The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-09
EXPENSE OF DAMAGE SUITS
By Auth of Coal Aiabamn'

sum of s1OO,OOO per month is paid out by the larger corporations in attorneys fees and costs for defending damage suit cases alone.
 And many of these cases are not worth the price of a postage stamp. A man who sprained his wrist sued the Bir- mingham Belt railroad not long since for $200O0. A negro who didn't pay 5l taxes sued the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company for s5o0O for being carried past his destination.
 "The average amount paid out every day by this company In damages and court costs alone equals S357. 49. This amounts to S10,S735S per month, or $130, ,4S5 for the year 1910. Out of every dollar earned by the railway department 70 cents goes to pay damage and court costs.
 A Case of Negligence
 "A moulder in one of the local foun- dries stopped some molten iron in his shoe one morning, absolutely through his own carelessness. The company-it was the American Casting company I think was ready however. to pay his doc tors bill, pay him his wages the week he was laid off, and take him back again on the job.
 But he sued for $500 The case ac- tually consumed three days in trial and a lot of grandstand play was indulged in by the attorney for plaintiff. "The jury took a vote on it, didn't even leave the box and decided there was no case. The county and the company had the costs to pay and the man lost his job. What sort of business q yous cal all that?
 "It goes on every day here in this town. Simply read the record of suits filed and note the fimsy basis of large percentage of them. Furthermore, when the fact Is known that at least 80 per cent of damage claims against certain of the railroads and companies here are settled out of court some idea of the status of the cases can be gotten.
 "Of course the professional fakir cases are to be found more in the railroad and street railway companies than the mer- cantile or industrial concerns. If they re not stamped out, however, they will spread.
 Tt costs more, very often. to run the claims department of railroad or an electric line than 1t does to operate cer- tain lines of road
 How It Affects the County A statement of the amounts expende ed by Jefferson county for the mainten- | ance of all of the different local courts, from October l. 1909 to September 30 1910, was recently prepared for this se- ries of articles by T, O. Gillespy the county auditor. Published in The Age Herald (March 8 this table of statisti IS elicited the widest interest not only throughout Birmingham and Jefferson county, but all through the state. "I had absolutely no conception of the actual court costs to the taxpayers ot this county" said well known mining man, until l read MT. Glespy's state ment. Most of the business men here | have a more or less vague idea of thls cost. They all know it costs like thun- | der. especially when you take in all this tommyrot inferior court business, which at last is about to be done away with 1 But why keep on with the endless series of groundless and trivial suits I which eat day by day into the pubic | funds? Why a brand new court house and the Lord knows we need one-conll be built out of the money wasted just thrown away on half these fool cases that come up.
 Need of Public Protest
 The taxpayers and citizens of Jeffer- son county should rise in a body ana lput an end to all this trivial damage suit business. Take that recent case Of the nigger on the Bessemer car who sued the street car }ompany for several hundred dollars, hekause, he states. th4 conductor swore at hfp.
 ''NNonder how we'd ket some of our