The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-20
HIGH COURTS MAY
 BE CONSOLIDATED
Court of Appeals and Supreme
 Court May Be United
VARIATION IN DECISIONS
Some convicts Will Suffer From the Change To Be Made When Time of the Lease System Expires
 and Lose Easy Jobs.

Atlanta, January 19.-(Special.)-
 Since the question of the abolition of
 the state court of appeals or rather
 its consolidation with the supreme
 the consensus of opinion among the
 lawyers of the state strongly favors
 that solution of what appears to be
 a perplexing problem
 The problem and the chief cause of | complaint grow out of the fact there Is already considerable variation be- tween some of the decisions of these two courts of last resort This varia-
 tion promises to produce perplexities
 in the law which still increase and
 grow more serious as the decisions
 multiply.
 To avoid this it is proposed to con- solidate the two courts into the su- preme court with three additional or
 total of nine justices and to so
 to facilitate its work.
 It is proposed for example, to di- vide the supreme court into three di- | visions of equal dignity both in the l matter of hearing and deciding causes, I making exception only of cases involv- ing constitutional questions or capital
 punishment in which instances the en-
 tire court shall sit both for hearing
 and decision.
 Except in the class of eases noted. ! this would, in effect, give the state of dignity 1 though there would still be a possi- bility of conflict between the different | divisions. Just how this difficulty could be reconciled the lawyers will | probably have to work out. If 1t should | be held that a supreme court decision
 Is binding the court itself and opin- ion should vary between the divisions | on any particular point then the terms ! of the decision would depend on which ! decision first reached particular moot ! ed question.
 The privilege of reversing itself how ever is one which supreme courts have | long held to and now and then they make use of it, though usually only in cases where there has been some change in the personnel of the bench.
 In any event the lawyers appear gnerany to believe that the consolida-
 tion of tn ese courts and a division of
 labor to such extent as would suffi-
 ciently facilitate disposition of cases,
 would result in greater uniformity in
 the law which some cynic has wittily defined as the last guess of the su- preme court"
 Convict Lease System. There are certain advantages which Georgia convicts sometimes enjoyed un- der the lease system which will be de- nied them with it's abolition, and the placing of the convict body on the pub | lie roads. The prison commission has not been wholly unmindful of these and has given them consideration wherever 1t could do so.
 There are always in the penitentiary certain white convicts not inured to man ual labor but who are experts in cer-
 tain lines, sometimes as bookkeepers.
 physicians, engineers and other classes
 whose talents the lessees have been able
 to put to good use without requiring
 them to do the work of the ordinary
 laborer This has been an advantage
 both to the lessee and the convict. and
 instances are not infrequent in which the
 lessee has recognized the value of such
 service by substantial payment upon the
 release of the convict.
 Under the new regime there will be lit-
 tie place for such men. The white con
 
 This institution will scarcely have need
 for more than one bookkeeper or office
 man at the outside. The only thing to
 be done with the rest of them will be
 to put them to blowing or hoeing in the fields. The prison commission is trying to make some provision for these cases in so far as 1t may be possible to do
 so, but has as yet reached no definite con-
 clusion Few if any counties taking con- f1- rorIr xxyfU nt pf bookkeeper or office man, and the ma jority of them may have to be put at the ordinary work of the farm.
 Again. under the lessees, convicts were frequently given opportunity to earn money of their own by working extra hours, if they desired to do so. and often
 they have left the penitentiary at the end
 of their terms with comfortable sums to
 their credit. An instance came to light just the other day in which convict pardoned after IA years service, left the
 penitentiary with $500 in cash.
 Under the new plan the convicts will
 lose this opportunity. They are all to be put on the public roads under the direction of the counties with the excep- tion of the white convicts, who are to be worked on a separate farm by the
 state. The extra compensation, there
 fore will become a thing of the past. Teh only thing the commission can put in the place of this is perhaps. a some what earlier pardon or communication of sentence in the cases of those convicts who give the state their best services Meeting of Health Board.
 The state board of health made it's annual meeting the occasion of discuss Ing and urging what 1t considers an m- portart step in the direction of sanitary reform.
 A strong resolution was passed urging | the legislature at it's coming session to make an appropriation of 5000 to be ex- 1 pended under the direction of the board 1 for the purpose of making a scientific ex- l animation of all the water sheds and sources of the streams which supply l drinking water to the people in the var;- ] ous communities of the state
 The state board looks upon these i streams. If not properly safeguarded as : prolific source of disease Should the 1 appropriation be made it is proposed ] to put the matter in the hands of an ! expert in scientific sanitation and hy- 1 gene and find ont the extent of the l purity or frnpurity in the sources of prac- ! tically all the drinking water in the state With oil the facts in hand each com | munity could be properly notified as to l the condition of it's drinking water and ! what should he done. if anything, to bring ! it nearer a state of purity.
 I Outside of the adoption of this resolu-
 tion the only action of interest taken at Al tt.z.- Al IL T h.