The Fee System as a Social Force. 
217 
regular daily sessions, while another is scarcely ever called upon 
to act. All cannot be paid salaries, as it would entail enormous 
expense to the public; and apparently such a system would be 
unjust to the magistrate who is called upon to act often. To 
the casual observer it would seem, therefore, as though some 
well-devised scale of fees would be the only just and fair method 
of remuneration. But a closer investigation will reveal the fact, 
that other things must be taken into consideration besides the 
interests of the justice of the peace, and the economy of public 
money. There is such a thing as a "penny wise and pound 
foolish ’’ policy in public, as well as in private economics. 
Perhaps no single influence has done more injury through the 
American courts than the fee system in its effects on the Jus¬ 
tice of the Peace. The men who occupy this position are not 
as a rule of such a character that they can stand by and uncon¬ 
cernedly see all cases, and in consequence all fees connected 
with them, go to the rival or neighboring justice. As a rule 
they are not men of means, and a fee more or less is of great 
importance. What is the result? The result is that the decis¬ 
ion of a justice of the peace is almost certain to be a discrimi¬ 
nation in favor of the plaintiff. Why? Because it is the plaint¬ 
iff who begins the suit, and he or his lawyer has the option of 
bringing the case in Justice A’s or Justice B’s or any other 
court. If he brings it into Justice A’s court, it means a cer¬ 
tain number of fees for him, and he must therefore show his 
gratitude by rendering his judgment for the plaintiff. But sup¬ 
pose the justice has the moral courage to decide the case on its 
merits, and that as a result his decision is in favor of the de¬ 
fendant. The consequence is that Justice A will receive no 
more patronage from that lawyer or plaintiff. All the cases, 
and hence all the fees which he might have had, are therefore 
transferred to Justice B who is more grateful. 
These cases are not pure assumptions. They are actual facts 
which are known and utilized every day by lawyers throughout 
the land. The many upright and conscientious justices, whose 
characters are above reproach, are prevented from exerting even 
the average amount of influence by the vicious system, which 
from its very nature drives the business into the courts of these 
