Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1906-02-16
Com m unic alton.
HE EDITOR OF THE REGISTER:

of our judicial system in so clear a light,
that must beg that space be given for
its publication in full in the columns of
the Register. There is no doubt but that
the plan suggested ty Chief Judge
Rowell is 1.-THE wisest and best. This is
not only my own opinion but that of
many leading lawyers with whom have
discussed the matter. This is probably
the most urgent and important matter
that will come before our next legislature
and should be fully discussed and kept
before the voters.
One leading objection to the plan is the
added expense. We have the poorest
paid judiciary of AIRY state in the union
with possibly one exception. In my
opinion the number of Judges. and the
pay of each as well, ought to be Increased;
and further when the matter of the
compensation of our Judges gets to be an
obstacle to providing "A sufficient number
of the best, to carry on without sacrifice
OF health the necessary judicial business,
| NermOntiwill cease to be a desirable state
save for starting point for emigration.
But if one desired to suggest economy,
it might be observed that the law doub-
ling thel fees of witnesses, a law passed
at the last session which nobody wanted
except the corporations desiring to keep
the poor man from bringing suits, might
be repealed and thereby save the state
nnarlu or t1ito tba oA1oA of
reformed Supreme Court. Let us unite
to give our overworked judges relief.
w. H. BLISS.
Invited before the Vermont Bar asso-
citation last week to give his ideas con-
corning reorganization of the Vermont
courts, Chief Judge John w. Rowell
spoke clearly and without hesitation.
He emphasized the absolute need of some
change in the court organization, to the
end, first, that litigation might proceed
without undue delay, and second, that
the judges might be relieved from a part
of the duties that are proving more
weighty than they can adequately dis
charge without serious impairment of
their health.
Judge Rowell explained briefly how
the court work has grown from year to
|
until, in spite of long terms, which fire.
quently have to be interrupted in order
that the judges may attend Supreme
Court, the dockets have become badly
cOngested, and the volume of litigation,
instead of lessening, is constantly grow
ing. This condition has the effect, also,
of shortening the time that the judges
have for their Supreme Court duties, and
even there it is in arrears. Formerly,
part of the judges could sit in Supreme
Court session, when the court was held
in several counties, and the remainder
could continue trial business, but now,
under the general term method, this
cannot be done. All seven of the Judges
must sit in Supreme Court at Montpelier
for three terms in the year, and between
times these seven judges, separately,
must preside over 2S terms of court held
in IA counties.
The simple fact is that the judge, how
ever faithful and industrious, cannot
keep up with the work assigned him,
and do it creditably, even though he
breaks down physically in trying, as
several of our judges have done and are
doing.
The remedy suggested by Chief Judge
Rowell is the formation of two courts,
instead of one, and division of the
work between them. One court should
be trial or county court, and Judge
Rowell thinks six judges would be suffi-
Gent to discharge its duties, presiding at
the various terms of county court, and
holding court until the business is prop
erly disposed of. The other court would
be the Supreme Court or court of appeals
and should consist of five members
Judge Rowell favOrs this as the ideal
number. A larger court would be I'M
wiedy; four would open the possibility
of deadlock; while three would be too
small to give due weight to its opinions.
The duties of this court would be con-
fined to hearing cases ON appeal or eX-
ceptiOns coming up from the lower court,
and TO consider causes in which the
Supreme Court has original jurisdiction.
like mandamus, quo warranto, habeas
corpus, etc. This court should hold more
frequent sessions and conferences to the
end that business might keep pace with
the demands.
Lawyers generally endorse Judge
Rowells plan, though over details they
may differ. AS to the constitution of
the two courts, for instance, some law
yers believe that supreme bench. sitting
only as such, in the course of time gets
out of touch with the people, and that
its members are better lawyers and jurists
if given occasion TO sit frequently in trial
courts. This is one of the details. the
determination of which need not affect
the plan itself.
We now have seven judges; under the
suggested method we should have eleven.
1t is not likely that the additional salary
expense would represent outgo entirely,
for the reason that the present high
pressure system means waste in many
! 1
However it may be, it is clear enough
that something should and must be done,
and few thousand dollars year should
not stand in the way of the performance
of manifest duty.