The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-09-23
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER %. 1912
THE LAWS

Two cases in last weeks news. one In
the criminal courts and the other In
the civil courts. offer egregious exam-
aples of the laws delays. -Four years
G this month Chester Jordan. an
actor. killed his wife in Boston during
a quarrel, and after attempting to de-
stroy the body in the furnace. was
caught while sending the corpse in a
trunk to a steamer with the intention
of dropping 1: overheard. The crime
and the circumstances were revolving,
vet. despite the admitted facts. Jor-
dan was only last week placed IN the
death cell at Charleston Jail to pre-
pare for execution next week. Four
years have been frittered away in
bringing this man to justice. He was
convicted in the following May and
since then his case has been in proc
ess Of appeal to the supreme court
of Massachusetts and h supreme
court of the United States. both Of
which decided against him.
The other case was that of Har-
rington and Edison against h At
lantic e. Pacific Telegraph company
and Jay Gould over telegraph patents.
1t was begun thirty-six years go. All
the individuals concerned except T.
A. Edison died twenty years ago. A
Judge who passed on 1t in the early
stage rounded out his career on the
supreme bench and died. AT one time
n decision of 81 damages was award
ed to Harrington and Edwards. The
latest judgment vas that h case
should have been dismissed in the
beginning. Last week the attorneys
COR the defendants filed a motion to
have it dismissed without hearing
because of a lack Of jurisdiction,
which it is assumed will now be done.
Yet it tool thirty-six years to decide
not the merits Of the case. but the
fact that thu court was without jur-
isdiction.
The procrastination of our legal
processes is notorious. 1t is response
Die in the criminal courts for the
practical contempt in which the laws
are held. for the recklessness which
:ncites our murders. our burglaries.
our assaults. our lynchings and other
crimes of violence. At the same time
It is responsible for the discomfort
that finds expression in attacks upon
The courts. n the popular impa-
thence of orderly procedure IN ex-
ceutive and legislative as we'll as ju-
dicial affairs.
The efficiency of every branch Of
human effort has been increased n
speeded by the accelerated progress
Vt the times. all but one the judicial.
The administration of Justice is no
surer or swifter than 1t was when
Dickens wrote his famous tale of
Jarndyce and Jarndyce. If anything
It is less so, because the tendency has
been to develop legal talent in liner
hairsplitting. in more complex pro-
%ceedure. in more amazing ~labyrinths
of legalistic lore.
The courts in many cases have be-
come the forums of professional
%gladiators rather han the temple Of
Justice. The issue has been the tech
meal skill Of the champions rather
than the merits of the litigants. The
layman, appalled, by the intricacies
that confront him. despairs Of justice
and in the effort to hew his way out
imperils the whole fabric. One of the
crying needs of the day is the simpli-
fcation of the administration Of JUS
tice, the abolition and abandonment
Of the chicanery n circumlocution
that now 80 often impede it, and the
restoration Of the scales Of Justice to
their proper function instead Of
Weighing the spider-webs of sophis-
try.