New-York tribune., 1903-01-22
FAULTS In COURTS.
THE CHANGES PROPOSED
addresses Before State Bar ASsocaa-
tion-4nnuaI Dinner.

State Bar Association on Inc SupieHe C""iN
Dilemma" pointed out the following as conspicuous
among the undesirable conditions To-Day eAls'nS
in our judicial system:
First-The large arrearages in untried causes In
many of the counties resulting often In gross ana
law and in failure Of justice.
second-The dsproportionate distribution OF aufe }as
Divisions and Trial Terms Of the Ist and lId De-
Third-The eagerness of Supreme Court justices.
from districts and departments other than the ISL
because of the largely exhanced compensation
Fourth-The employment Of political lnfuencs
and pressure upon the Executive to procure s1cn
ASSIGNMENTS and the consequent and incessant
dragging of the judiciary into politics. Win defnor
aliZng effect
Mr. F1eiscbman held that the County Courts
were not accomplishing much as they could, that
attorneys bringing suits in the supreme court
which could be tried in County Courts. and tnat
judges actually held court on fewer days tnan
they should.
OF the AppeIIate Divisions ne said that by
proper distribution of work among them and suf-
ffciently long terms they could for some years
keep up with their work. He believed tnat IN
the near future the Appellate Division Ist Depart
ment will have to be increased in membership to
ten justices He thought that the criticism that
the judicial system of the State under the new
constitution is top-heavy, was reasonable not
withstanding which additional temporary assign
ments have been made from time TO time 10 APP
pelIate Divisions slight pretexts-
speaking of the additional compensation which
rural judges receive when holding sessions in New
York City, human nature working on Dad sys-
TEN" was his summary He added:
1T would be too much to expect even OF judges
human as they are, that they should be entirely
callous to the allurements Of an occasional vaca-
ton in the metropolis to protracted residence
there, especially when 1t can be enjoyed al d
handsome additional compensation One rural
justice, he said had doubled his nxeo saIafy IN
year in that way.
along the same line. but drastic in character
Seldom Bacon of New-York City. spoke on PRO
bate Procedure" saying. among other things;
Attention has been called to these various cases.
not from any desire to criticise or Of
important defects in our probate proee6rf @ tssa de-
cisions we may state them follows:
Ffrst-The practical exclusion or real property
e: seeondDThe failure Of our proceedings to deter;
mine finally the most ape bo are the heirs at
la and of kin of the decedent and VINO Is en-
tfff 70 nsdeeuaey Of the surrogaes
under their limited jurisdiction to deal VITA tne
matters properly belonging to the administrator
of estates of deceased persons and whieh eoiAe
Fourth-A procedure which in its ordinary opera
Gated cumbrous and tnfexible
THE REMEDY PROPOSED.
We're II not that present conditions are clearly
Thoroughly bad one would feel great hesitaney in
approaching broad subject; out dlIleIeht ~
state sa with entirely Satisfactory results that ad
y D9saGy 9 Tsd sysSh SseWhre NAY be INDUCED in without
The remedy proposed in its general outlines is
Frst-That the court of this state having probate
dcton Of the whole subject Of estates Of deceased
iaeqg IKE footing ' and all the powers
court of general jurisdiction That this 1uTsdeu%6n ion
remotest detail all matters in any way connected
with the issue Of letters SE 11 and
the dstrbuton Of the estate. Including the validity
abs and d0Sg2 gT9grmsy m the of &c tes Of
the estate theE b in Gas Of g @ eouTt Should
be substantially in rem instead OF IN psrsonaam;
bona Ihaf the he the rst CITATION sts N not only Il those Pp
Interested but also Of ali the world; % attend The
o5Tf 5na Gf hat sfe this fa6s eod IF 9S
tion should be followed thFoggaS6us ,nf
Thrd-That the DEGREES OF the PTooats @ T Togss tps
World and except for appeals not be opened after
short lapse of time. except only as otnef aeefess
those participating in the fraud or affected with
FourthNThat the DEGREES OF such court adEntttirs
wills probate and distributing properly sneGlo
as inal and binding in the case OF realty as IN the
'f Ffth!That the whole practice tar as Isgulatsd
e fsa4es fs i8 tSe @ covering afdeonal
matters leaving al desas % q a passbi 81 "a eWbfty
te meet the special needs Of special cases
instance of the Is last ppoposa that ali the laws
affecting proofs and proceedings taken IN foreign
countries be drawn with reasena bic regard 70
the laws of foreign countries and a, not with the
n9 o1 9haf nSt saeo0f eoo their laws f to those Of
New~York This matter receives special mention
@ @ and 81 the Gode 0f ProceuT
ae well these The defects nra1s In ma + IS bsoutey
Impossible to comply with their arbitrary terms:
he no bsnticae primarily in the manner provided
by the law Of the foreign state. ner why the
With the provisions of that law should not be prma
face established by o1eial snthenIeat19n nnae[
Washington.
The paper caused discussion which resulted
in the appointment of committee to draft lesis-
lative bill to enlarge the powers and jurisdiction
of surrogates. The committee consists or sur
rogate L. V. Marcus. of Erie County s. A Siners,
of Buffalo; Seldom Bacon, E. b Whitney and
Everett p. Wheeler, Of New-Iork.
Edward B. Whitney of New-York. delivered an
address on Further Reforms in Procedure,
Papers on Marriage and Divorce" BY H. Cieve-
land Coke. of Paris. France, and The Life OF
Chancellor Kent" by John F. Dillon, of New
York City, were also read.
J. Newton Fiero. of the committee of hfteen
appointed by Governor Oden under authority of
an act of the last legislature to investigate the
condition of the statutes OF the State. read TO the
association the report OF that committee 10 the
legislature. The report stated that the committee
found that a great deal of the statutory law OF
the State is chaotic and that in many cases II is
difficult to determine without great research the
law bearing on certain questions The report
recommends that the work OF consolidating
statutes bearing on similar subjects be continued
and that the Civil Code be condensed and siInpH-
fed. and that a board Of five lawyers be ap-
pointed take charge Of this work. the members
to serve without compensation. with the exception
of the chairman. The report was accompanied by
a bill to carry these recommendations Ato ereet
Both Will be presented to the legislature.
The association ordered five thousand copies of
the addresses of Simon Fleischman of Buffalo,