USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 19
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portant than the larger sums of the capitalist, for they represent all that he has in the world. His cases are about exemptions of household goods from execution, the protection from garnishment of his small weekly earnings, the loss of which means starvation to himself and family; or the settlement of a dispute between himself and his landlord as to the tenure upon which he holds the house he calls his home. And the saying is a true one, that the working- man's lawsuit is located very close to the fibers of his heart.
His scanty earnings will not permit him to employ the skillful and high- priced leaders of the bar to defend his interests in court; and unless the judge upon the bench is clear-sighted, broadminded and impartial, unless the jurymen in the box are absolutely honest, fearless and unbiased, the justice which the workingman invokes when he goes into court, is but a mockery, the bitter Dead Sea fruit, the unsubstantial apples of Sodom which turn to ashes in his grasp. No one, then, is more deeply interested in making and keeping the administration of justice absolutely honest and impartial than is the working- man, the poor man, the farmer, the member of the great middle classes. Now, the theory of the law is absolutely perfect, and that theory deserves the high- est encomiums which the greatest thinkers and scholars of every age have paid it. Some of the choicest gems of ancient classic literature are the beautiful diction in which the sages of the past have eulogized the perfection of munici- pal law.
But we live in a practical age. We care nothing for fine spun, elegant theories, unless the practical reality corresponds with them, and we ask our- selves, "Does to-day's practical administration of the law deserve the high praise which has been paid it in the past?" And to this question every prac- ticing lawyer, no matter how optimistic, must answer with an unqualified negative. In every court room in this land, it frequently happens that men either forget their solemn oath to testify to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth or else intentionally violate that oath. How many wit- nesses lose sight of every one of the three parts of the oath, and wilfully re- fuse to tell either the truth, the whole truth or nothing but the truth. How many even conscientious witnesses, on cross examination, bear in mind only the first injunction of the oath, to tell the truth, but do not tell the whole truth, unless a skillful cross-examiner, armed with a perfect knowledge of every de- tail of the transaction, forces the whole truth from their unwilling lips. How many witnesses, while telling the truth, evade the last part of the oath, to tell nothing but the truth, and so shade and color the truth to suit the purpose of their side of the case as to totally distort and pervert their entire testimony.
There was a time when judges of the courts delighted to call to their aid expert witnesses to help them in the great task of establishing the exact truth in matters which were in controversy before them, but to-day the courts of last resort have taken judicial notice of the fact that the expert witness is too often nothing more nor less than the paid attorney for the side on which he is called; that he too often expresses not facts and opinions, but argu- ments under oath, suppressing those facts and opinions that are unfavorable and exaggerating those that are favorable to his side; that his entire testimony is too often not a lucid exposition and explanation of complicated, scientific facts, but a cunning, sophistical perversion of the truth regarding those facts.
Then, again, the defects of our present jury system have become a crying evil, which is deplored by every class of citizens. Theoretically, the jury sys- tem is well nigh perfect. It recognizes that judges on the bench, whose sole occupation it is to hear cases, and who are withdrawn from the every day walk of life, are very apt to fall into a rut, to have incomplete knowledge of
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practical affairs, to have warped and distorted ideas where the practical man of affairs would have more just views. For this reason the jury system takes men for short periods from different walks of life, and asks them to bring to the decision of the matters in controversy before them their practical knowl- edge of similar affairs. These jurymen bring to the discharge of their duty the ardor and freshness of men who are dealing with new experiences, and are then dismissed before the monotony of constant reiteration has palled upon them and dulled their keen perception of the little things which go so far toward indicating the truth or falsity of testimony. It requires that they must be kept free from any acquaintance with the parties, their attorneys, or the facts in dispute, which would in any way bias their verdict, and theoretically, no better system could be devised for administering justice impartially, in the decision of questions of fact, than the jury system.
