The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-04

mittee.
 Mr. Kirk-Mr. President and Gentle men of the Convention: The question now that 1 am driving at in offering the amendment to Section is before you. A number of the members of the Committee seem to think that l was unnecessarily alarmed by offering the amendment to Section l. Now, my ] purpose is to avoid. if possible. the cre- ation of so many courts at the expense of the State. and courts which are un- necessary. Now, we have thirteen Cir cult Courts in the State. The substi- tute which I offer authorizes the Leg
 islature to create a court of this char acter in all counties where there is population of thirty thousand and property of the assessed value of seven million dollars. My idea in putting 1t at that amount was that in counties of that size. counties of that popula- tion, perhaps would need a court of this kind. Now, if you have not taken the pains to investigate the length of time our Circuit Court judges work. upon inquiry you would find that there Is not one who works more than two- thirds of his time, and most of them about half of their time, and yet they are doing all the work that is necessary ] to be done, trying all the cases. Why the necessity of authorizing the Legis-
 lature to create this great number of courts? Take the First Circuit, the judge works-and under the provision
 that have reported herein the substl-
 tute-it will authorize the creation of l six new courts. Now. with those
 courts organized and those counties taken from the different circuits. the
 judges of the different Circuit Courts, 1 the judge of the First Circuit, with | these six courts created. which I have provided in the substitute, will have to work twenty weeks during the year; in the Second Circuit, he will work twenty six weeks; in the Third Circuit, thirty-six weeks. in the Fourth Cir cult. twenty-four weeks; in the Fifth Circuit. twenty-two weeks; in the Sixth Circuit, thirty-six weeks; in the Sev- enth Circuit. twenty-two weeks; in the Eighth Circuit twenty-one weeks; in the Ninth Circuit, thirty-eight
 weeks; in the Tenth Circuit. twelve weeks: in the Eleventh Circuit, twenty four weeks; in the Twelfth Circuit, twenty-one weeks; in the Thirteenth Circuit. twelve weeks. That shows you, gentlemen of the Convention. that the creation of these courts is abso-
 lutely unnecessary. Of course, I ad.
 init that 1t is great convenience to the lawyers. l would not object to
 have one in my county so far as I am individually concerned. but it would in- crease the expense which is absolutely unnecessary. and for these reasons,
 have offered this substitute.
 Mir. Walker (Madison)-The gentle
 man supporting the substitute speaks
 of this section as reported by the Con- mittee creating certain costs. It does
 not do that at all. Under the present Constitution, If a necessity arises in I'll Louis fn court, and 1t is absolutely necessary for the transaction of business to estab- fish such courts. 1t is beyond the pow CT of the Legislature to establish that
 court without also retaining in that same county both a Circuit Court and a Chancery Court. and the object of this provision. as written by the Con-
 mittee, Is that in the case of a county so situated that it is necessary for the transaction of the business there, to establish a local court. In that case, the additional burden and expense of having two other needless courts in that county may be dispensed with. Now, is not that in the interest of economy in this State? It has been found in recent years that in certain counties 1t has been necessary to estab- lish such courts in some of these coun- ties; those courts are still in existence
 
 In some of those counties. where the necessity has disappeared. the court has disappeared. but wherever these additional courts have been establish ed, the State has had still to carry on the ussless expense of having two other courts in that county, having both the Circuit and Chancery Court still in existence. Now, under the amendment offered by the gentleman from Colbert, there are several courts now in exist ence in this State that would be abol- ished and they are found necessary in Talladega, in Etowah and perhaps in other counties. Now, what does this provision do? It simply puts 1t in the power of the Legislature when a nec- essity of that kind has arisen. to es- tablish a court in such county and to get rid of the useless expense of continuing to maintain in that county two other courts, the necessity of
 which has disappeared. Now. is not that common sense? Is Alabama to
 remain in this position-that although Jefferson County may require one. two or three additional courts. that you must still continue in Jefferson County Chancery Court and ip~ Jefferson County a Circuit Court, with two other counties in the district maintaining their courts for which there Is no me-
 cessity? In Montgomery County the
 same thing; in Calhoun County the same thing, and in other counties the same thing. In a county such as the one I come from, a large county
 having a considerable population and large taxable property. it is impossible under the present system for us to get as1ocal court there without also retain ing useless courts that are put there by the Constitution.
 Mir. Kirk-Would not under the sub stitute have offered all Madison Coun-
 ty, Calhoun and four other of the large counties to have this separate court and dispense with separate Chancery Courts?
 Mr. Walker-Yes. and 1t would abol-
 ish several courts that have been in existence and in existence now and that are needed by the people. Are you going to sit here and abolish the court in Talladega County, are you go- ing to sit here and abolish the court in Etowah County, would you sit here and fix it so that under the condition of affairs that existed in Morgan Coun- ty a few years ago as the result of boom there. it would be impossible to establish a court as was done, a spe- cial court. to get rid of business there? That court that was established exist ed several years. and when the neces- sitv for 1t passed the court passed out of existence. The same was true in the county from which the gentleman ooyAaa The same thing was true in