ate court, leave the five judges to struggle on as best they may through this im penetrable mass of business that remains indefinitely in their respective districts. You will not accomplish that business by increasing the number of judges, nor will you accomplish any reform by increasing the tenure of their office. tive principle is to improve the judiciary all the while, and, therefore, the present bench ought to be a great deal more efficient than the first bench was, and we shall go on indefinitely improving; but I state that fact in justice to the truth of our legal history, and for the purpose of answering the question of my friend how Mr. FUNCK. Will the gentleman allow the limited tenure operated to the benefit me to ask him a question? Mr. WOODWARD. Yes, sir. Mr. FUNCK. I should much like to know how the limited tenure improves the system. I know the gentleman has had great experience and I shall be glad to be enlightened on that point. were Mr. WOODWARD. I would refer the delegate to his own experience for the last twenty years, and to the experience of every lawyer in this body. When the elected under the judges who amendment of 1850 came into the Supreme court, they found a vast amount of remanets in all the districts. I do not know what the whole aggregate was, but I know it was very large. They said that if they understood what the people of Pennsylvania meant by putting them on the bench for fifteen years, it was to clear that docket. They said that among themselves, and they went to work to do that thing, and they did it, because they were elected for fifteen years. If they had been elected for life it would not have been done. They worked vigorously, and they worked successfully, and within five years after that new judiciary came in, there was not, so far as I know, a case in Pennsylvania brought up by writ of error or appeal that had not an opportunity to be heard in the year in which it was brought up. Of course, there is always a quantity of cases, more or less, lying over, because counsel will agree upon the continuance of some cases from term to term; they are not ready on either side; and such cases go over. But, sir, I think I speak with absolute accuracy (and there is Judge Black to correct me if I do not) when I say that within five years after the new judicial establishment came in upon the limited tenure, there was not a case in Pennsylvania that was continued for the want of time on the part of the judges to hear it, but every case had an opportunity to be heard within the year in which it was brought. I do not say that that court was any more efficient than its successors have been, because I have learned from the debates here that the tendency of the elec of the judiciary. It operated to the benefit of the people of Pennsylvania in that it cleared the docket and opened the way for every ease to be heard within the year in which it was brought. Mr. DARLINGTON. Mr. Chairman: I move to amend the amendment presented by the gentleman from Philadelphia, by striking out all after the word “such,” in the seventeenth line to the end of the paragraph, and inserting these words, "times and places as may be prescribed by law." It will then read: "Shall sit in bane for the hearing of causes that come up by writs of error or appeal, at such times and places as may be prescribed by law." I will state the purpose I have in view. The amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia proposes that the Supreme Court shall sit at one place, to be fixed by the Legislature, and that the judges shall reside at that place. I propose to leave it as it now is in fact, by allowing the court to sit at such times and places as the Legislature shall prescribe, leaving out all about their adjourned sessions or living at the same place. Mr. ARMSTRONG. I desire to make a word of explanation. If the gentleman from Philadelphia (Mr. Woodward) had desired to raise the question of the number of judges, it would have been very readily done by moving to strike out the word "seven," in the first line of the section, and insert "five," and thus have raised the question directly. But he now proposes a section which is open precisely to the same objection which was stated more fully in regard to the second section, which he moved as an amendment. I call the attention of the committee to the fact that that part of the section which he now proposes to insert, the fifteen years term, has already been voted down, and twenty-one years inserted. Then, again, that part of it which provides for the salary of the judges, gentlemen will find already provided for in the report, on page ten, in section twenty-three. So also that part of it which prescribes the jurisdiction of the court, they will find on page three, para graph six, and so I might go through. There is nothing in this section proposed by the gentleman from Philadelphia but what will be found in its appropriate place in the report of the committee. I therefore think it would be well to vote it down. If the gentleman has any specific amendments to suggest to the section under consideration let them be voted upon on their merits. The amendment of Mr. Darlington to the amendment of Mr. Woodward was rejected. 66 Mr. BUCKALEW. I move to amend the amendment, by striking out "five" and inserting seven." I desire simply to say, without detaining the Convention, that there are some clauses in the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia which I am decidedly in favor of, and I want the amendment put in such form that I can vote for it. Being in favor of it, I want it put in such a shape that I can give my vote for it. The difficulty with the former amendment, which the member from Philadelphia presented, was that it combined some half a dozen propositions. I suppose somebody in the Convention was in favor of some one of the series, but a majority were not in favor of the whole of them combined; and therefore the amendment received but a very small support; and now the amendment which he proposes here, although in my judgment it is preferable to the section which it is offered to supercede in several important particulars, yet it contains this feature of five judges instead of seven. I believe the general demand of the legal profession in the State and the expectation of the people both look to an increase in the number of the judges of the Supreme Court, and if my amendment shall be adopted I hope the Convention will adjourn, and in the morning we shall have a full and intelligent vote between the two systems-for they are systems-presented by the section and by this amendment. Mr. ARMSTRONG. Mr. Chairman: