Arizona republican., 1912-09-28

are fully protected. Let us see. Under the new law which has just come into effect, man, if he be a plaintiff. must first pay ten dollars in the superior court and eight dol lars in the justice court before he can file his complaint Should he dismiss his case having settled it, the next day, not a cent of this mon ey is returned to him. It goes in to the treasury and helps pay for the other fellows litigation. Under the old law he put up ten dollars, but if the object of the suit were accom- plished without proceeding any far ther than service of the summons he received most of it back Many a man will refuse to settle a just debt until sued and such men usually set tie when sued and lawyers usually advise them to do SO Justice courts are established primarily for the pur- pose of settling small disputes To some people ten or twenty dollars is quite a bit of money and under this law, a poor man who is being de frauded out of $10 or $15. probably the earnings of his labor, is not liable to put up eight dollars as a condi-
 
 and further than that the poor cred- itor cannot always scrape up $S to start suit with and if he can get that much money together it belongs to the grocer, who by the way can, un- der the law, sell him groceries and throw him into the street if he doesn't pay.
 Take a concrete illustration of the ,-l-i Suppose a conductor on the street railway should be severely injured through the negligence of the com pany. He has an eminently just and meritorious cause of action. He is absolutely without funds after pay ing the cost of his illness. To get into court he must first put up S10 Keep the fact in mind that the de- fendant company has plenty of mon ey and skillful counsel He rustles up the necessary S10 after employ ing a lawyer on a contingent basis. Now he is all right, had a hard time getting the s10 but is in court at last Judge his surprise when he l learns that there has been a mo- tion for security for costs filed after | a jury demand by the defendant. He must either give security or take the paupers oath. Having no property and being unable to secure a bond l he takes the oath. The next move on the part of the defendant is to summon him into court ito submit | himself to the court-when he can | be examined orally touching his ability to give security and if de- 1 fendant's counsel can prove him a l liar he will do so for if he can so prove he has him out of court. In 1 the meantime the cost bill has been 1 steadily increasing. Our plaintiff, 1 having prevailed against the motions l for costs is still in court and the cause is ready for trial
 On the day set the case is called and the trial begun. There is great deal of evidence and a great deal of objecting, argument and pickering between the counsel After three | days of trial the case goes to the jury and they retire for deliberation After remaining out for two days the jury bring in verdict for plaintiff awarding him substantial damages Naturally he is elated, but not fol long. for he soon learns that under
 
 | must first pay in cash to the clerk of the court the entire cost Of the jury before he can get his judgment and the verdict made available tf him These costs amount to $36 | day for five days together with $5( or $6O more for food and lodging
 He hasn't ten dollars to his namt and nobody will lend him s2OO o' more on his prospective judgment for it is almost certain that the de fendant will appeal, and the case naN be remanded for new trial where tht same thing would be gone over again
 There he is, at the end of his string
 The sweet taste of victory turned tC bitter gall in his mouth and his for mer respect and admiration Of tn law turned into scorn ard hatred fol all courts, judges. lawyers and laws | No wonder he believes in the recal of judges He cant unders and why such injustice has been done him. Courts are established by society to settle the disputes between mar and man and to punish those who err against it The court should not De looked upon as a money making ln- stitution. Few men go into court from choice. It is unfortunate fol any man sto be compelled to engage in litigation and his misfortune should not be capitalized by society ano above all the courts should be places of refuge for the poor and oppressed ] In the United States courts one can prosecute his case to the end with out eXpending a dollar in costs if he be so unfortunate as to be poor Uncle Sam denies no man his day in court. The same is true in the vast majority of the states, but in Ar- zona poverty is penaliZed and the un- fortunate denied their day in court l The legislature should remedy this condition but it has refused to do so
 The writer drew bill during last springs session the purpose of which was to permit the poor to get into court, to stay in court, and to receive the benefit of the laws, This bill was