The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-01-05

TWO CHANGES THAT ARE NOT
EIDE

NFE4lyELD.
An editorial, appearing in this pa
per Il. few days ago upon h judicial
system of the State, written in the alb
sence of the editor from the city, has
been construed into an advocacy by
this paper of the proposition to IN
crease the number of Superior Court
Judges, and to change the present ro-
tation system SO that no Eastern Judge
viii hold court in the Western coun-
ties and no Western Judge Will hold
court in the Eastern counties. TINS
paper is emphatically against both Of
the proposed changes and deprecateS
the agitation for either.
The system of rotating the superior
Court Judges is Il good one and ought
not to be changed. The people OF
Runcombe have reason to be glad that
Judge Ward, of Elizabeth City, re
Gently held their court, and the peo-
pie of the East are glad to welcome
Judge Ferguson to hold their courts.
The same is true Of the other Judges
beside these two from the extreme
Eastern and Western districts. 1t has
helped toWard unifying the State and
Cffacing the old hard and fast divisions
of Cast and West that in old times
made Il sectional barrier. Most of our
supreme Court Judges are taken from
the Superior Court bench. But for the
rotating system the people OF ali parts
of the State would never have seen
Chief Justice Clark. and Associate
Justices Connor. Brown and Hoke.
and the State might have been de
prived of their services on the Appel
late Court. OF course to divide the
State into two circuits so that the
eight Eastern Judges shall rotate in
the East and the eight Western Judges.
shall rotate in the West would pre-
serve some Of the benefits of rotation.
but would lose most of the benetlts,
and destroy that oneness of our court
system that has worked admirably and
that ought not To be changed. o.
course the proposed change would
lessen the travelling Il Superior curt
judge has to do and be convenient for
him but in knowledge of the state and
its people and in the largest useful
ness on the bench ne would lose more
than he would gain. The same Lcgi.
latule that voted down the PROPOSE
ton to make the change and have two
circuits voted to increase the salary Of
the judges Il = continued the $50 paid
annually for travelling expenses. That
sum Is ample 70 pay railroad iare for
the present system. The convenience
nf Il Superior Court Judge ought not
To be lightly regarded. but Judges Will
not insist upon a departure from a
good system when it is best for the
State that no change in the present
system be made.
4ltAN dA' q A'N i'AAAAliI2 - ~
docket is crowded and where more
Superior Courts are needed. The de-
OF justice call for giving enough
courts to prevent the long delays that
work a denial of prompt justices in
GuiIford. New Hanover and Il few
other counties. But this congestion
can be remcdied without creating new
Offices in two ways:
/. Establish Recorders courts in
those counties that will try most Of
the small offenscS and that will leave
more time to try cases on the civil
uockct. There i no reason why TIL"
Recorder should not be given civil
Jurisdiction. I
,. Put all Solicitors on d salary and
the work Of Solicitors. and !
Ia-L-tecmSnEthASnperior Court
to the counties where the docket is :
coEsested. The present districts are
unequal some counties have more !
courts than they need. and others (
need more than they have. ,
These two remedies will give ample
court taCi tiles tQ every I'M in, the l
state, reduce the expenses of the {
courts, and work no hardship to any.
NC m>fke this statement on the testi-
monN Of two Of the ablcst Superior [
Court Judges ia North Carolina and ,
eff several OF the uisest Clerks of the
superior Court in the State. /
The Roanuke-ChuWau Times. dis .
"~Iseing the question Of increasing tn
NEGmhgr of courts. sen~ihly saws:
indications are not lacking tina I
there will be AN effort made at the I
forthcoming session OF the Legislature
to Increase the number of Superior
Court Judges. That there is no need
for an increase will make no difference
With the hungry office seekers. There
are not enough offices to go around and
more must he created. When the state
Prohibition law goes into effect Jan
nary first crime Will decrease and the
courts viii not have SO many Criminal
cases 10 try, but this fact will not les
sen tho cIanof That viii be raised for
more offices. y large numbe of
'%"unties are now provided with more
"urts than are needed. Northampton
among the number. This county is
row provided with four courts a wear,
hut toE several years not more than
ma cE tn" tre has been needed or
used for the business of the court.
t suaIIE the business of q two weeks
term is finished in one week. and the
business OF ii one week term is finish
el 1u two or three days. NORTHAMPTON
could well and pr"titabiy spare three
weeks of its court terms to some other
county FOR u cunt to have a large
number of cases on its court docket is
no proof that the county needs more
courts, All the cases on a court
docket are not placed there for trial -
Poor Italy, 1t is estimated that
l3.o00.000 people have been killed in
that country by earthquakes sine
~ - y IlA an ---AI