Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-02-22

OF the Vermont Bar association, and
John w. Redmond Of Newport was the
feature Of this evenings public hearing
before the joint House and Senate com.
mittees regarding the two administra-
ton judiciary bills, one Of which was
introduced In the House by Represents
tive stearns Of Burlington and the other
sponsored in the Senate by Senator Morse
Of Hardwick.
The House bill abolishes the present
superior court and increases the number
Of justices on the supreme bench to eight.
but Mr. stearns stated this e, ening that
no objection would be made to increasing
this number to nine, so as to include all
of The present members Of the superior
court. with the understanding that no
appointment would be made to fill the
vacancy which might occur. thus
automatically reducing the number to
eight. The Senate measure abolishes the
sixteen municipal and city courts and
creates thirteen district courts for the
| entire State which in addition to hearing
the causes now tried in municipal courts
are designed to care for some of the
causes now tried in county courts. There
VIII be another public hearing on the bills
next Thursday evening.
The speakers in addition to Mr.. Cor
don and Mr.. Redmond. who opposed
the bills. were Harry Shurtleff of Mont
pelier and Judge NJ c. Weber of Rut-
land. Representative Stearns and
Senator Morse both delivered argu-
ments in favor Of their measures and
were supported by NJ. A. Maurice of
Morrisville. Judge c. S. Palmer of
Burlington while not discussing the
merits Of either bill. called attention
to certain alterations he thought
should be made in the Senate measure.
He particularly objected. to the pro-
, posed consolidation of the winooski
municipal court with more than 600
cases yearly with the Burlington city
r~urt in which more than 500 cases are
heard annually.
argument supporting the House bill
said the main object Of the proposed
changes was not to effect economy in
curt administration although the
measure would do this. but to bring
directly to the people, simple, swift
and inexpensive Justice.
Senator Morse. although himself a,
attorney. numerically fiayed his brothe'
lawyers and the present system Of Justice
and municipal courts In his arguments.
He said that the courts should be for
the people and should be so instituted
that a litigant could get in and out with.
out filing his petition in bankruptcy.
Mr. Gordon denounced what he termed
the taunts and sneers that had been flung
at the bar and at the courts by the pre-
vious speakers. He said that the proposed
method was one which would mean in.
creased expense and more litigation. The
speaker also vigorously denounced the
present municipal court system which he
stated was foisted upon the State in the
same manner as was proposed in the
present case. He termed the United
States Supreme Court a disgrace to thu
country because 1t would not furnish
enough judges to take care Of its bushes
and required four years to reach a hear
ing on case. In closing he made
strong point of the confidence which tn
people Of the State now have in their bar
and bench and elaborated upon the fact
that loss of confidence in our courts meant
an undermining Of our institutions.
Mr. Redmond based his argument for
the retention Of the present dual system
upon the letters Of former Chief Justice
J. W. Rowell and Judge James NJ. Tyler
favoring the present system and upon tho
protest Of the Vermont Bar association
against any change In system. He also
scored a telling point when he illustrated
how the redistricting Of the State meant
merely a transfer Of expense from the
county courts to the district
courts. Mr. Redmond denounced the
raising of the money limit Of causes
to be tried in district courts and said
that principle alone should govern such
questions.
SOME FACTS PRESENTED.
1t was drought out by speakers SUD.
porting the administration measures that
from January I. 1885, to January l, 1907.
with seven judges on the supreme bench.
also doing the county court work. the
average number of opinions handed down
BY the supreme court was 81. With four
judges on the supreme bench doing only
supreme court work. from 1907 to 1908, Is
opinions were given and with Ave supreme
court Judges doing only supreme court
work from 1908 until 1915. the average
number OF opinions given was 81, the
same number as when the supreme court
judges also did the county court work be.
tween 1901 and 1906 This, IL was stated,
proved conclusively that the amount Of
work done by the judges was the same
when they did the county court work in
addition to their services on the supreme
bench. as when they did the supreme
court work alone.
Figures were also read showing that
while Vermont ranked very low in the
scale OF States as regards the number
OF opinions per judge. the average in
this state being 10. she was fourth in
the list as regards the average words
per opinion. which was s.462 words per
opinion. Utah. North Dakota and
idaho were the only States to outrank
the Vermont bench in this respect
A further numerical analysis showed
that with seven judges doing both the
supreme and county court work be-
tween 1901 and 1906. the total yearly
average OF cases. including supreme
court opinions. jury trials. court trials.
hearings on report and chancery cases
heard by the chancellor was sic. With
eleven judges on the supreme and
county court benches between 1914.
1915. the total yearly average Of the
above mentioned cases was 42S or a
net loss of 81 cases. To counterbal-
ance this 1?0 more divorce cases were
heard In 1914 and 1915 than the total
yearly average between 1901 and 1906.
but 1t was proven that the amount Of
t.me required to try the average d.
vorce case was very brief.
AS regarded the county court work. It
was shown that during tho last two years
under the old system OF having seven
judges do both the supreme and county
court work, O906-l906). the total yearly
average OF cases tried. exclusive OF d.
vorce cases was 400. With eleven Judges
on both benches In lsl%-is15. the total
average number OF cases exclusive OF
divorce cases was 1856 or a net loss OF 70.
There were l07 more divorce cases tried