The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-08-13
The LAWS DELAYS.

+ processes OF justice quicker and
less costly. Simplify the codes of
procedure recommends Mr.. Taft,
as England has done. The code
Of the state of New York is stag
gering in the number of its sec
tons" Says the New York Tri-
bune in an editorial yesterday,
commenting upon Mr.. Taft's ad-
dress: 1T is familiar observa-
among members of the tar that no
lawyer, however wide his expert
/ ence, ever really knows the New
York code of civil procedure.
Much OF the time Of courts is cord
with this staggering document
and many cases are delayed by the
failure ofattorneys to master it. "
There is not state in the union
to which the same objection may
not apply in reference to its code
of procedure. Many attempts
have been made to simplify the
code Of Maryland in both civil and
criminal cases. Some progress
has been made, it is true, along
the line Of eliminating Anticipated
statutes, but in the matter of costs
and speedy trials we are no better
off than we were fifty years ago.
Appeals, too, says Mr.. Taft.
should be restricted. The great
body of litigation, he thinks.
should be confined to courts of the
first instance and to intermediate
appellate courts. One appeal
should be enough, except il Ger
tain typical cases which involve
constitutional questions or the con
structjon Of a statute upon these
he would have the court Of last re
sort pass. Court fees should be
reduced so as to make litigation
as cheap as possible, and the
judges should be induced to rem
der their opinions promptly on the
conclusion OF trial, as the Eng
lish Judges Go. instead of incubat
ing the matter for proracted
periods, as is the American Gus
tom, Arbitration wherever feast
bic should be employed on ac-
count of its greater cheapness.
Mr.. Taft raises a genuine moral
issue, and oue.of which the coun-
try Is sure to hear more in the fu-
ture, when he points out that the
present delays and cost Of count
procedure operate to produce viz
tual inequality before the law.
The poor litigant cannot afford
the expense and he cannot endure
the delay attendant on getting JUS
tice. II one Of the parties to
contest is poor and the other rich,
the rich litigant can wear out the
others patience and exhaust his
resources by resorting to technical
tiles, delays and appeals. It be-
comes between them not so much
a question of justice as OF endur-
ance, and this relative advantage
that the rich litigant enjoys over
the poor causes dissatisfaction Just
as surely as if the judges openly
Disseminated in favor of wealth |
and power. Mr.. Taft's experience
on the bench enables him to ex-
pose effectively the inequality be-
fore the law that results from the
present freedom of appeals:
There is nothing which is so
detrimental to the interest of the
poor man as the right which, if
given to him must be given to the
other and weather. party, of car
rying the litigation to the court of
last resort, which generally means
two, three and four years of litiga-
tons. Could any greater oppor-
tunity be put in the hands ofpow-
erful operations to fight off Just
claims, to defeat, injure or modify .
the legal rights of poor litigan,s
off from what is their just due by
q lawsuit for such period, with
all the legal expenses incident to
such a controversy"