Yet, today, this splendid system theoretically, as it is practically carried out, is a shame and a scoff to those who know it best. Ignorant men are frequently, more frequently in large cities than in an intelligent community like this-but nevertheless drawn upon our juries, who while they may have political influence with their ignorant fellows which makes the placing of them upon the jury panel a shrewd political move, yet they are unable to fairly understand either the testimony of the witnesses, or the arguments of the lawyers, much less making a righteous decision of the case.
Again, too many jurors are easily susceptible to artful appeals to passion or prejudice, and many a shrewd lawyer has won his case by throwing aside argument, losing sight of facts, disregarding reason, and simply inflaming the passions and prejudices of the jurors, while the jurors forgetting that they were impartially to decide the cases submitted to them upon the law and the evidence, have rendered grossly unjust verdicts.
Again, in our large cities, many a juror has added to the faults of ignor- ance and prejudice the absolute crime of dishonesty. In some of our larger cities, it soon becomes known to the lawyers who have many cases at the bar that certain jurors are for sale, and that their verdicts may be secured for a consideration. Certain classes of corporations which have much business in the courts have, naturally enough, made it their business to learn the charac- teristics of every man who has been drawn as a juryman, and those who are interested notice that the cases against those corporations which are tried at the first of the term are decided partly for and partly against those corpora- tions, as one would naturally expect in such cases, while it has become pro- verbial that towards the last of each term, after the agents of these parties have had opportunities to become acquainted with the jurymen, these same corporations win every case that is submitted to certain jurors and soon after the term of court ends certain of the members of these same juries receive lucrative situations from those same corporations.
I may go one step further and say that, in a few cases, judges are elected to the bench who forget that their duty is to stand out fearlessly against pub- lic opinion when the public opinion is at variance with the principles of law and equity, and whose decisions of certain cases are biased by the effect which those decisions will have upon their political future ..
Then, too, charges of corruption in legislative halls are now-a-days so com- mon as to cause no special comment. And in certain communities it is as much as a high-minded honest and honorable man's reputation is worth to become interested in politics and become a member of a city council or a state legislature. No one who is familiar with legislative assemblies can truthfully deny that the legislature is subjected to a fierce fire of temptation and cor-
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ruption, which requires heroic virtue successfully to withstand, and many a law is upon our statute books and must be administered in our courts whose enactment has been purchased by a special class influence using the arts of the lobbyist and the corruptionist in legislative halls.
Now, all of these evils mean trouble for the future unless they are suc- cessfully remedied. That man was never yet cheated, who knew he was cheated, and yet was perfectly satisfied. That man was never yet defeated in a law- suit, who felt pleased and complacent when he was absolutely certain that his defeat was due to a dishonest jury or a weak, incompetent or dishonest judge. The instinct for fair play has been planted by the God of Justice deep in the heart of every man, no matter how mean his station or humble his rank. and when the instinct is thwarted, when the body of our citizenship are fully aware that there is dishonesty in courts and legislative halls. the punishment will be swift and it will be effective. It takes the people a long time to become thoroughly aroused. but when once the common sense of the whole community is aroused, something must give away. Public opinion is slow in action, but swift in execution. It breathed upon the crime of slavery, and slavery vanished like a foul mist before the King of Day. It suffered long under the misrule of Boss Tweed and his cohorts in New York; but. one day, it arose in its might and the King of the Metropolis dies disgraced, in fetters in a felon's cell.
Now, my friends, I am not here on this great day of rejoicing to drape your horizon in black ; to give you pessimistic views of things, but we are here to take note of the future. to see how that future may be brightened, to make our generation better than any generation ever was before, and we can only do this by discovering where are our weak points and how they may be strength- ened; and on this occasion, when we are laying the corner stone of a new Temple of Justice, it seems to me the best and most important lesson is to see in what respect our judicial system may be strengthened and improved.
Now, if you have thoughtfully considered each one of the evils I have re- counted to you, you will have noticed the trouble has been, not with the system, but with the persons by whom that system must be worked out. Our sys- tem of giving evidence in court, the oath which is administered to the witness, and the punishment prescribed for perjury, are all the best than can be de- vised. The trouble is with the persons who take the oath and who violate it, with the dishonest litigants and lawyers who suborn those witnesses to swear falsely, with the weak and incompetent prosecuting attorneys and judges who fail to punish perjurers when their perjury is palpably apparent.
