The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-02-17
FEWER ABSENT
THIS MORNING
Forenoon Session in House
Had Attendance of 153
Faithful Members
LAWYERS ARGUE
WITH EACH OTHER
AT Hearing on Administration Court
Measures - Salary of Fish and Game
Commissioner Raised to $4,000 in Bill
Passed Today
Passed Today.
Especial to The Reformer.)
MONTPELIER. Feb.

Especial to The Reformer.)
MONTPELIER, Feb. II.
Owing to the publicity which the
press Of TIE state gave the absentees
Of last Saturday forenoon the house
this morning had 1913 men on the floor
at the opening Of the session. Much
routine business was cared for. the
most important step taken being to
pass the bill raising the salary of the
fish and game commissioner. The orig
inal bill provided an increase of 81 800
making the salary $4,000 annually. The
bill as amended makes the salary 81
O00 This was passed without opposi-
tion.
In the senate a bill presented by Sen
ator Foots empowering the director of
state institutions to establish a state de-
tention farm was ordered to third
reading. This bill gives the director
power to purchase a farm on which in
mates Of county jails may be worked
and cared for.
Yesterday afternoon the house estab-
lished record for speed which had it been
the vogue throughout the session would
have made adjournment possible sometime
during the present week. In seven min
utes the house rejected seven measures and
even though these were practically all of
minor Importance and had been adversely
reported by the committee yet such speed
Of the house is quite unusual The house
accepted the report Of the committee as to
the increase Of the salary of the commits
sioner of fish and game and ordered the
bill to third reading as amended The
amendment raises the salary $500, making
ii s. 600 while the original bin called for
$1,000 salary
Lawyers Scrap Among Themselves.
Last evening the public hearing
granted by the judiciary committee of the
house and the administration measures
abolishing the superior judges and reds
tricting the state for municipal courts
proved combat within the legal frater-
nifty.
i Representative Stearns Of Burlington
judges and increase the number of Judges
on tine supreme bench to nine, defended
his measure The motive, he declared, was
not to reduce the cost of administering
justice but to gain speedier justice before
the courts He stated that the cost of the
supreme court had increased 100 per cent
from 1907 to 1916. Out of 81 appellate
courts in the United States, Vermont
stands 10th in the number of opinions Civ
en- but is fourth in the length of opinions
Mr. Steans contended that the Judge.
could shorten their opinions and sit OF
more cases.
Mr.. Stearns stated that there would b,
no objection to amending the bill so tina
there would be a chief Justice and min,
associate justices until one resigned o
died. This would promote all the able mel
now superior Judges to the supreme bencl
while as the bill stands one superior judg
must be dropped if the bill becomes law.
Senator Morse of Hardwick, as sponso
: of the bill redistricting the state for muniC
ipal courts, opened the discussion on tha
measure and ripped the legal fraternity t
: shreds. He contended for courts in whic
2 litigants may enter and come out withou
G filing a petition in bankruptcy Lawyers
: he said, have come to accept as a sort {
g religious belief the statement that court
T are created for lawyers and to conside
anyone trying to obtain inexpensive ju
tice as an infringer.
In this enthusiastically droll speecl
Mr. Morse pleaded for municipal court
i with power to try cases involving sums U
to $500
The opposition, led by John W Gordo
t of Barre and John Redmond of Newpor
e was exhaustive, masterful, and an enth
V siastic defense of Nermont's 8 dual cou
o system as the ideal court system. NJ
3 Gordon did not hesitate to laud the judg
n of the past and maintain that the sta
G. had had a judiciary unexcelled and
II change was not only folly but expensiv
le He resented the filings at the profession
,e which he was member declared that
t. must respect the letter from former Chi
"a Justice Rowel which frankly opposed Il
le proposed measure.
Mr. Redmond eloquently condemns
tampering with the courts of the state al
:. from start to finish admitted not one poi
in favor of the proposed legislation.
IF laid bare the skeleton of the proposal /
districting the state for district courts {
elaring that it merely transferred the ca
now tried by county courts to municir
courts and thereby transferred the &C
I'd and was not economy as claimed by t
" supporters OF the measure. What won
e. happen to the county courts was a pre-
n lem to Mr. Redmond and he wondered
b. after large expenditures on county COZ
Continued ON Page 81