The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-22
WILL APPEAL
To CONGRESS
Lawyers WantNew
Judiciary
System.
WILL MEET
THIS AFTERNOON
Bar Association Seeks to Relieve
The Congestion of Court
Calendar.

An important matter is to come up
for discussion at a meeting of the Bar
Association, to be held this afternoon
at 1870 o'clock.
1t is proposed to present to Congress
at its next session, a bill for the re-
vision of the entire judiciary system of
the Territory, the measure 10 be oc-
companied by petition signed by all
the members of the association.
Under the proposed plan the present
system of circuit courts will be done
system will be changed There is to
be a supreme court consisting OF seven
members, who are to take turns at Sit
ting as nisi prius courts, to attend to
the work now done by the circuit
courts.
Under the present system there are
five circuit courts, the first for Oahu,
the second for Maui, Molokai and La
mai, the third and fourth for Hawaii,
and the fifth for Kauai and Niihau.
Under the proposed plan there are to
be three nisi prius courts, the first
for Kauai, Oahu and Niihau, the sec
ond for Maui, Molokai and Lanai, and
the third for Hawaii, to be presided
over alternately by the supreme court
justices, and in any case appealed to
the supreme court from such nisi prius
courts, the justice who acts as Judge
upon that case in the lower court, is
not to sit with the supreme court upon
the hearing of the appealed case.
The proposed plan is estimated to
cost the United States government only
| So, 900 more than the present system,
and it is calculated to effectively re-
lieve the congestion of the judiciary
system which now occasions so much
delay in matters of litigation. At the
present slime there are three supreme
| court justices, at a salary of $1,000 per
| year, and five circuit judges at salary
| of SO 900 per year, making a total OF
| $50, 900. Under the proposed plan the
seven supreme justices are TO receive
salaries of $1,000 each, a total of $35, O0C
| per year the work of the lower courts
being included in the official duties OF
the supreme court justices.
This extra expense of $4,000 a year is
! thought to be an extremely economical
! figure for the relief it promises in the
way of clearing the disheartening court
calendar. There has not been a civil
case tried in Honolulu for nearly q
year, and there are now over two hun
dred listed on the calendar, with very
little prospect of getting hearing fol
| a long time to come. If the proposed
plan is adopted there will be a suffi-
cient number of judges to keep the
/
set term of court, matters can be adj
| Indicated to suit the convenience OF
| the demand. The calendars of Mau
and other islands may be cleared al
such periods as are necessary, and
when there is no court term at any
one of the three courts, the presiding
| judge can hear cases at the other
courts, thus preventing the calendar
from growing to a discouraging length
Three fourths of the litigation of the
Islands is centered in Honolulu, ant
by having matters so arranged tina
the calendars of the other Islands may
be attended to incidentally, as the lis
| of cases warrants. the attorneys hop'
to have the calendar of Honolulu KEEP
comfortably clear, there being a sufn
cient number of judges to do the work
| The bill is being prepared by Hatcf
& Silliman. and the petition has al
ready been signed by large number
The attorneys are unanimous in thei
approval of the plan, and it is under
| stood that the discussion to be helC
this afternoon is simply for the pur
pose OF endorsing the measure.
A strong effort will be made to have
the bill passed, as the present extremi
ty demands some prompt measure 70
relief, and the proposed plan promise
to meet the requirements of the stu
alton.