The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-08

 the love and gratitude of q nation to be- Success and honor have crowned his every effort in an active life as citizen, jurist. peacemaker and cabi- net officer. Through all his career and in our insular possessions he has stood for the integrity of his govern ment and the majesty of right, gentle men-Mr. Taft
 MT. Taft said in part;
 What wish to call your attention to tonight is the delays and conse- quent inequalities in the administra tion of justice in controversies between private persons. All our institutions are now being subjected to close scrunity with a view to providing that some of them should be radically changed The chief attack is on the institution of property and is based upon the inequalities in the distribu- tion of wealth and of human happiness that are apparent in our system. It is not inconsistent with the rights of private property to impose limita tions upon its use for unlawful purposes and this is the reform needed rather than the abolition of the institution itself An evil which is likely to grow in i'm portance is the inequality between the poor and rich growing out of the de- lays in the administration of justice between individuals
 Defect In System.
 |, "A defast of our system is seen in the unequal burden which the delays and expenses of litigation impose on the poor litigant. The reform must be reached through the improvement. in our judicial procedure. Our codes are generally too elaborate.
 "A study of the English system which consists of a few general prin- ciples laid down in practice act supplemented by rules of court, has worked with great benefit to the liti- gant and has given much more ex- petition. I believe a similar system could be adopted in this country with great benefit
 "Another reason for delay in the lower courts is the disposition of judges to write long opinions. It is almost of as much importance that the court of first instance should decide promptly as that it should decide right If judges had to do so they would become much more attentive to the argument during it's pre- sentation and much more likely or the other hand, to decide right when the evidence and argument were fresh in their minds.
 Another defect in our judicial system is giving to defeated litigants two ap- peals.
 Entitled to Appeal.
 "So far as the litigant is concerned one appeal is all that he should be entitled to. It is better that the cases all be decided promptly even if they are wrong fully decided Again there has been man. ifested ilUPur appellate courts too great disposiUbn to reverse cases for error in the trial below. The inevitable effect of the delays incident to the machinery x.x.I kf versies in judicial tribunals is to put at u disadvantage the poor litigant and to give great advantage to his wealthy op- ponent. 1 think step in the direc- ton of the despatch of litigation might be taken in requiring higher qualflca- lions for those judges that sit in cases involving a small pecuniary amount.
 Another method of getting rid of I great deal of litigation. litigation that consumes d great deal of time. and consumes q large part of the attention of the courts. could be effected by the introduction of system for the settle ment of damage suits by all employees against employers through official arbi- tration and without resort to jury trials. Such system is working we'll in Eng land as l am informed.
 Again. l believe great reform might be effected especially in the federal courts, and l believe. too. in the state courts, by a mandatory reduction of the court costs for fees. The salaries of the court officers should be fixed and should be paid out of the treasury of the county. state or national government as the case may be, and fees should be reduced to as low a figures as pos sible consistent with the reasonable dis couragemeut of groundless and unneces- sary litigation.
 With the conclusion of Mir Taft's speech the banquet ended. The candidates shook hands cordially and parted.