The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-08

two ago iset be distinctly helpful In many states the more public spirited lawyers are seeking to forward con stra1cftve reform The stage of inquiry is not yet pass ed Just what is 1t that makes jus ice painfully slow and uncertain is still d matter of disagreement It is understood that in England and Canada, among people similar to our selves and where the isubstantiative law is closely related to ours, the courts are self-conscious and anabi- tfous-that they make good The natural expectation Is that in Aneri- ca the courts will eventually reflect the national instinct for effectixenesss that they will become practical eco noindcal of effort, efficient
 Courts Reaect National Defects.
 while American courts do not ex- ernpIify our instinct for pract1cality. they are q perfect reflection of our national tixni1ity in government We have the most thoroughly decentraliz- ed government the world has ever seem In recent years we have come to see that the dissipation of individ- ua1 responsabdlit inherent in our sys-s texa is most to blame for our govern mental ineff1cz ency, ana we are nov ing rapidly in our great reveluti onary work Of reconstr11cting the machinery of government so that responsib1lity will become the powerful factor which it must be h any successful scheme of hunnan affairs. We are first sirn7 pIify1ns our municipal government so that reepunM bi1tty will flow in direct lines from the peoples servants to the people.
 Ths movement is bes1nning to ex-s tend to state governments and it ap- pears that soon we will have real poll tics in this country In place of the de- grading hustle for office which has been neretofors the mainsprt1ag of public action.
 -E trouble with our courts is almost iden-: ticai with the trouble experienced In. naundci pal government 50 long tha1 we had became fairly pessimistic when the short ha1Iot under the guise of ssconnuiss4on government came in.
 The complaint is not so much that judges do not know the law or do not conscient1ously apply it. The com pla1nt is largely as to failure on the administrative side of the judicial function.
 Bnox an1zed Judges
 If all the numerous judges, in some stakes several hundred fn number, are3 to do their fudfv1d1a1 piece work SO that there will be real effectiveness in the output of the entTe force. there must be a centralized intelligence to. direct their efforts and this intelli gence must have power to enforce it's will There must be finally one single person held responsible for the exe- +cUrl01 or the E64ETaIIXSQ W41&4 OI LR& Judicial department. and for ha11non- ious work That single responsibles person must be accountabie directly to all the people of the state
 Lacking any administrative machtn- cry in our judicial syBtens, we have been obliged to Iesislate g great vol u1ne of mandatory and infleHble rules / in an effors to force judges to do the right thing. As matter of fact Judges almost always want to do the right
 
 by this tTlfexible procedure which compels them to do awkward and un79 economical things
 It is now quite generally agreed that beyond a short practice act, all. rules of proeedura should be rules Of court which will permit of variance. in the interest Of substantial justice. Lawyers talk this doctrine in two score bar associations, but there is no. step toward putting 1t into effect. and: the reason is that the Judicial system is so nabby that there is really no place where this important power can be safely vested.
 But no great change is needed There need be no such sweeping change as takes place when a city adopts commission government It is merely necessary to create q uni f7ed crganizat1on of the courts of a state, making very little change In the accustomed courts. There will still be Judges devoted to the trial of all sorts Of causes and court for appeal and local judges of limited jnrisdic- tfon The central authority which must exist to exercise the rule n1ak- ing power which must be transferred largely from the legislature to the judiciary can be brought into being by providing Judicial council of i've or seven or nine judges The head Of the council will be the chief jus tice Of the state These men may spend most of their time on the bench but as Judicial council they will have important administrative pow CTS. VIII become, in. fact. responsible for the enforcement of departmental rules and for the economical and prompt functioning of the entire de- partment-
 Efhcient Court Management
 The larger questions involved will whose orders will be executed by the chief justice The lesser details, aria- ing from day to day. will come di- rect1y within the province Of the chief justice To keep him in touch with the system he must become the Eocdpzent of frequent reports from all the judges and branch courts and must compile and digest these reports and publish them so that the people will know what Is going on in the ju- aicfa1 department. They do not now know and have no means of Knowing. AS a matter of fact nobody knows. Ours is the only government in the world In which judicial statistics are lacking.
 Of course procedural rules so made will be subject to the veto of the leg ifslature. but experience in England and Canada has shown that the uni- fled and organized courts exercise this year so well that the legislature is not tempted kn interfere.
 The American Judicature Society called Into being expressly to study the needs of courts and procedure and to further movement calculated tc make OUT Judicial systems expressive of the democrafic ideal, finds it's pres ent scope for activity largely in this insistent need for proper organiza-