THE APPLICABILITY OF ENGLISH METHODS or willing to hear, and determine in a given time with a minimum of friction and incon venience to counsel, and of expense and delay to parties and witnesses. In the last analysis, the personal efficiency of those who are to administer laws and rules is of the greatest importance. Judges selected from the leaders of the bar would have a riper experience, a wider field of knowledge, greater skill in handling trials, and would command greater respect for
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i their rulings than those taken from the lower ranks. Some judges, like some law yers, can do many times as much work as another, and do it as well or better. But to secure the services of such men is beyond the power of any rules of procedure, it calls for an overhauling of the entire body politic. D. C. WESTENHAVER. CLEVELAND, OHIO, April, 1905.
MASSACHUSETTS No one will deny that there is urgent necessity for expediting the business of the courts and for earlier trial of certain classes of actions. In Massachusetts, espe cially in the county of Suffolk, the question has been sharply brought home to the tax payers by Mayor Collins' objection to the enlargement of the Court House, and by his insistence that Boston is put to very great expense for providing means for the trial of causes which ought to be tried in other counties. But it is not probable that many, if any, of the provisions for expedit ing business in England can be adopted here until the exigency is even more acute than at present. To take up the items of Mr. Crane's ad mirable statement in their order, the follow ing considerations occur to me: I. Our Police, District and Municipal Courts give speedy trials in the classes of actions which come within their jurisdiction. The collection of notes and trades men's accounts are promptly dealt with, as well as matters of ejectment, and the like. Appeals, however, may be taken from these courts to the Superior Court, and cases so appealed come upon what is known as the Special Trial List. If no jury is claimed, a trial can be had within a month after the parties are before the Superior Court, but if jury trial has been claimed, the cause, in Suffolk, will be delayed for
nearly a year, owing to the pressure of business. I have not before me the figures with re gard to the despatch of business in the lower courts, but there is certainly no ground for complaint with reference to it. There is, however, serious difficulty resulting from the frequency of appeals to the Superior Court, and a part of the congestion in that court is due to this cause. If it were provided that the party taking the appeal, if defeated again, should in any event pay double costs, and if the Superior Court had power to award treble or quad ruple costs, much of this difficulty would be obviated. Parties would scrutinize their chances of success very much more care fully if there were any real penalty for illconsidered appeals. The present provision for requiring a bond for costs in case of an appeal tends to relieve the Superior Court of this class of cases. II. The Superior Court is the great trial court in this commonwealth. The judges are appointed for life and sit by assignment of the Chief Justice throughout the state. Its work is divided into Equity and Law. The Equity work is speedily despatched in all the counties. In counties where the court is not constantly in session, cases may be heard in some other county. Hearings can be had on matters of injunction, or others requiring haste, without delay, and
