Seward daily gateway., 1924-01-15
AND THAT'S THAT

The editor of the Seward Gateway is waxing more and more eloquent on the matter of the removal of the court headquarters from Valdez to some other point''-point net stated. The gentleman says: The Valdez miner says The Gateway's argument for Il court term at Seward is 'piftle.' Per hals il is. but it is piffle that had bet ter be taken seriously by Valdez, ii she wishes to retain the court house. Unless the other towns are treated mor.; fairly in the future than they have been in the past, Seward will be found lined up with Anchorage for re- movai of headquarters to some other point"
 We don't know, of course, just how the editor intended this, but it sounds wonderfully like a threat. Should this be the case we would re- mind him of an old and wonderful fully true saying that Threats like chickens, come home to roost."
 If the Gateway editor intended that for threat, We come right back al him with another to the effect that if the Alaska railroad does not treat Valdez more fairly in the matter or running trains into this city Valdez will be found lined up with ketchlkan in an effort to have the road moved down there.
 The Gateway says further: IT all inc cases that come from the west ward were tried in Seward, ana all the eases from the Copper River val lev were tried in Cordova, where 'he! should be, there would be httle use for court headquarters in Valdez
 This is an excellent argument put 9 better one is that ii all the cases from the westward were trled Ill NJ diak where they could be handled Tar oora economically than in seward Seward would not have a term ol court once in five years.
 While this matter of terms of court at various places is being so hdrlilo niouslv discussed, lets insert le" facts in 10 the matter instead of oroao p4neralities that have their orlgln Ill mere guesSwork.
 If is true that Valdez, being the court headquarters, court IS ln seSS- ion a1 all times while the judge Is III town. but this ordinarily means that nerhaps one day a week the court cits to hear motions and other mlscel- laneous business that attorneys may desire to present. This for the con- yenience of litigants and thelr attor- navs on the other hand, during the last two and one-half years regular sessions of the court have been held at Anchorage covering approNmatel! 71O days. at Cordova for forty days and at Seward for thirty. Thus An chorage has had more days of court than Valdez. though the amount o1 husiness transacted has been much smaller at Anchorage than at Valdez It would appear then that Anchorage has little cause for complaint.
 Seward has even less to kick about Let's go back over the records a few years. What do we find? These ov erwhelming arguments for frequent terms of court at the Terminal City.
 1. No civil jury case has been triec at Seward since 1915 and no Seward or westward civil case has been trlet at Valdez or elsewhere in that time with the exception of one case arising at Seldovia. and which was tried a Anchorage last year by agreement o the parties attorneys on both side: being Anchorage lawyers.
 2. Since Judge Cushman begar holding court at other places thai Vandez in 1910 no civil case has eve been tried except at the town wher' it arose unless by consent of partie! or on change of venue for cause.
 8. A regular term of court was es tabished for Seward, some years ago and regularly convened for severa years, and as we have stated before one year with a jury that was dis charged within an hour after cour convened Court was held at Sew ard in July, 1916, and not a singl jury case was tried. In August, o 1917, only one case, a murder cas from the westward, required the pres ence of a jury. In September, 1918 there was not jury case ready fo trial, and the same is true of the ocur sessions of 1919 and 1920 and 1921 At the July, 1922 term at Sewar' with grand and petit juries, all tn indictments returned were with tw, exceptions, for crimes originatin. outside of the Seward district, prin @cipally Anchorage. Only one of thes eases was tried at Seward, an Anch orage case, the others being taken t Anchorage on motion of attorneys O.