The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-07

this reason: That Is towns of that size justices of the peace are apt to apuse the powers that they have In good
 many cases. and they trade around among themselves and manufacture cases. In that way they abuse the power conferred upon them and think
 1t is necessary to have an inferior criminal court to supply their places. Now as to the jurisdiction. We need the justice of the peace in the country and we need courts of that same Jur- | isdiction in town. We need little courts to attend to small matters, and I think that the jurisdiction ought not to be increased, as provided in some or the other amendments to $250. If 1t Is ! necessary to have case of that size, | it may be brought in any court. It
 can be brought in the Circuit Court. and think that all cases of that sort probably ought to be brought in the Circuit Court. The substitute as of- fered by myself, think embodies a good deal of the merit in both the sec- ton and the amendment offered by va- rious parties.
 Mir Graham (Montgomery)-The pur- pose of the committee, as has been stated to you by my colleague from Montgomery (Mr. Watts) was as far as possible to do away with the an noyance to litigants brought about by incompetent and ignorant justices of
 the peace throughout the State of Ala bama. particularly in the larger towns
 of the State. Those of us who reside in those towns fully understand and appreciate the situation. The amend
 ment offered by the gentleman from na1 fe oylry hA cov a report offered by the committee. hence
 think it is unnecessary and the re-
 port of the committee, or the conclusion
 reached by the committee which is em- bodied in its report was after long and mature consideration.
 MT. Vaughan-I want to suggest to the gentleman from Montgomery that my substitute abolishes e. p-officio jus tices of the peace.
 MT. Graham--Yes. sir. I understand. and the report of the committee abo!- | ishes exactly the same thing.
 Now, Mir. President, the amend
 ment offered by my most excellent friend from Macon, confers a dignity
 greater than was anticipated or ex-
 pected would be conferi ed upon a court
 of this character. He creates it with
 jurisdiction in civil cases to the extent
 of $250. In my humble opinion. a court
 of this character, possessing no more dignity than Is conferred upon it by this Constitution, should not have the power and authority to try cases to that extent. particularly as it is anti cipated that this will not be a court
 of record. It is true that if a man does
 not desire to bring his suit in this court. he would have the right to go into the City Court. or court of simi- Ia inri Sdicfinn into fhn (NirNflif Court, but that was not the purpose
 of the Committee, and it should not be
 the intention of this Convention to ere ate courts without number, conferring upon them jurisdiction entirely out of proportion to their merits. The whole 1 purpose was to establish in cities and
 towns court which would take the place of the number of Justices of the Peace who were carrying on the busi-
 ness of the administration of justice. In view of the situation, as I under
 stand it, and believing that the report
 of the committee is the best that can be had under the circumstances, | move to lay the substitute, the amend | ment of the gentleman from Macon, and the amendment of the gentleman | from Dallas upon the table.
 | MT. Williams (Marengo)-I ask for a
 division of the question.
 | MT. Reese-I desire to make parlia-
 mentary inquiry. I understood the
 Chair to state that there are three
 amendments now pending.
 The President pro tem-The Chair did
 not so state, and the gentleman mis-
 understood the Chair.
 MT. Reese-I understood the Chair to l state that there was an amendment of | fered by the gentleman from Marengo
 and a substitute offered by the gentle
 man from Macon, and also an amend
 ment offered by the gentleman from | Dallas.
 The President pro tem-The under | standing of the gentleman from Dallas
 Is at fault. The chair said that there
 was an amendment offered by the gen. tleman from Marengo, a substitute to
 that amendment offered by the gentle
 man from Macon. and MT. Vaughan of | fered a substitute for the pending sec | tion and the amendment and the gen. tleman from Montgomery moves to | table the substitute and the amend ment of the gentleman from Marengo. The question is, shall the substitute of
 the gentleman from Dallas be laid upon | the table.
 Upon vote being taken the motion | to t9hle the substitute prevailed
 The question then recurred upon the
 amendment offered by the gentleman from Marengo, and upon a vote being | taken. the motion to table the amend | ment prevailed.
 MT Reese-I desire to offer an amend
 ment.
 The Secretary read the amendment as follows:
 Insert after the word libel. in the
 tenth line, the words, and the juris1ic-
 tion of such inferior put shall extend
 over and include all secincts next con- | tiguous thereto
 MT. Reese-The purpose of this
 amendment is this: That this provid s
 for the establishment of the cou [
 which, in the opinion of the Commit = | tee. will be a much better court than 1 the courts at present organized under the Justice of the Peace system. The purpose is to get a man who knows something ahcrt law. and the charac- ter of the judge over this court, ~than are in the country beats. Tn every town of 2500 inhabitants, it is the post office and place of business of a num- Der of beats that are next cont iguous | to that town Ii is the most conven- | tent where litigants can try cases. In counties where there is a town ( 2.500 | inhabitants all the lawyers live in l those towns. In the event of having to
 obtain the services of lawyer, it is
 much cheaper for litigants to obtain them by attending tho court in the town
 than to have to go out in the country. 1 In my opinion this would establish a | court in a town of 2.J00 inhabitants. and 1t would be to the advantage of | litigants in the adjacent beats where