Sentence:  `` Litigants and witnesses were put to the expense and inconvenience of going long distances to transact business ; public money spent ; justice delayed ; nothing accomplished , and the whole distribution of justice in this county seems to <WSD>be</WSD> an absolute farce '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)