The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1898-11-03
HON. n. A. MORRIS
GIVES REASONS
Why a CITY Court Would be
Beneficial.
A REPLY TO COL. CHENEY,
He Contends that 1t Will be a Saving
to the Tax Payers, and
Convenience.
A REPLY TO COL. CHENEY.

| 10 une OltlZenS Oh OODD county,
My attention has been called to a
lengthy article published in the last
issue Of the Marietta Journal which
purported to have been written by
Col. w. S. Cheney, in reference to the
| establishment of City Court in Cobb
county.
Now want to say to begin with, that
the plan outlined by Mr.. Cheney is not
the plan agreed upon by the lawyers of
this bar to be introduced, if introduced
at all, SO | will not undertake to
answer his lengthy article in every re-
spect, but will try to briefly state the
object Of the court, its workings and
wherein it will be a great advantage
over the Superior Court in most every
particular and at the same time be less
expensive to the tax payers of the coun-
ty and speedy way to dispose of cases
that have to be litigated in the courts
Under our present system, as every
one knows, our Superior Court meets
the second and third Mondays in March
and the third and fourth Mondays in
| November of each year. We have %
grand Jurors for each week and 36 petit
| jurors for each week; they are paid
| $500 per day each, besides several bal
| lifts that draw the same pay. The
grand jury sits day after day investiga-
ting cases, the great majority of which,
| are for violation of the misdemeanor
| laws. Bailiffs have to ride all over the
| country at the expense Of the county to
get the witnesses. Each grand jury in
vestigates and examines the books and
accounts of the different county officers,
visits the poor house, county Jail, ETC.,
! and then write out their general pre-
sentiments and have them published at
! tht expense of the county. Ifgou want
to sue a case in che Superior Court it
| takes at least two terms to get trial :;
in other words, suppose you have note
| for over 500 that is due Nov. 10Th, the
man admits owing it, but refuses to
pay it; you will sue it to the March
term of the Superior Court and then it
will take until the next November to
get your judgment.
The city court has no grand jury; it
will meet the first Mondays in January,
April, July and September; the Clerk
of the Superior Court will be the clerk
OF the city court; the sheriff of the
county will be the sheriff of the city
court. All the officers costs are paid
by the litigants, in the same way and
in the same amounts as they are paid
in the Superior Court.
1t will have concurrent jurisdiction
with the Superior Court in all cases ex-
cept land, equity and divorce cases.
You carry cases from it to the Supreme
Court in the same manner you do from
the Superior Court you get your judg-
ment on all notes and other uncondi-
tional contracts in writing at the first
term, unless pleas are filed to the same
| under oath; in other words, suppose
you have a note against a man for
| $4,000, or any large amount, you can
sue the same and get judgment in
twenty days.
The Judge will be appointed by the
Governor for his first term, after that
elected by the people; his salary will
not exceed $4,000 per annum, to be
paid out of the coutny treasury. This
is the only possible way it can cost any
more than the Superior Court. Now,
the question is where can we save this
10000? 1t will be done as follows:
1st. have examined the records
with Judge Stone in his office and find
that from January LIST, 1896, to October
lst, 1898, it has cost the county an av-
erage of $4,000 per month for the
keeping ard boarding of prisoners con-
fined in the county jail 4; at least one
half of this will be saved by the estab-
lishment OF this court.
2nd. In connection with this bill,
propose to repeal the act that requires
two grand juries for each term of the
Superior Court, and let only one grand
jury meet and hold until they dispose
Of all the business. This will save
about $4,000 per day or about $4,000
for the two weeks. This is intended to
include bailiffs. buggy hire, etc, to
hunt up and subpoena witnesses.
Bird. The grand jury that does meet
will only have to stay in session very
short time, for the reason that all mis-
demeanOr cases are triable in the city
court on accusations, and the grand
jury will not have to sit day after day
investigating and finding misdemeanor
bills, and each day less that they sit
will be saving to the county of about
$4,000, which will amount to several
hundred dollars each year
4. The pay for the jurors in this court
will be l.5O per day, which will be
saving Of $500 per day over the Supe-
rior court for the same length of time,
which will amount to several hundred
dollars per annum, as most of the bust
ness will be tried in this court because
you can get a trial so much quicker.
5. The pay of the Sheriff in this
court will be $3.50 per day. In the Su-
perior court for the first twenty days it
is $500 per day. The pay of the Clerk
will be $500 per day, and in the Supe-
rior court it is $500.
The pay of the Bailiffs will be $3.50
per day. In the Superior court it is
$500
6. Most of the time the city court