The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-18

sent to the jury clearly the issues of fact that may be involved, converts our judges into \mere presiding officers and denies them the powers which have ai- ways been exercised by the judges in England and in the federal courts in this country.
 Under the law which now prevails in Alabama the trial judges are too much hampered in freedom of action and ex- rresslon. This is due to an apprehension on their part that any attempt to restrict counsel for the defendant in the exam
 nation of jurors witnesses, or even in argument. might be regarded by the appellate court a ground for reversal. gain, our statutory provision which pro- hibits judges from charging juries in re- spect to matters of fact reduces the pow CT of a trial judge, in the language of President Taft, to little more than that of moderator in a religious assembly" These conditions could be in a large measure removed by the adoption of the rule which have mentioned-that is by giving appellate courts power to review the facts and to affirm notwithstanding error if satisfied that the verdict and judgment accord with substantial JUS flee. Under our system the jurors must continue to be the ultimate and final ar biters of the facts, but there is no reason why they should not be aided in reaching true verdict by learned and impartial judge. who Is by training and experience competent to weigh and apply the testi- mony.
 The present restrictions in Alabama takes away from the trial court the power t, prevent the unnecessary consumption of time in the examination of witnesses by fear of reversal. and both, in England
 .,r1sr permitted to sum up and weigh the tes- timony and even to express an opinion as to it's weight it has not resulted, so far as I am advised, in inducing jurors to render unjust and unfair verdicts.
 The unnecessary delays which now ex- ist in the trial of criminal cases at every step of the proceedings should be elim- mated We should not. of course. unduly limit tlre right of any defendant to fair trial, or deny him full opportunity to pre- sent all the facts to the jury, nor should the right of counsel be unduly limited in presenting argument to the court on the law and discussing the facts of the case before the jury. We should only seek to clothe the court with fuller ard ampler rowers to prevent the unnecessary de- lays which result in the examination of witnesses on immateral and irrelevant matter or by repetition of the same facts, or by the consumption of undue time in arguing questions of law about which the court has 8 decided opinion. We should not by our adherence to es- tablished usage or customs, which do not properly distinguish between what is sub stance and what is mere matter of form, retard progress in criminal procedure. The whole aim of our criminal law should be to bring the guilty to punishment as speedily as possible, and with the same rapidity free the innocent
 The report of the special committee on reform in legal procedure of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminol- ogy, who were commissioned last spring to visit England and make a study of the criminal procedure in that country, states that they spent four months in the courts of London and the Asszes, where they were afforded every facility by the bench and bar of England for conduct in gtheir inquiries. and of the 16 cases which the committee saw tried in the central criminal court of London, 10 of which were for murder, arson or rape, only three consumed more than two and cne-half hours and several were disposed of in an hour and half. They stated that appeals are quickly dispatched, 15 cases being disposed of by the court of criminal appeals in one day during the attendance of the committee. In a re- cent editorial comment on their report 1t is stated that this court of appeals "con- siders that it's principal function is to administer substantial justice,' and does rot therefore lay stress on technicalities either for or against the defendant. 1t was said in that report that the judicial force in England is very small compared with ours. .r tnF +r ttn fA
 suggest for your consideration the following, among other, recommenda- tion contained in that report. These rec concentrations were made by two of the most distinguished lawyers in the coun- try and were the result of careful investi- gation, and after months spent in attend ing the sessions of the criminal courts of Great Britain:
 l. All objections to the indictment should be made before evidence is heard and errors in matters of form amended at once.
 g. All prisoners upon trial upon indict- ment, who are unable to employ coun- sell should be furnished with legal as- sstance throughout the trial, including the arraignment.
 8. he prosecuting attorney, instead of being a partisan, should investigate the case from a non-partisan standpoint, and ShOuld-make an impartial presentation or the evidence to the jury.
 4. The fee system, wherever it exists for the compensation of prosecuting at- torneys, should be abolished.
 B. The trial judge should not be mere presiding officer, but should take an ac- tive and controlling part in the trial. He should restrict counsel to the arguing Of relevant questions. He should promptly icNO Co technical nhjac- tions He should not permit counsel to intimidate or improperly confuse a wit ness He should gum up the evidence to the jury and direct them as to the law applicable thereto.
 6. New trials should never be granted for technical errors, but only to prevent miscarriage of justice.
 A number of the states of the union make appropriations authorizing the gov ernor to employ permanently small corps of trained detectives to aid local officers in ferretlng out crime. These de- tectives can be sent by the governorSto any place and to investigate any case whose importance, in the opinion of the governor. justifes such action.
 I would suggest that in the larger cities of the state the prosecuting officer be allowed to employ stated number of trained detectives to assist in the en- forcement of the law
 number of states in the union have enacted statutes which authorize the gov ernor, whenever in his judgment the pub lie interest demands, to employ special counsel to aid in the enforcement of the law in reference to those offenses which are made capital. The attorney general of the United States Is authorized to em- pldy special counsel in civil as well as in criminal cases, and the vigorous and
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