The jury system is perfect in theory; the trouble is with the jury com- missioners and other like officers who put ignorant and dishonest men upon the panels; with the judges who allow these ignorant or dishonest men to sit as jurors; with the jurors who are swayed by passion and prejudice, or who take bribes as the price of their verdicts; with the dishonest litigants who offer those bribes, either directly or indirectly ; with the prosecuting attorneys and judges, to whom these indications of bribery are so manifest, and yet who weakly re- fuse to set in motion the grand jury, or other means provided by law for punishing dishonesty.
Our system of electing legislators, and passing laws is perhaps as good as can be devised; the trouble is with the dishonest legislators, and those who cor- rupt them, and with the weak and incompetent judges and prosecuting attor- neys who fail to investigate cases where bribery is suspected. The fault is not with the system, but with the persons who abuse the system; and the les- son to you and me, my friends, on this momentous occasion, is not, how shall
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we reform the systems, but how shall we reform the persons, to whom we en- trust the carrying out of these systems?
This can only be done by the aggressive, persistent action of every honest man and every honest woman. So long as the dollar is deified and no questions are asked as to how that dollar has been acquired, so long as success is wor- shipped and men's eyes are tightly closed to the means by which that success has been attained, just so long will unscrupulous men continue to do the wicked things which we deplore. There is no force, save that of Diety Himself, which is so potent as that of enlightened determined public opinion. Thrones have crumbled before it; statutes and constitutions derive their binding force from its powerful sanction. It will cleanse public places when, without it, press and pulpit may plead in vain for the cleansing. To it, when thoroughly in- spired with earnest purpose, the greatest autocrat must bend the suppliant knee. From it, when inflamed with righteous wrath, the most strongly in- trenched political scoundrel will flee in trembling haste.
Suppose the glib perjurer should be arrested on a bench warrant for his perjury as soon as he leaves the witness stand, and should be brought to speedy trial for his false swearing. Do you think he or those who knew of his case would repeat the offense? Suppose the suborner of perjury should be brought to swift and sure punishment. Would not the subornation of perjury soon be- come a very unpopular method of winning lawsuits? Suppose the weak judge and the spineless prosecuting attorney realized that their constituents were watching their failure to prosecute, and that those constituents despised them for it, and would show their disapproval in no uncertain tones at the next elec- tion. Would not the official be speedily rendered more ardent? Suppose that the members of legislative bodies should feel that every suspicious vote would be examined by a watchful constitueney, that any suspicion of bribery would be promptly examined by the proper authorities and that criminal prosecutions would be instituted should there be a fair prospect of conviction. Suppose they were given to understand that their official record was as fragile as a woman's reputation, and that the slightest breath of suspicion would blast it forever. Would there not be a speedy stiffening up of official backbone and a sudden and tremendous awakening of official consciences?
I tell you, my friends, the men and women of every community have its official honesty and ability in their own keeping. If every man, by his voice and by his vote, should sternly rebuke official wrongdoing wherever he sees it, and, besides, should vigilantly scrutinize the official action of the public servants to see whether it meets his conscientious approval; if every woman, instead of blindly worshipping the possessors of wealth, should closely scrutinize the methods by which that wealth has been acquired, if she should refuse to honor with her friendship any person, rich or poor, the history of whose life is not clean and the pedigree of whose dollars is not stainless, the future of our offices and officeholders, the honor of our government and the purity of our judicial ermine would be safe.
This, then, is the lesson of this day. The kind of official action which will emanate from the walls of this new building will depend upon the character of the citizenship of this county. The stream never rises higher than its source and public servants are seldom more virtuous than their masters.
