Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-03-18
COURT EXPENSES.

In the matter of Court expenses and
our system of Court procedure, improve
ments could be made and money saved.
The witnesses should not be allowed any
per diem, but something given them to
defray expenses TO Annapolis. Under
the present plan witness residing i'll
Annapolis city although he may be enc
of the many colored men who always at
tend our court is allowed 81 for each
day; on the other hand taxpayer sum
moned from Brooklyn or Curtis Bay to
testify in criminal case pays 10 cents
car fare to Camden station $l.25 for
round trip ticket on the railroad and 10
cents again for car fare to his home thus
receiving less than his actual car fare by
As cents. Witnesses from the Fifth dis
trict should receive $1.25 per day and
from theother districts less in proportion
todistance, and witnesses from Annapolis
and vicinity should receive no pay, as in
Baltimore city. BY this system of paying
witnesses $1,000 could be saved each year.
Our grand and petit jurles should not
NEST at the same time. With our jury
terms of Court beginning on the third
Mondays of April and October our grand
iuries should meet on the third Mondays
of March and September BY this change
COuIL MOulO lOb NC lnbCAAuHbNA OhNC
or twice day during civil trials to hear
reports from the grand jury. The States
Attorney would not during the trial of
criminal case have TO be excused to adj
wise the grand jury, but the greatest saw
ing would come from the fact that the |
States Attorney would, while the civil
docket was being tried have an opportu- |
nifty to learn of his cases and not have |
witnesses summoned in cases not TO be |
tried. If one wants an idea of what a |
saving this would be, let him from our |
Court docket count up the dollars paid |
to witnesses at say our last twenty terms |
of court in cases, continued, stetted and |
non pressed. With the States Attorney |
given time to acquafnt himself with his |
docket and time to attend the sessions OF |
the grand jury and learn what witnesses |
in a case were needed witnesses in court |
and what ones were useless and with |
each case on the docket and duly assign |
ed for trial any criminal docket we have |
had in the last five years could easily be |
tried in one week, in fact, in less time; the |
same number of actual trials in Balti
more City would be gone over in three or
four days. This change in our criminal
Court procedure would certainly save |
EIOVU cdCu year.
The item of Contingent Expenses,
So, 1858 II is not published as it should be.
While all governing bodies necessarily |
have contingent expenses yet the items
of expense should be published in full
for the information of taxpayers.
There are, no doubt, other reductions
that could be made in the expenses incl
dent to our county government, but the
changes suggested would place $lO,38O
OF the buiden on the respective localities
enjoying the benefits and thereby reduce
the general sum to be levied by that
amount. ................... $10,380 90
To which add.
Discount on School tax. $500. 200 90
Discount on County taxes-... $500 90
Reduction in Election exp. POO 90
Reduction in Salary of Sheriff. 900 90
Reduction in amount paid for
Deputy Sheriffs. ........... 1000 90
Saved by giving police magis-
trates of Annapolis jurisdic-
tion of criminal offenses in
1st prect. 2ud dist, and End
prect. Bird dist. 200 90
Saved hv chanpps in law paw