The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-14
SUITS LASTING CENTURIES.
Generations Have Passed Away
without "a Settlement.

From London Tit-Bits
If, as the proverb says, Fools and obsti-
nate men make lawyers rich France may
especially pride itself on folly and stub
bornness. for three French lawsuits have
together occupied a period many years
longer than the Christian era
1t is little more than fifty years go that
France saw the conclusion of a lawsuit
which was begun in the early DAYS of the
thirteenth century, when John was King
of England, and when the Magma Char
"a" was still unsigned or even framed.
The legal ball was started on its six CEN
turtles and more of rolling by the Cont e
de Nevers who had grievance again the
good citizens of Donzy. and the feud thus
started was maintained no less than 63S
years.
Forty-four years later in 1254 two other
lawsuits saw light which, between them
have lasted nearly thirteen centuries In
both cases the citizens of Campan, which
must have a mania for litigation were the
plaintiffs, and the defendants were the
inhabitants of neighboring towns and viii
lagos, while the subject of dispute was the
right to pasturage and forests
Compared with these forensic veterans q
lawsuit which has survived five centuries
only is comparatively a callow youth, but.
as it is still fourishing, there are hpoes
that II may yet qualify for place among
legal MethuselahS.' Russia is the scene
of this lawsuit, which was commenced in
the second year of Henry V 600 A. d..
The defendants are the inhabitants of n
Russian city and the claim Is for The
restoration of certain valuable estate
which the city had wrongfully, as is al
legged, included within it's boundaries.
Some years before Oliver Cromwell was
born, when good Queen Bess was still on
the throne of England, the coed people of
Burgsian. in Bavaria. commenced an
action against a neighboring baron for
the recovery of a large forest which had,
according to their views, been wrongfully
taken from them. For more than three
centuries this case has dragged its weary
length through Bavarian courts and has
brought grist to the mill of ten genera
tions of lawyers, and still 1t remains as
unsettled as when 1t began its century
march.
Just at the time when Cook was start
ing on his first journey round the world
and while Wordsworth and Scott were not
even ready for the cradle, a Hungarian
bishop died intestate and hundreds of
clamerous relatives claimed his large es-
tate. Litigation commenced, but was de-
layed for some years, owing to the dis
turbed condition of Hungary. which was
a
the courts got a chance the number of
claimants for the Bishops property had
reached COO
A century passed and the family feud
was still being fought out in the courts.
until II was clear that If it lasted much
longer there would be nothing to divide
In the end, after 100 years of wrangling.
the pitiful remnant of $1,000 was divided
equally among the claimants now num-
bering 1000, each plaintiff receiving a
pound as his share. The eloquent moral
of this case Is, that of every f12 of the
original estate. FL went to the lawyers
and IL only TO the relatives from which
it would appear that il is better to be a
lawyer than a litigant
Still, on the whole, the claimants may
consider themselves fortunate in rescuing
even sovereign apiece from the hands
of the spoilers, for in one memorable
case-Parker VS.. Dawkins-which strug-
gled on for nearly half a century. the e-
gal machinery was only finally stopped
when 1t had absorbed the last penny of
the disputed estate. So true II is, as Lord
Brougham said, that "the lawyer is a
gentleman who rescues your estate from
your enemies and keeps II for himself"