We lay here to-day something besides a mere material block of senseless stone. We also commence to erect an unseen but none the less substantial tem- ple of human character, which is more stable than the strongest ramparts the cunning workmanship of man can build. In the unseen structure every man and woman of this county must fill his own place. We lay its invisible corner
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stone on the broad foundation of respect of law. We bind it fast to the bed- rock of liberty with the binding cement of love for our fellows and justice in our dealings with them. We dedicate it to the great God above, whose gov- ernment is mercy and peace, wisdom, justice and righteousness.
The watchful care of this community will attend the erection of the ma- terial building. The welfare of the unseen structure rests upon the heart and conscience of every man and woman in this county. If they have lighted the altar-fires of consecration to the duties of citizenship, the future of the county is safe.
"Build to-day, then, strong and sure With a firm and ample base, And, ascending and secure, Shall to-morrow find its place."
When completed, may this building be a veritable Temple of Justice. Here may the important business of the county be carefully and honestly transacted. May no spot soil the ermine of the judges nor stain mar the verdict of the juries within these walls; but may evenhanded justice be promptly and fear- lessly administered. May wrongdoing here meet swift and condign punish- ment, and honesty and virtue receive their just reward. Here may wisdom here find her welcome home and the revolving years see naught by the purest good issue from these walls.
The ceremonies attending the laying of the corner stone of. Van Buren county court house were now at an end and the vast multitude of Van Buren county 's citizens dispersed.
This report is respectfully submitted and signed by the building committee.
W C WILDEY, E A CHASE. P J DILLMAN, GEO T WABER, CHAS W BYERS, Building Committee.
COST OF PRESENT COUNTY BUILDINGS
The new court house was first occupied in February, 1903, the first case tried in the circuit court after such occupancy being an action for damages begun by William Culver against the South Haven & Eastern Railroad Company for damages on account of the loss of both legs by being drawn beneath the wheels of a freight car, and which became a cause celebre in the state, resulting, after every legal recourse was exhausted by the railroad company and its surety, in a judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the sum of $25,000, which was eventually paid.
At a session of the board of supervisors held on the 9th day of February, 1903, the contractors submitted the following itemized bill which was allowed and ordered paid :
Contract price for court house. $54,500.00 Contract price for jail. 22,700.00
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COUNTY JAIL AND SHERIFF'S RESIDENCE, PAW PAW
COUNTY HOUSE, HARTFORD
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Finishing entire basement of court house complete and
placing tile roofing on court house and jail instead of slate $3,000.00
Changing cornice and other galv. iron work on court house and jail to 16 oz. copper. 3,175.00
Wiring basement duct and attic C. II. 200.00
4479 lbs. galv. iron pipe ventilating attic court house and jail at 20c put up. 895.80
Cove base for marble wainscoting.
175.00
Extra foundation in jail 22 perch, excavating included at $3.00
66.00
Carving bust
25.00
Lowering coal and boiler room
900.00
Changing iron door from register of deeds office to new court house 11.50
Carving gables
250.00
One dry well and connections from cistern at jail. 33.00
Oiling floor 37.50
Building cistern, dry well and connecting same C. H ...
195.00
Building wall and finishing same, public toilet closet base- ment court house 87.00
Putting in cement steps jail to duct.
11.50
Building stone porch, jail. 235.00
Marble thresholds 100.00
Extra work on mantels. 50.00
35.00
Enlarging one on east side. 20.00
Building new stack complete. 971.50
Cutting strips in floor account gas pipe
37.50
Copper ventilator in jail, complete 273.00
Taking down and rebuilding boiler room smoke stack. .
220.00
Lettering corner stone 35.00
Speaking tube from clerk's office to judge's desk 15.00
Lumber for judge probate's platform desk
4.40
Five steel shutters put up complete, basement .
125.00
Changing food opening in jail.
20.00
Changing juvenile female hospital cell and cutting addi- tional slots in wall. 50.00
Drilling holes for clock dial.
20.00
Extra for gilding iron stairways and railings and railing around well hole. 43.50
One cess pool for sewer connection. 25.00
Piping and heating basement court house, plumbing and urinals, bronzing radiators, painting pipes, etc. 688.12
Building duet from court house to jail. 1,400.00
Total $90,630.32
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Extra. copper globe ventilator on west side court house.
