Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1912-04-16
SHOULD JUDGES TAKE THE LEADa

reforms that are APPARENTLY so mucn
needed, and the absence of which is
leading to the continued assaults upon
the judiciary and the entire legal sys-
system of the land, must come from
within and should be lead, encouraged,
stimulated, and promoted by the judic-
iary itself. AS he views it, and his
position seems to be very well based
there can be no body of men in the
country that is better acquainted with
the evils and weakness of existing
methods, or who from experience and
close analysis of the existing methods
could better suggest the ways to re-
move the evils, than the judges on the
bench, the men who day after day
operate under the present antiquated
system and doubtless chafe under the
miscarriages of justice it so frequent
ly brings about.
Here is an extract from this article
that gives the meat of the suggestion.
1t is worthy of consideration. Perhaps
the judges of Georgia may lead in the
great movement for reform that is
undoubtedly becoming a national is
sue, the dissatisfaction permeating the
entire land, no state being free from
the feeling that reforms are sadly
needed.
I'm the beginning it ought to be said
that the expense, the delay, the tech
nicalities and inadequacies of the law.
of which the people complain, can be
demoved without drastic legislation or
the jeopardy of new and hazardous
methods How is this to be done? Let
us look the situation in the face. SUI
pose the system of banking in a state
We're considered inefficient, antiquated
incumbered with useless forms, eX-
pensive and attended with unnecessary
delay in the transaction of business
what would happen? Simply this; all
the men engaged in that enterprise
within the state would meet together
and endeavor to formulate a plan by
which those evils could be corrected
and the system of banking put on a
practical and efficient basis.
Now this is precisely the method to
follow in bringing our legal procedure
up to a practical, swift, economic and
efficient system. All the judges 0f
courts of record in each state ought to
get together and formulate plans for "A
more efficient administration OF Justice
This would mean, perhaps, that the
judge would have to abandon a certain
Anticipated oriental idea of exclusive
and esoteric dignity and accept the
modern, practical scpirit of co-opera
ton and the view of the average man
that the administration of justice IS
merely part of public business, like
any other requirement of organized
society. AS the system now standi
there is no more cooperation among
the judges in a state than there IS
among the pellets of shot in a bag.
Every inferior judge works in his own
little circle, without any regard TO"
the whole system of justice in the state
and merely with an eye to making his
decisions conform to the opinion of
the court of appeals. He therefore per-
mits all the latitude he can in the trial
of causes in order that he may not be
reversed. Consequently the very first
thing to do is to bring the whole jul
dical hodv of the state together as
cooperative unity, organized and work
ing together for the common good.
Now what could this judicial body
do to correct the evils complained of if
it were assembled in such spirit? In
tie first place, it could simplify all the
forms used in legal procedure so they
could be definitely known, and so that
aontrover sizes could come up in an
orderly fashion. without bubbles over
the language of the forms. AS an eX-
annie. the involved, absurd form of
murder indictment under the common
law has in some states been simplified
by statute to form of not more than
a dozen lines; and this could be done
with all form of not more than dozen
lines and this could be done with all
forms of crime 1t could be done also
with declarations and all forms CT
pleading at law and in equitp. SO
that at one strickland perhaps with
out the enactment of single statute
vast deal of the delay, the expense
and the endless Quibbling over the suf-
ficiency of pleadings could be remov-
ed.
1.-THE conduct of all criminal trials
could be simplified and shortened by
the adoption of a single rule-namely,
that no appeal should be allowed un-
less the record showed that substan-
tial justice had been denied the pris-
orer. AS the matter now stands, the
inferior trial judge is afraid to curtail
the examination of witnesses and to
abbreviate and shorten criminal trials,
lest he violate some one of the innum-
cradle delicate technical safeguards
which the antiquities of the law have
to the criminal. 1t is not