Omaha daily bee., 1900-02-04
ATTORNEYS WINE AND DINE
Annual Barqust Of the Omaha Bar Assooia-
ton at the killard,
BRIGHT SPEECHES, MUSIC AND FEAs1NG
&. VI. ~Lambertson of Lincoln Delivers
Principal Address of the Evening.
Discussing the supreme Court
other Speeches.

~ " Nrth VI AANftAh DflNNeFN
Principal Address of the Evening.
Discussing the supreme Court
Other Speeches.
Oratory. wit and good fellowship flowed
In unstinted measure at the annual banquet
o. the Omaha Bar associatiUu Saturday night.
The Millard hotel was the scene OF the fete.
The assemblaEe was representative OF the
local legal fraternity. Bright minds. bright
lights and bright sayings characterized The
function. Charles !. Greene was toast
master, substituting for General Charles r.
Henderson, who had originally been named
on the program. Mr.. Greene was at his best.
An orchestra discoursed juhilant airs
varying from Yankee Doodle" to Dixie. d"
taking care not TO overlook "A Hot Time in
the old Town"-the new national air. so
adopted during the Spanish America war.
Old-time lawyers say this was one OF the
most successful legal banquets ever held 10
Nebraska. Nothing incompetent, irrelevant
nor immaterial entered into the proceedings.
everybody kept within the record, no at
tempt was made to lead witnesses. no sharp
practices were tried, no demurrers were
filed, no appeals were taken aud no objec-
tons were noted.
The personnel Of the hanqueters follows:
l r. Andrews, Z, NJ. Bartlett, F. A. Brogan.
Judge B. S. Baker, Judge l. f. Baxter. a.
H. Burnett, o. P. NJ. Brown. H. c. Bronze,
]. Z. Congdon. G. W. Cooper, W. A. Corsun,
Judge Dickinson, Z. r. Dufhe, w. NJ. Giler,
w. Q. Gilbert, w. T. Gurley. c. J. Greene,
r. s. Horton. c.. W. Haller. Judge NJ. r.
Hopewell Of Tekamah, Nj. A. Hall. Frank
Irvine of Lincoln, J. Z. kelby. J. l.. Ken
nedy, H. P. Jeavett, T. T. Lee, G. NJ.
Lambertson Of Lincoln, NJ. L. Learned. T. J.
Mahoney. W. R. Morris, J. H. McCulloch.
Judge Munger, c. 5. Montgomery. Harry
O'Neill, Paul Charlton. w. D. MCHuEh. H.
W. Pennock, J. w. Parish, o. c. Redick. c.
J. Reavis OF Falls City. c. A. Goss, W. A.
Redick. 5. R. Rush, Cheney ST. Clair, E. w.
Simeral, J. B. Sheehan. G. W. Shields. c. o.
Whedon of Lincoln. J. Nj. W%oolworth, H.
H. Wilson of Lincoln, E. wakeley, b. T.
White, Arthur Wakeley. J. W. Woodrough,
T. R. White, J. L. Webster and F. NJ. Hall
and c.. c. Marlay of Lincoln.
Mr.. Lambertson's speech.
The first speaker on the program was
Judge C. NJ. Lambertson of Lincoln. He
took for his topic, Shall the Supreme Court
Deliver Any More Written Opinions p" He
said in part:
"A large number Of cases on the docket
of the supreme court, and the consequent
delay in deciding them. call for immediate
action on the part OF the court. The leg
~islature cannot give relief for more than
a year. and the assistance it is likely to
give the court, namely, commissioner or ad-
ditional Judges, will not relieve the con-
sested docket. With three commissioners
on the bench comparatively little gain was
made on the docket.
The total number of cases at the com
nencement OF the January term, 1900, was
= 49, -. -.
the docket in January, 1893, when the three
commissioners were appointed, was 1900.
Al the end Of six years the six judges, al
though they did a prodigious amount of
work, were further behind than when the
three commissioners were chosen. The
bench is now two years and ten months be
hind; that is TO say, with three judges and
three commissioners working and writing
opinions, 1t would take three years, lacking
two months, TO dispose of all the cases on
the docket. With only three judges, the
court, taking into consideration the new
business and current work, is probably four
years behind.
The number Of cases fled steadily in
creased from 1890 10 1897, when SIC were
filed, being an increase Of 25S over those
filed in 1890. For the last two years the
number of cases appealed each year has
uIOlptu dO"u W TOO IL 1880 liz III 1872
The increase of the commencement fees TO
$40 accounts in part for this decrease. The
number OF cases disposed Of in 1890 was 36O
and in 1898 1,O75. The reason SO many cases
were disposed Of in 1898 was due in the
main TO the rule which permitted cases to
be advanced by printing the record.
The number OF cases in 1890 in which
opinions were filed was 3O7 and in 1898 GIL.
The total number of opinions filed in ten
years, from 1890 TO 1899, inclusive, was
4,773 and the total number of cases disposed
OF aggregates 6,319. 1t will be seen that
many cases were disposed Of without writ
ten opinions. They were probably dismissed
when they were reached. showing that most
OF them were brought for delay. ] should
Judge that about one-hfth Of the cases on
the docket were taken to the supreme court
for delay only, II is probable that Of the
!. 459 appeals on the docket 800 of them are
without merit. The appeals are frivolous
and will probably be dismissed without
argument when reached. The number Of
nou-meritorious appeals will increase as The
docket falls behind. When the court is up
with its docket there are few or no appeals
for delay, as the inducement for frivolous
appeals is wanting.
Hardship to LitiEants.
FROM lulk survey OF lut upEhtA o. Inc
supreme court it is apparent that the court
is not only far behind, but will continue 10
lag further and further behind. This con-
dition Of affairs is a great hardship to liti-
ganLs. For a sutton 10 wait four years after
his judgment is rendered in The lower court
before he can have his case reviewed and the
judgment affirmed, though the appeal be alb
~sclutely without merit, is 4 practical denial
OF justice.
When We consider the delay in the in
ferior court. then the delay in the supreme
court, and the further delay in the lower
court when Tire case is reversed, We see
that II is possible 10 postpone final judE-
ment in every case for five years, and in
many cases for six, seven or eight years.
such a system Of Jurisprudence calls only
for condemnation. The moe ] think OF il
he more ] wonder that the Legislature, the
court. the bar and the people have not reso-
lutely sought to find a remedy,
II the courts can give a litigaut his dues
speedily, he viii be able 10 survive q fnan-
cial or business crisis, and he may preserve