The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-24

city treasury. With the fee system. there is always the temptation to stretch out the work of the court. Increase the salaries of the assistants, @ abolfsh the fees and it will meet with the approval of all,'' said Attorney Shannon. He said the people were pleased with the city court as it is now constituted. They are satisfied the office is in competent hands and that the officers are not properly compensated.
 Frank D. Bell, who confessed he was just an ordinary tax payer, want ed the fees abolished. The fees of the court for the last year, he said were about s2,o00. Pay these into the salaries of the city court in keep ing with the proposed schedule. At torney Joshua Meltzer spoke very briefly, saying he believed the salary raise was all right, if fees were wiped out. J. Harry Crossley said it was no doubt true that for even smaller salaries, men might be found for the positions, but not such men as should occupy the positions. He advocated the abolition of fees and with Attor- ney Shannon believed the assistants should be paid salaries more nearly those of the principals whose respon- abilities and work they share.
 Attorney B. l.. Graves raised his voice in opposition. Its strange" said he, there is no one here to rep resent the poor taxpayers. I wish the laymen would band themselves to- gether for mutual protection like the lawyers have banded together here today" He said he believed the city court officers, especially the judges and prosecutors should get the salary raise. But as for the other positions, he said he regarded them as post graduate courses for young lawyers where valuable experience is to be gained and where they have the op- portunity of laying foundations for future judgeships, provided he has the requisite political pull to land in such an office-"for you must always have that" said he.
 Former Probate Judge Thomas c. Coughlin took a humorous fling at Graves. Everybody knows we law yers must hang together or hang separately" said he. Graves ice makes him think that everything is in trust. Speaking seriously he said the city court is highly respected. He believed in the advancement of salaries in proportion to the equal division of the work of the offices :. The abolition of the fee system he said would meet with the approval of both the bar and the general public If the people were not satisfied that the proposed increase was justified there would De people on mana 10 Op- pose the measure.
 Attorney Abe Geduldig could see almost impending the day when there must be two city courts running sim ultaneously to handle the rush of business.
 Former Mayor Lee then demanded to know if all this talk about increas ed business was not the increase of civil business rather than criminal business. This was denied. Attorney Chamberlain explained that the chart acter of the cases has changed so that there may be more cases before court without such a big revenue, and the income of the court, even though smaller than before, does not indicate a lessening in the number of cases tried. Raise the salaries to a fair scale, and follow the general policy of abolishing fees, urged the former mayor.
 Attorney John W Banks said when he considered the ability of Judge Foster and Prosecutor Delaney it was a source of amazement to him that they could give their time to the