The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-01-09
LETTERS TO THE
EDITOR
Open Letter to St. Johnsbury caledOnian.

Open Letter to st. Johnsbury CALIFORNIAN.
In your recent editorial, "The Bar
Standing Pat" you express your disap-
pointment "at the vote of the Vermont
Bar association opposing any change in
the present system of dual courts in Yer
mont" II you had stopped there you
would have been nearly right in repre-
senting the position taken by the bar as
ISOLATION, but you proceed with the state
ment that the lawyers" are largely re-
sponsible "for placing upon the state 27
men as judges in the courts we now have,
supreme, county and municipal" You
change your phraseology from "Vermont
Bar association to "lawyers," but leave
the impression by your whole editorial
that the bar association is responsible
for the present number OF municipal
courts.
At its last meeting the bar association
] took no action whatever in favor of mu-
nicipal courts, and so far as / can re-
member, has never taken any such ac-
ton. Personally the writer can agree
with much that you say about municipal
| courts. | would not endorse your infer
ence that all the municipal courts have
been created as "berths," but it is hard
to give satisfactory explanation for the
existence of some of them, which have
the appearance from the street of being
"berths."
have personally joined with other
members of the bar in appearing before
legislative committees to oppose some of
the municipal court bills. We have the
poor satisfaction of saying ''We told you
So" We. predicted that reaction would
come, not only against unwise legislation
respecting municipal courts, but against
the dual system of supreme and county
courts, that has worked anG is working
so well.
In my opinion municipal courts should
be confined principally to large centers,
where it is necessary TO have daily SEES |
sions. To impose a municipal court sys- |
tenn upon small communities is like inn !
posing city form of government upon
them, but the remedy is not in giving /
these courts more exclusive jurisdiction /
in territory and in amounts involved. /
The moment you increase the jurisdic-
ton of municipal courts you will be re-
quested to increase the salaries of mu
nicipal judges because of the increased
work put upon them, and the increase
will be granted, for they will probably /
deserve it, if they deserve what they are
now getting for their present work,
The result will be no net gain for the /,
state. Besides you will furnish litigants,
who have claims of five hundred dollars
or less, ii the governors recommendation
is followed, with inferior tribunals
You will reserve the county court for
those who contest for amounts above five
hundred dollars. You will make the best
court the rich mans court and the infe-
rior court the poor mans court. Person !
ally, / believe that poor man is entitled i,
to as good court as a rich man. So my
remedy is to abolish some OF our munich
pal courts entirely, and to reduce the ex.
elusive jurisdiction of the rest down to
fifty dollars.
1t would be long story TO give all of !
The objections to the increase of the jur !
sdiction of the municipal courts, but it !
is we'll known that municipal judges re- =
main in active practice and claim that I
hey are obliged to do so because their !
salaries are so small. Certainly you &
would not like to have a case tried before
municipal judge, no matter how fair he J
nay intend to be, who is general attor- |
ley for your opponent, or for one of the r
principal witnesses that may appear \
against you. Besides our municipal
.ourts are now so poorly supplied with,
at the prices paid them
hat it is difficult to try case and have
satisfactory record for case that is to
,e taken to the supreme court. If you y
make the municipal courts as efficient
nd equal in quality with the county
ourts. so far as their jurisdiction goes,
-ou will have to increase greatly the sal =
ries of the Judges and the pay of the
tenographers. and when you have done "
his litigants will have gained nothing q
nd the public will be burdened, as much
r more, than when municipal courts
Iere confined to the large eenters, for >,
yhieh they were originally created, with n
Jury of six men and the exclusive jur-
sdiction of fifty dollars. u
1t is a proof of the efficiency of our
resent dual system that comparing, as
Judge TAYLOR did at the bar banquet, the
Expense of the first full year ending
une 30th, zoos, with the expense of the ID
ear ending June 30 1916, the expenses al
( the county and supreme courts figure, az
fter deducting the revenues for the re- IL
Dective wears, an increase of sixteen to
undred thirty dollars, and that has been .
in spite of the fact that
ne per diem of juries and the salaries
| justices and judges have been in Fl
.eased. In return for this small increase pc