The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-01
1902 IN THE COURTS
CENTURY OF SENTENCES IMPOSED
BY TRIBUNALS OF JUSTICE.
INSoLVENT COSTS FELL OFF
EVIDENCED IN COURT
OF ORDINARY.


Aggregate Nearly $3O,OOO-Greater
Number of Cases Filed in NIL of
the COurts-NOtabIe Decrease i'm
Amount of Fines Received in Su-
periOr COurt-AmOunt Realized
From Fines in the City Court
About the Same-Great Mass of
Criminal Business Disposed of i'm
Both City and Superior COurt-Of-
ficers Recaptured Many Escaped
COnvicts.
1902 was a busy year in the Chatham
county courts. More cases were filed,
and more disposed of, and more GRIM
mails were brought to justice than dur
ing any preceding year. While the
revenue received by the officers was
not as large as it was in 1901, the
amount of business dispatched exceed
ed that of the previous year by good
margin.
Had Methuselah began, in his prime,
to serve the sentences which were i'm
posed by the courts during the year,
he would probably have died in stripes.
In the City Court, alone, where one
year sentences are the limit under the
law, sentences aggregating in the
neighborhood of 500 years were i'm
posed while in the Superior Court,
where longer sentences obtain, many
criminals felt the strong arm of the
law, and six were sentenced to serve
life terms in the penitentiary.
City Courts Record.
The aggregate amount of fines i'm
posed in the City Court was $21 ,130
This amount does not include costs,
which would bring the amount UP to
about 100000. In most of these cases
the convicted parties were sent to the
gang, the instances where the fines
were paid being rare. From about
IS per cent. of the cases, the clerks
| of the court realized nothing, their
remuneration coming from the fund
| for insolvent costs.
This fund is realized from the pay
mzent of fines, which amount is divid-
ed between the solicitor general the
| clerk of court and the sheriff.
| This division is made under order of
court, there being no time designated
when the judge of the court shall or
der a distribution.
The fund for insolVent costs in the
| City Court during the year amounts to
| about $4,500 about half of which was
| realized from fines imposed on the
gambling fraternity. Another $1,000
| was paid in by Laura BeTlinger. The
| amount realized in 1902 does not differ
much from that received during the
previous year, there being a variance
of little more than $50 in favor of the
preceding year.
In the Superior Court.
In the Superior Court the amount of
| insolvent costs fell off materially, the
| fund received from fines and forfeit
ures being a little more than a third
the amount realized the year before.
The amount of fines paid into the
registry of the court in 1902 was ST.
$40, besides $155 received as contempt
| penalties. In 1901, $3,525 was realized
from fines. OF this amount, however
but little more than $4,000 was distrio-
| uted, there being about $500 collected
| from refractors of the oyster laws, out
| of which the fish wardens realized
| a neat amount.
1t may be seen that the amount of
! insolvent costs in the Superior Court
in 1902 was $2,185 short of that of the
year 1901 This is due to the fact that
the gambling fraternity have not con-
| tributed as literally to the Golfers of
| the court as they have heretofore
Then, too. in cases where heavy fines
have been imposed in cases of another
| character, where the likelihood of COL
| Letting the fine was good, the Supreme
| Court has set aside the judgment of
the lower court.
| Bad Year for Criminals.
In the Superior Court more atten-
ton has been given to the trial of
1 nrafrl 1a,111
| having been cleared several times dur
ing the year. 1t was Judge Barrow's
| policy to keep the Jail clear, the re-
| suit being that there are now few
criminal in the county bastile await
ing the disposition of the court. Dur
ing the year there were 426 civil cases
! filed, this being an increase of nearly
| ten per cent. over that of 1901.
| In the City Court a great amount
of civil and criminal business has been
| disposed of. The entire docket has
been called at the beginning of each
! term, and an effort made to clear the
records of long standing cases. The
| court has been particularly busy dur
| ing the last quarter, the business
transacted during that time being
| greater than in any like length of
| time in many years. Since November
first, the court has not taken a recess
| except for the observance of a legal
| holiday.
In the Court of Estates.
The Court of Ordinary has had
buster and more prosperous year than
in 1901. The number of estates filed
| which may be taken as a fair index
| to the business of the court, is 1914
| against 1872 in 1901. Both the number
of lunatics sent to the asylum and
the number of habeas corpus proceed
| 1ngs showed an increase over the
number in 1901. The number of LET
tiers dismissory granted was about the
same for the two years. Ninety pony"
homesteads were taken out, as against
IS in 1901
The business of the Court of Ordi-
nary does not depend. upon the
amount of litigation, nor the failure of
persons to pay their obligations. but
rather upon the prosperity of the
community at large. The larger. an es-
tate, the greater the amount realized
by the Ordinary; and when people die
| possessed of property, letters of ad-.
| min1stration or other legal REQUIRE
! ments are observed, so that the more
| prosperous the community, the greater
the amount of business in the Court