Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-11-07

swerable argument, that did not occu-
py a day or an hour
And the great Judge said, Thou
hast answered right: this do, and thou
shalt live"
II now the judge possesses this at
tribute he will address himself to the
great constitutional purpose, justice,
Of which he is naturally and necessa-
rily the chief engineer.
And justice shall be administered
without denial or delay"
This sentence can be found in most
of the constitutions of the states. It's
spirit abounds in all of them. We
read much about the laws delays.
More properly we should say Judges
delays" not "law's dela Vs." Justice
delayed is very often justice denied,
and the man that delays it is not the
lawyer in the case, but the judge on
the bench, who either commits the de-
lay or permits the delay.
Continuances after continuances are
granted for the most trifling reasons,
to gain time. Counsel for the defense
we'll knows that the longer a trial is
put off the greater the chances Of es-
cape. True, courts should grant n
reasonable continuance when satisfied
it is necessary in order to give the de-
fendant the benefit of all his legal and
constitutional rights, but delays of
months, and ofttimes from term to
term, are not only wholly unnecessary
but usually fatal to justice.
Early trials are the order Of the day
in England, whence we got the bulk
of our laws.
There is no justification for the de-
lays that obtain in America, where we
have become the butt of ridicule for
not only English writer's and judges,
but the American public.
Delayed Justice.
Not only are the delays in getting
ready for trial generally due to the
judges lack of backbone, but likewise
the delays growing out of the trial it
self.
Trials that take but few days in
England occupy many weeks in Amer
lea know it is often said that it is
the fault of our procedure. This is ut
ter nonsense, as every judge knows
who has honestly and vigorously tried
to expedite justice Procedure is part
ly legislative, but mostly judicial, and
on it's face, at least, it was adopted in
order to proceed with the trial to an
early and equitable judgment. But
alas, our procedure that should pro-
ceed has been converted into delay
dure" that delays, and the judge is the
one responsible for it.
I hope 1 may be pardoned for refer
ring to my seventeen years upon the
bench. The first seven years was at
nsi prius, on the common pleas bench,
largely at Akron, Ohio. During that
period the longest civil case, with or
without a jury, occupied but three
days time, and but two crimina! cases
exceeded that. l am sure l could with
safety still shorten and simplify those
trials by further speeding up and at
the same time safeguard justice. / be-
lieved that 1 could make fewer mis-
takes in q day than / could in a week.
Naturally, much of our early proceed
ure was adopted from the English
system, but England long ago abandon
ed her antiquated methods that delay
ed Justice and the speed up system,
which is the product of the judges
themselves-trial judges and appellate
judges-has become a model for the
world. In the noted Doctor Crippen
case a few years ago less than q week
was occupied il the trial. The appeal
was soon and short. He was executed.
The recent conviction of two men who
cold -bloodedly murdered Field Mar
shall Wilson last June affords another
wholesome and effective example Of
expediting justice. They were both
hanged on August tenth. They prob
ably would not yet have bee7 indicted
in America. Our routine red tape and
Journalism should come to an end. but
they cannot be ended by legislation.
They must be ended by the judges
themselves.
Entirely too much time is taken
with trihing technical objections to the
admission and rejection of evidence
which in multitude of cases would be
immaterial, whether introduced or not
introduced. The trial judge is pre-
sumed to know the elementary rules of