The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-29


 the committee, since he had no oppor- tunity to consult with the other mem bers.
 He should try. said Mir. Thomas in his paper, to present the salient points or d discussion progressing in the United States for the last five years, that one day must take the form in remedial legislation by Congress and the leg trusted this state would not be slow to catch the force of the situation. What he had to say, he continued was not with any spirit of any unkind ronsous system that Is largely fixed on most of the appellate courts Of this country, and that is doing much to cause the mind of the people to oues- | tion the efficiency of our judicial sys- | tenn.
 In order to shoy that there is a need | for reform in this country in the en- | forcement of the law, MT. Thomas took | subject through the awakened con- | science of some great editors and lead l ing men" He went on to quote from | many editorials that had been printed | in some of the leading papers of the country, all of which bore upon the l unsatisfactory way In which the laws are enforced and the ease with which people can escape the consequence or | their crime.
 Quoting Chief Justice Charles B. Loring, at the Universal Peace Union. he said: we have become the money l center of the world. but this is but a feyerish appetite for soSld, o with with us us | panciers are racking their brains to 1 circumvent the law and the people. and | by lawlessness achieve wealth. being careful only to keep outside of actual violence and the common jail When l the cunning evasions of the law are l crowned with success all men are tempted to lawlessness."
 Mir. Thomas also quoted Justice Lamar of the Supreme Court of Georgia as saying; The miscarriage of justice must now be laid at the door of man, rather than at that of the law. The judge, the lawyer and the juror are now the responsible agents, and when the public wakes up to realization. and begins to charge failure of Justice where they belong-upon the judge. lawyer and jury ,S,,I we may .;sp. sxpect. a l Quotes Judge Alston. Another quotation of the speaker | was from the words of Hon. A. H. AL 1 ston, q former chairman of this com mittee. and Q supernumerary judge or this State who said: Even to those not | learned in the law or court procedure | 1t Is frequently evident that the pur- pose that brought courts into life has not been maintained and justice has been defeated by failure to admin ister the law. For this there must be a cause that must be remedied."
 Such expressions from thoughtfuI | men, Mir. Thomas said, Cannot but | cause thoughtful men to think No l more fearful indictment can be brought l against that American people than to | say that the efficacy of our judicial | system is seriously questioned What then is the remedyf The re- | storing of full confidence--the begin ming of which Is eliminating of technt- calities that tend to defeat Justice. The much needed physic now prescribed is revision of the law of construction of evidence on appeal. substitution i of the orthodox English rule for the exchecQuer rule"
 Mr. Thomas brought to bear several more quotations from men learned in the law and in the affairs of the land. making frequent observations thereon and applying them all to support his
 Judge John Anderson, of the Supreme | Court offered the following resolution which will be acted upon this morn
 "Be 1t resolved. that the Legislature is requested to enact laws for the bet l ter management and control of youth establishment of reformatories by the 1 State, or by making reasonable appro- l priations to such as are of many be | established"
 Judge Anderson's Views. 1 Tn support of his resolution Judge John Anderson said that the State was making money on its prisoners and ] therefore there should be no difficulty that will save youthful criminals from life of shame. He spoke of the fact | of there being no reformatory for the talon talon wi With the Governor. he was | obliged to turn one loose because there was no place other than the peniten-
 Armstead Brown of Montgomery. said that he has hoped to have heard some discussion on Judge Thomas's paper and on motion by Lawrence Cooper of | Huntsville, the paper was set down for discussion at today's session.
 The following resolution was offered by L. E. Jeffries, of Selma:
 Be it resolved that 1t is the sense l pleading now the law of Alabama, be | not materially changed by any action of the law making bodies of Alabama,
 This resolution will be acted on this I' No report was made by the Commit | tee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform, owing to the illness of R. L. Harmon, | Of Montgomery.
 The reading of a paper on "The Prov.
 nSs ow of as as FssS By Sy hs Wad | storm that sent all the doors in the Capitol banging, and q recess Of ten
 minutes was taken, after whichs the
 said:
 Tt is the purpose Of this paper to discuss the province of function of law-how far the State may rightly | go in regulating the sphere of indi- viduaI liberty and freedom of lcti m" He declared that society was 'arger and greater than the Government, which is but the supreme organ or in- strument of society Government is not an end in itself. and should serve, not dominate. society.
 Developing his theme, Mir. Brown went back to the individual rights and l liberties of ages ago and worked on | down to those of individualism of the | time of Thomas Jefferson. He spoke of the autocratic, oppressive and ra- ternalistic form Of government which had grown up during the middle ages and which had its culmination. so far as America was concerned, in the reign | of George III. of England.
 When the colonists of America came | to form our State and Federal conEti- l tutions, he said, they enumerated all of the limitations of the Magma Char | ta and a number of other things which governments should not interfere with. They came to regard government as a necessary evil. the less of 1t the bet | ter. They inclined to the :egative idea of government as a representa-
 tive agency to restrain interference with individual rights.
 This negative idea of government | was incorporated into our Alabama Constitution. the speaker raid, where