The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-04-06
Court Reform.
LRutland Herald.l

During the concluding hours of the
legislature Of 1915, now an increas-
ingly pleasant memory, two bills We're
enacted into law that some lawkers
and most laymen expect to produce
visible results in the reform of the
courts.
These bills are numbered H 445, es-
tablishing district courts, and II 40,
simplifying court procedure. The first
is expected to take care of the minor
causes now heard in county court and
the second makes long step forward
in putting legal routine on common
sense business basis.
The district court bin was opposed
by judges of some municipal courts
and, it is alleged, by some superior
Judges who saw III the success of the
proposed system CD great increase
in the business of municipal courts
without corresponding gain in salary,
and 90 the possible merger of superior
judges in the supreme court.
The average layman viii be fairly
skeptical of court reform panacaes, but
the new system would seem to promise
cheaper and speedier Justice in civil
cases up to 5000, aud quicker DISPOSE
ton in the trial of misdemeanors, in
which the new courts have final iuris-
diction save on questions of law.
This is a tale too often retold, how
ever, to be taken for granted, and the
taxpayer will watch the new system
with critical curiosity, expecting, not
tunreasonably, the usual increase IN
court costs and some lawyers pretext
Iior defeating the purpose of the bill
/ Lawyers affect to be surprised at
the suspicious attitude Of the laymar
toward their profession, but the man
cUvers of Senators Powell, Conant and
other members Of the judiciary com
1nittees of the senate on house bill II;
affords most fruitful field of reasons
for that attitude.
This act was framed by Justice
: George NJ. Powers of the supreme
court, Superior Judge Frank l.. FISH
land Judge Harland B. Howe of tht
United States district court of Yer
mont. 1t is almost wholly technical
but goes a long way in humanizin!
court procedure, and it went a gGea
deal further before the gentlemen o
! the senate judiciary committee so IN
: dustriously whitfield away some of it
prominent features.
1t passed house and senate almos
unanimously, and a full-1leged sensa
ton broke loose on the last day of tn
session when it appeared in the recor,
/, that the senate had quietly reconsider
, ed its vote and killed the bill.
9 With the house running under force
pressure, the situation was not serious
" brought to its attention until even
? ing, when indignant house mem
bers began "laying down. on thei
] county delegations TO recall the bill
Rutland, Addison, Windsor, Orange an
Windham counties were enlisted, an
despite the statement that the lawyer
c of the senate would fight all night, tn
n bill was recalled, reconsidered, ameno
: ed and passed.
1t was even whispered about the col
ridors that a very urgent request cam
from Gov. Gates to "get busy an
t avoid repudiating the work of his y
: pert commission. The important fac
is that the bill was finally passed wit
what one senator calls :tminor' elm
mating amendments, although som
$ good lawyers say they were by n
= means insignificant or negligible.
n 1t hardly seems possible that Law