The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-06-26
TO LESSEN PETTY LAWSUITS.
Guebcc's New Ennctment borrowed
From Old French Models.

From Old French Models.
Quebec, June 25.-The curious system of
giving a bonus to the parents of large
families of children as a reward for fruit
fulness in the married state is not the only
remarkable custom borrowed by the au-
thorities of French Canada from the land
of their forefathers. The natural fond
ness of the French Canadian paasantry for
| litigation has just induced the legislature
/ OF this province to pass an act forbidding
| the entering of any action at law in the
rural parts of the province, in small mat
tiers of personal dispute, until after care
! ful efforts have been made to adjust exist
| ing differences by means of Cancellation.
! The act is based upon French models, but
| contains special provisions to suit the
] peculiar conditions of the province of Que
bee and is intended to diminish the num-
| Der of ruinous disputes at law in the coun-
| try districts that so often have their origin
in quite trivial Observation-Disclosures In each
| rural municipality the local council may
| appoint one or more citizens of the place
! to act as conciliators. In addition to these
! specially appointed officials, there are to
| be several ex-officio conciliators, includ-
! ing Roman Catholic priests for cases in
which Roman Catholics are alone concern
| ed, justices of the peace and mayors of
towns.
The machinery of conciliation is set in
| motion by the claimant and only applies
| to matters purely personal, affecting NOV
; ables. and where the amount in the dis
| pute does not exceed SIS. There is a long
| list of excepted cases falling outside of
this definition, such as demands affecting
municipal corporations and those based on
| notes or for payment of rent.
| The conciliator appealed to issues a sum-
| mons to the person against whom the
claim is made, and the defendant does
well to take heed of it, for if he fails
to appear he becomes liable for all the costs
of the suit which may afterwards be
brought against him, even if the plaintiff s
action be dismissed. He may, however, ap-
pear by proxy, and it is enough for him
| to say that he does not wish to come to
an agreement to put a stop to further con-
ciliatory proceedings. Though the concil-
| iator is not invested with judicial func-
tions, he has the power to take evidence on
oath. but not to compel the attendance OF
| a witness, and the statements made b. the
parties before the conciiator cannot be
afterwards used as evidence if the case
should go to trial.
French history furnishes many exam
pies of the application of the same prin-
ciple. Notarial records still in existence
show that as early as the fifteenth century
leagues were formed in various parts OF
| France to promote the settlement of dis
putes without the Intervention of lawyers
and courts of law, and for the general
adoption of the principle of arbitration.
Official umpires were appointed. who were
known as wise wen" (prud hommes) OF
domestic pacificators, and whose efforts
were seconded by relatives or friends OF
the disputants. Many French families OF
today are descended from these 'wist
men," and so 1t comes to pass that "Prud-
homme" is now one of the commonest OF
| French-Canadian surnames.
The similarity of the new Canadian act
to the old French idea has elected letter
from NJ. Flourens, formerly Minister fol
Foreign Affairs in the French Government
and President of the French League fol
Judicial Reform, who welcomes the pas
sage Of the new law as a proof OF tina
community Of great and humanitarian
ideas peculiar TO the Latin races" binding
French Canada to the mother nation.
There is this important distinction be
tween the working of the conciliation law
in France and Canada, that in the latter
the conciliator is simply witness to any
amicable arrangement to which he may
have been able to bring the opposing par
ties while in France he is also the judge
who tries the case If the parties fail Il
agree 1t is estimated that fully II, ,00l
cases a year will be affected here by th
new law, and if only % to 50 per cent o
these are kept out of court by. the con
ciliatoTs the saving to the rural popula
tion of French Canada at the expense o
the legal fraternity will certainly be yer.
|