The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-20

Of said Judges VIII in attendance
upon this august invention. make
the chief Justice Of ne Supreme Court
the real head and executive officer
not only Of the JUDICIAL and legal or
panization Of the state, but the active
administrative had as we'll, enlarge |
his powers as tn administrative head
OF the legal department TO such an
extent that he shan have supervisory
power over III" entire judicial sys-
tenn OF the ST., give him one eHl-
cient under-study whose duty it shall
he Ia see that here are NJ CongeSt-
cd dockets ir any county in South
Carolina with power and authority in
the said chief justice to make report
to the Legislature at each session of
the work Of each judicial district and
of each Judge thereof during the pre-
ceding twelve months in "A word, or
ranize the courts for business, make
the courts just as efficient as the most
advance private Of municipal corpo-
ration. and how quickly the entire
judicial system OF the State wOuld
respond and the laws delays be no
more heard OF forever. Consider for
a moment the stimulus that would
be felt throughout the State in con-
sequence Of this annual convention
Of your wisest and best men-the
judges OF your courts. Their de-
tates would be eagerly read by all
thinking people, their suggestions
would be gladly followed. and the net
result Of their labors, formulated into
simple rules, widely printed and cir
culated, would be a practical guide
to the trial judges and to the bar for
the ensuing twelve months. In this
a the judges would exchange
views as to the best manner OF con-
Quoting business. how long should an
attorney be allowed to speak, how
many attorneys on n side should
address the court or the jury, how
should punishment be melted out, and
hundreds Of other matters common
to the courts. The hea chancellor
Of England is clothed with powers
to those above designated.
The business of our trial courts
has increased tenfold in the last hall
century, but IN machinery for its
ptransaction has remained practically
unchanged and we amble along in the
court house as did u forefathers
when there was no separate text book
on negligence or corporation or mas
ter and servant, which now Occup
more Of the time OF the trial our
than all other matters.
DESCRIPTION OF ENGLISH
COURT HOUSE AND
TRIAL.
One of the evils attending Ameri
can trials is that they are too spec
tacular. The court room itself j
usually built to hold and to attraC
q large crowd Of spectators, and tn
settings are most dramatic. 1t is ia
otherwise in the old countries. A
English court house is strictly a bus
mess affair; at least those in LondO
are. Imagine a hallway ten fee
wide. On either side rooms Of yer
~1at- n~1 Art 0A~S
feet-large enough to hold in tn
neighborhood of about 100 people be
sides judge. jury, l~itigants and Law
yers, and all these sitting upon bench
es and not upon chairs, and you ha,
a picture Of the high court and tn
Court Of Appeals Of England out fC
business and not for show. In thes
rooms some forty or fifty in numbe
an courts are in simultaneous sessic
both-the high court, or the tri
court, and the Court of Appeals. Tt
case Of Jessup VS.. Jessup and anOtl
er was on trial before MIR. Justi'
Bucknill as l first entered one
these high courts. The plaintiff W
suing his wife for divorce, n in Il
same action had joined As co-respo
dent a wealthy Scotch noblema
charging him with alternating her a
fections, and asking damages on a
count thereof. This in America wou
or course be a mlSJolnder. Mr.. Ma
shall Hall was the plaintiffs solicitt
while Mr.. Duke X. c.. was for t
defendant. There was no prolixi
in the examination OF witnesses. T
case proceeded with great courte
and dispatch. The attorneys SUNNI
up on either side for about thiI
minutes each. The trial began
noon. and before adjournment t
day following it had ended in a W
dict in favor of the defendant.
Is NOT THE AMERICAN LAWYl
AT LEAST AS RADICAL AS TT
ENGLISH LAWYER?
Now ter years ago l would I
have had the rashncss to say tn,
things. especially In South Caroli
the Harry Parcy of the Uni
"whose tightening stroke smote
invader by the arm OF Marion. a
whose wisdom guided the fran
OF the Constitution through the /
OF Rutledge and Gadsen and Pin,
ney." But. gentlemen Of the SO,
Carolina Ear. you must remem'
49,