary practice is
far less slow and uncertain than that
which prevails here. We have 50 many
judges and 50 many different tribunals
that case may be taken from one to
another on various pretexts, and the
expense is apt to exceed the amount
involved in a majOrity of cases. There
is certainly great need of reform in
this matter. 1t should be easier for the
average citizen to obtain a decision
from some court of full and final juris-
diction, which is to say that it should
not be 80 easy for the lawyers to pro-
tract all sorts Of lawsuits. Too many
OF our courts exists solely for the pur-
pose Of giving solemn and leisurely
consideration to technical and unim-
portant pleas. The whole system
ought to be simplified, in short, with
view to saving time and money by re-
moving all chances for cases to be con-
tinued and transferred except for sound
and conclusive reasons. .rf F..
Few more important matters now.
engage the attention of our law max.
ers and the public. We have time
and again urged reform, especially
in our criminal procedure. Nearly
all Of the lynchings in this country
are due to the fact that the people
have no patience with the delay and
the uncertainty of the law, and rath-
er than run the risk of seeing known
criminals escape in cases of excep-
tional atroeity they appeal to Judge
Lynch. We need more expeditions
methods in both criminal and civil
cases, and we believe that they can
be adopted without doing injustice
to anybody. Whether they would
decrease the number of our Judges
or not We do not know, but the peo-
pie would be willing to pay out q
good round sum to, their judges in
exchange for swift and certain JUS
tice. It is time to agitate this re-
form in earnest.
But the Dispatch has no war to make
on the Populist Party. On the con-
trary this paper believes that if the
Democratic party in it's national con-
vention of 1895 fails to pronounce
clearly for the reconciliation of silver
IS primary money, and the free and
unrestricted coinage of both gold and
silver at the ratio of Is to l, it will 20
out-of existence, and a new party built !
ON the silver, government control and
other reform issues will take its place
and sweep the country. The Dispatch
will not follow the Democratic party
on any straddling policy on the money
question, because it believes that gen
eral prosperity in this country will not |
be restored until the peoples money
is restored.-Chicago Dispatch.