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This sum included only the cost of the unfurnished buildings. The furniture cost $5,000, the architect was paid $600 and the site cost about $10,000, in addition to which was the expense of electric lighting, water works, sewers, grading of the court house yard, putting down cement walks and other miscellaneous and un- avoidable items which made the total cost of the new buildings and their surroundings about $120,000.
For many years Van Buren had been pointed out as having about the poorest public buildings of any county in Michigan, but she then became possessed of one of the finest and most up-to-date court houses and jails in the state, and which are excelled only by the public buildings of some of the larger cities. And not a hint of graft or tinge of dishonesty attached to anybody or any- thing from the time the plan was originated until all was com- plete, which is more than can be said of the construction of many public buildings.
And the county seat war in Van Buren county is forever ended and while some were disappointed, which was inevitable, all are proud of the new buildings and the prestige which they give the county as being one of the front-rank counties of the Peninsula state.
The old court house, removed from the proud position it once occupied, stands on the main street of the village reduced to the humble status of a feed and seed store. It is likely to last many more years, a testimonial to the substantial manner in which the buildings of a former generation were constructed. The old jail, removed to another street, has been converted into a dwelling and boarding house. What harrowing tales it could relate, if it were endowed with a voice to utter them !
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CHAPTER VII
BENCH AND BAR
STATE SUPREME AND CIRCUIT COURTS-COUNTY COURTS-FIRST CIRCUIT JUDGE-SUCCESSORS OF JUDGE RANSOM-JUDGE FLA- VIUS J. LITTLEJOHN-THIRTY-SIXTH CIRCUIT CREATED-PROBATE JUDGES-VAN BUREN COUNTY BAR.
The first constitution of Michigan vested the judicial authority in a supreme court and such other courts as the legislature might from time to time establish.
The judges of the supreme court were nominated and appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. This court consisted of one chief justice and three associate jus- tices. Their term of office was seven years. The terms of this court were held at different places, as follows: Twice a year at Detroit, twice at Ann Arbor, once at Kalamazoo and once at Pontiac. When in session at Kalamazoo the supreme court exercised ap- pellate jurisdiction in all cases originating in the counties of Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, Berrien, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Cal- houn and Allegan.
CIRCUIT COURTS
This constitution also provided for a separate court of chancery, the powers and authority of which were vested in the chancellor. There were three chancery circuits in the state, Van Buren being in the third circuit, together with the counties of Branch, Cass, St. Joseph, Berrien, Kalamazoo, Kent, Ionia and Allegan. The sittings of this court for the third circuit were held twice each year, at Kalamazoo.
The state was further divided into four judicial circuits for the purpose of holding the circuit courts. The statute provided that each of the justices of the supreme court, twice in each year, should hold a term of circuit court in each of the counties designated in his appointment, with this peculiar exception, that in certain counties (Van Buren among the number), a second term need not be held "unless the sheriff and county clerk of any or either of said counties shall, at or before the time fixed by law for the
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drawing of jurors, determine that it is necessary." While holding the circuit courts, the supreme justices were by statute designated circuit judges.
In 1848 the legislature increased the number of judges of the supreme court to five and directed them to divide the state into five circuits, and again, in 1851, the number of circuits was by legislative act increased to eight in number, Van Buren being in the fifth circuit with Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Eaton and Allegan.
In 1867 a partial reorganization of the judicial circuits of the state took place, the number being increased to fourteen and the counties of Allegan, Van Buren and Kalamazoo being placed to- gether in a circuit numbered as the ninth. This arrangement con- tinued until 1873, when a new arrangement of circuits was made, Allegan county being placed in another circuit (the twentieth), leaving Kalamazoo and Van Buren as the ninth. In-so-far as Van Buren county is concerned that arrangement continued until 1899, when it was joined with Cass county, the two composing the thirty- sixth circuit. The number of circuits in the state has been in- creased from time to time as the population increased until at the present time there are thirty-nine circuits in the state.
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