The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-29

county, and over all criminal business
not exclusively committed to the SUI
perior Court. Crimes are divided into
two classes, felonies and misdemean-
ors. All misdemeanors embrace disor-
derby conduct, drunkenness on the
street, etc, over which the recorder
has Jurisdiction. If it is not the in
why require the judge to hold crimi-
nal court every day? daily session
shall be held, the bill says. Sundays
even are not excepted.
Again, the two judges are permit
ted TO practice law in any other courts.
What becomes of the business of these
courts when the judges thereof get
hitched in a protracted case in Judge
Speer's court, or Judge Falligant's or
Judge Seabrook's. or in the United
States Supreme Court, or any other
court anywhere in the United States?
Suppose one or both of them We're to
be employed in cases like that of Capt.
Carter that ran two months and more?
The Question of Cost.
do you agree with Mr.. Barrow that
it would be "A saving to the county
by having two City Courts? ?"
mo. l have never been able to ci-
pher how two courts to do the business
one court can do, can do it cheaper
than the one. Look at this bill. BY
abolishing the Recorders Court, the
salaries are not increased, because So
900 plus s., 900 equal $4,000 plus $4,000.
But the Criminal Court has q grand
jury; that is $4,000 a day. 1t has a
petit Jury; that is $500 a day, making
$94. 90 a day. How many days will the
court, which must sit every day, have
a petit jury to try cases? Who can linn
it this one item of expense? 1t might
- - ho a
can be 800 times year, OF s14,400, for
petit Jurors alone. And the judge
could not limit the expense, If the der
PENDANTS should demand jury trials.
But this is not all. The bill provides for
an impossib ilty. to-wit: that there shall
be but one set of officers for both
courts. Officers are not ubiquitous;
they cannot be in two places at one
time. The criminal court alone.
sitting every dag. would need
a dozen or more officers,
some serving subpoenas all the time,
some to bring up and carry prisoners
back to Jail every day. some present
in court to preserve the peace and 70
guard prisoners. What would the
civil division do for officers while that
daily and hourly work was being per-
formed?
Besides. a conflict of authority be-
tween the two judges would arise at
once. The sheriff would be needed at
times in both courts. Which judge
must he obey? Is the judge who gets
him first in the morning to hold him,
or punish him if he should leave his
court. You see, at once, that the next
Legislature would have to repeal this
clause of the bill and give each court
its own officers, and increase the num-
Der for the criminal court. One sher-
if, and two deputies at SO a day each,
and at least six bailiffs at 81 a day,
would be required. That is $21 a day,
or 81, 800 a year. Then comes the ex-
pense of fitting up a court room, with
furniture. heating apparatus, and all
necessaries. protest would go up at
once, signed by the Judge, solicitor.
officers, jurors and witnesses, against
having to climb two flights of stairs in
the Court House three hundred days
in each year, and the next step would
| be to elect three members to the Leg
| islature pledged to have the Hitch bill
repealed. In this every taxpayer
would heartily join. This bill is legis-
lation that does not 1egislate.
81 will add that except as a taxpayer,
/ l would be pleased to have the bill
/ passed, after striking out the tyran-
nical consent clause. and a few others
1 For the next two years l would not
/ have one-quarter of the labor that
now have to perform. For that much
| would be thankful to Mr.. Hitch. =