The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-10-23
CHARGES COURTS
WITH INJUSTICE:
Carnegie Foundation De-
clares Poor Cannot Get
Justice In Court 8
REPORT ENDORSED /
BY ELIHU ROOT
Courts too Expensive and Slow for
Poor People - Some Remedies Sug-
gested-Have Small Gases Adjusted
Without Lawyers.

Without Lawyers.
NEW YORK; Oct. 23.-The Carnegie
Foundation made public recently a report
on Justice aade the Poor, written by Reg-E
maid Heher Stnith.s6f the Boston. bar,
with folewofd BY Efihu Root, who calls
it systematic treatise and practicatl
handbook on. tile administration of justice
in the United States in the direetionS
which is at this time Of the most criti-
cal imporaAee. He says 1t is full oil
trustworthy Information and suggestion.
la Part l., which deals with the eX
istlng denial of justice to the poor, the
following assertion is made: Il
The administration of american jus
tice is not Impartial; the rich ard the
poor do not stand on an equality before
the law; Che traditional method OF pro
uding juSffca has operated to close the
doors Of the courts to the poor, and has
caused a gross denial of justice in nj
parts OF the country to millions OF per
sons
The report is based on a study which
embraced Mr.. Smiths investigation at first
hand OF courts and legal aid organiza oions
throughout the country during the last
three years, and his experience as counsel
for the Legal Aid society in Boston
The report says the denial of justice -
the poor is national in scope and IS
caused by delays which handicap the poor
CT litigant, court costs and fees charged
by the state which too often prohibit ac-
cess TO the courts by the poor, and the
expenses OF lawyers services
The second part deals with remedial
agencies which can be employed to make
the position OF the poor more equal 70
those OF larger means. The report de-
scrlbes the procedure III small claims
courts with their informal procedure, tic
domestic relations courts and their use
/ OF probation officers, and industrial acci-
dent commissions administering work
men 5 compensation acts.
For the multitude of cases outside the
jurisdiction 7of these agencies, the report
argues, the. oply solution is to supply law
yers' services gratutously TO the poor
through tie medium OF public defenders
/ IN criminal cases aud legal aid organiza-
tTrfs' IN 9iSpIf cases = a--'+.' 80, re
! After quoting authorities to back up tis
indictment, MIR. Smith says: The M
jorty OF our judges ana lawyers view
the situation with indifference. They fail
to see behind this denial OF justice the suf
tering and tragedy il causes, the havoc ii
plays in individual lives. and it's influence
N retarding our Americanization program
$50
Denial Of justice Is not merely mega
tive in effect; it actively encourages fraud
and dishonesty. Cnscrupulous employees
seeing the inability OF wage earnefs Il
enforce payments, have deliberately hired
men without the slightest intention OF pay
ing them. Some employers are thense!ve
poor iaen, who strive iii this way to gam
an advantage.
The evil is not one Of class III IA,
sense that it gives the poor over to IT,,
mcrcies OF tho rich 1t enables the poo
to rob one another; it permits the shIewt
immigrant OF a lew years residence t,
defraud his more recently arrived country
men. The line of cleavage is that between
the dishonest and the honest Every
where it abets the INSCRIPTIONS, tn
crafty, and the vicious in their plans /,
exnloit their less intelligent and less toT
tunate fellow. The system not only rob
Ine poor OF their only projection, but !
places in the hands of ticn opprcssor
the most powerful and ruthless weapon
ever invented
In the chapter on Delay, Mr.. Smith toll
of ease where it took wage carrie
one year and nine months. and require
II days in court for attorney and ellen
to collect $40 in wages In the criminal las
he said delays while awaiting trial ar
even more serious, for where the detene
ant is too poor to furnish bail, delay
equivalent to a sentence OF Imprlsonmen
for poverty. He said the outlook tor
speedy reformation iii this regard Is prom
ising
How the existing system of costs Ii
orally forbids resort to the courts by til
poor is illustrated by the laws requirln
securities feE costs" the report continued
"A plaintiff must net only pay the co:
for summons, service, entry, trial, judi
ment and the like, but he must ON M
ton, furnish bond to guarantee tn;
the defendant, if successful shall not
out of pocket,
Taking up the inability of the poor
employ counsel, the report says that tro
calculations 1t appears there are IN tt
United States over 35, 600 900 men, wome
and children whose financial cenditle
tenders them unable to pay any appre'
able sum for attorneys services, 1t VI
assumed that single persons earning lie
than $500 a year and married persons wal
dependant families earning less than IS
IA year are never financially able to atfo
to nay any substantial sum for attorney
The repolG. considers agencies wlii
ip,ay be used to improve tue condition
the poor. The small claims courts, su
as exist in Cleveland and Chicago. it SAY
have had marked success in dealing WI
small debts, wage claims, and tenant
troubles by using a most informal pi
cedure in which. the Judge himself tai
with the parties and their witnesses wit
ont the intervention of LAWYER He &C
ciliates them if Re can. and if not,
renders legal Judgment
It was pointed out that for domes
troubles the modern domestic relatio
court Of the Cincinnati. Detroit, and ri
adelpha tyre THROUGH the intelige
work Of probation stats adcauatelv c
rrotect deserted families and afford IT,
nnpriced legal redress: Similarly, ind