The age-herald., 1900-11-27
BIRMINGHAM BAR
 WANTC,NEW COURT Criminal Courts Business Too
 Large for One Judge
WHO IS TO PAY THE BILL?
The Attorneys Say the State Should, As 1t Uses Jefferson County As It's Criminal Dump
 ing Ground.

A meeting of the Birmingham Bar was held in the Circuit Court room yesterday morning to consider the proposed second division of the Criminal Court The meet ing was presided over by Judge John H. Miller, and was largely attended.
 Solicitor H. P Hefn of the Criminal Court read the proposed bill providing for the second division, and MT. John London read statement from the clerk of the Criminal Court showing the condition of the docket. The Criminal Court holds three terms a year, the January term lasting three months, the April term lasting three months, and the September term lasting four months. The condition of the docket during the three terms waseas follows: January Term-Cases on docket, 325; new | cases docketed, 246; total 571; cases dis | posed of. 217.
 April Term-Cases on docket, S54; new l cases docketed, 331; total, 64S; cases disposed of, 25z.
 September Term-Cases on docket, 432; l new cases docketed, 459; cases disposed of, | 27s.
 Total number of cases now on docket, 512; | cases not yet docketed, 60; total, 572. Of l this number S5 are capital cases. Who Pays the Bill? Judge A. c. Howze said he favored a new criminal court but not at the expense of the people of Jefferson County. He said that the State ought to bear the expense, as it furnished the criminals who made it necessary.
 MT. Dan Greene said that under the pro- It1 NI,a I1 derive revenue sufficient to pay the judges salary. Here the meeting on motion of MT. Camp bell sent a request to Judge Greene of the Criminal Court to attend the meeting
 Judge B. M Allen, Solicitor Charles Ferguson and others spoke of the necessity of second division
 Judge Greene Gives Information Judge Greene then came In and in an- swer to various questions asked him sad that the Criminal Court docket very
 much crowded. Last year the court had disposed of about 1400 cases. In some
 murder cases where the offenders were out
 on bond their cases had not been reached
 for a year, owing to the effort to try first
 those cases where the defendants were in jail on account of inability to give bond.
 He suggested the old jail as a place to
 hold the new court if provided, as the
 County Commissioners were at one time authorized to expend $25,000 for the pur- pose of fitting it up as a court room, and so far as he knew this had never been
 repealed He spoke of the inequality of
 punishment of criminals in the same kind
 of cases when tried in the Criminal Court
 and the Inferior Criminal Court due to the difference in cost in the two courts.
 Mir J. M Gillespy said that he was in- formed that the bill providing for a city court at Bessemer would pass, and that this meant another judge to be paid by the county
 MT Alex T. London said that this new
 judge would in no way relieve the conges- tion in the Criminal Court. He could not understand the motive in establishing T new court at Bessemer as 1t would take all the lawyers in the town to fill the of- fees. daughter) He also thought that the State should pay the expenses of the
 new court. He said that Jefferson County
 was the dumping ground of the States criminals and that its criminal population was greater than that of any similar area on earth. He offered a resolution to the
 effect that the Birmingham bar recom- mended the passage of the bill creating a
 second division of the Criminal Court, and that the members Of the Legislature be requested to use their influence to have the expenses of the court borne by the State.
 A substitute offered by MT. Samuel Will son that the overflow business of the Grim inal Court be transferred to the Circuit Court, and that the Governor be requested to send the supernumerary judge here to dispose of it, was voted down.
 Judge Howze again spoke, saying that Jefferson County paid one-fifth of the States taxes, and that the State should aid the administration of justice here in view of the fact that it sent here so large a percentage of the criminals.
 The resolution offered by MT. London was then adopted
 A resolution providing that In the event the bill became law that the act creating the Inferior Criminal Court should be amended so as to take from It its jurls- diction in State cases arising in beats 21 and 37, was voted down. A motion by Judge Howze that the com mittee, consisting of B. M. Allen, F. s. White and Lee c. Bradley, which called the meeting, be instructed to communicate the action of the meeting to the county's rep resentatives, and that they use their in- fuence to have the State pay the expenses of the new court was passed and the meet ! ing adjourned.
 Government Not Responsible. Rome, November 26.-The Chamber of