The section, as it stands reported from the committee, is entirely in accord with the desires of the gentleman from Columbia, and does provide for seven judges. My objection to this amendment is not that its several provisions are not wise, for the committee have reported many of them in, I think, more appropriate places. For instance, when we come to define the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, we define it distinctly by itself, that it may not be mixed up with anything else; and so, when we come to the question of salaries, you will find that by itself. For that reason I think it is not advisable to adopt this section, and I hope there will be no delay in taking the vote upon it. Mr. BUCKALEW. I want to make one response. I confine myself to the single question which my amendment raises: Is the Convention in favor of five or seven judges? I want nothing else determined by this vote. The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment of the gentleman from Columbia (Mr. Buckalew) to the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia, (Mr. Woodward,) to strike out "five" and insert "seven." The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The CHAIRMAN. The question recurs on the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia, as amended. Mr. BUCKALEW. This question of the tenure of judges, whether it shall be fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, twenty or twentyone years, has not been debated or deliberately passed upon by this Convention; and confessedly it is a very large and important question, and I protest against its being decided here, at nearly six o'clock in the afternoon, when everybody is fatigued and when no attention can be bestowed upon it. No particular resistance was made to the gentleman from Lycoming (Mr. Armstrong) fixing his section just as he desired it, and there was no reason for a contest at that stage, because we still could have an opportunity to pass upon the question between his section and some more perfect one at a subsequent stage. Now, the gentleman from Philadelphia (Mr. Woodward) presents us a section in which we have this contrast fairly before us, and I object to determining it to-night. I move, therefore, that the committee rise, report progress, and ask leave to sit again. The CHAIRMAN. Before putting the question on that motion, the Chair desires to make one observation in justice to himself. A few moments ago when the Chair appeared to rule out the amendment offered by the gentleman from Philadelphia, (Mr. Woodward,) it was owing to a misapprehension of the purpose of the delegate from Philadelphia. There is no clearer rule than that you cannot strike out that which has been inserted, but there is also no clearer rule than that you can strike out that which has been inserted in connection with other portions of the section. The Chair did not intend to decide otherwise. He merely misapprehended the purpose of the delegate from Philadelphia. The question is on the motion of the gentleman from Columbia, (Mr. Buckalew,) that the committee rise, report progress, and ask leave to sit again. The motion was agreed to. The committee accordingly rose, and the President having resumed the chair, the Chairman (Mr. Harry White) reported that the committee of the whole had had under consideration the article reported by the Committee on the Judiciary, and had instructed him to report progress and ask leave to sit again. Leave was granted to the committee of the whole to sit to-morrow. Mr. LILLY. I move that the House adjourn. The motion was agreed to, and (at five o'clock and thirty minutes P. M.) the Convention adjourned. NINETY-FIRST DAY. FRIDAY, May 2, 1873. The Convention met at ten o'clock A. M., Hon. Wm. M. Meredith, President, in the chair. Prayer by Rev. Jas. W. Curry. had the type still standing and what they would charge for five hundred additional copies. They say: "In reply to your note of this morning we have to advise you that the type mat The Journal of yesterday was read and ter of the Hopkins' memorial has been approved. PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS. Mr. BIGLER presented resolutions adopted by the Bar Association of Clearfield county, opposing the circuit court system, favoring the plan proposed by Mr. Kaine's minority report from the Judiciary Committee, and suggesting various modifications in the judicial establishment in regard to common pleas judges, retiring them on two-thirds pay for life after having ceased to hold the office, and extending the term of the supreme judges to twenty-one years; which were read and ordered to lie on the table and be printed. Mr. GUTHRIE, (at the request of Mr. Joseph Baily, detained from his seat by sickness,) presented the petition of one hundred and fifty citizens of Susquehanna county, and the petition of twenty-five citizens of Hellertown, Northampton county, praying for an acknowledgment of Almighty God and the christian religion in the Constitution of the State, which were laid on the table. THE HOPKINS' MEMORIAL. Mr. KAINE. I ask leave to make a short statement at this time. distributed. As an additional five hundred copies would be a re-print edition, and as we have the stamps on hand, we could make five hundred copies for about two hundred and seventy-five dollars, and would be happy to execute an order to that effect. (Signed) J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. The House will remember that the plates for the engraving in those already printed was furnished to the Messrs. Lippincott by Sartain. The engraving is on hand, of course, and the portrait will cost but a cent and a-half for each copy. The portraits for five hundred copies will cost but seven dollars and fifty cents, and if the Lippincotts will print and bind the work, as they will, in the same form as those already printed, it will cost the Convention about two hundred and seventy-two dollars and fifty cents for five hundred additional copies. In view of that, I offer the following resolution, if it meets the approbation of the Convention: Resolved, That the Committee on Printing are hereby directed to procure five hundred additional copies of the memorial of Colonel William Hopkins, for the use of the members. On the question of ordering the resolution to a second reading, a division was called for, which resulted, ayes, thirtyfour; noes, thirty-four. So the resolution was not ordered to second reading. SALARIES OF MEMBERS. Mr. BAER. I offer the following resolution: WHEREAS, The Legislature has repealed that portion of the act providing for calling a Convention to amend the Constitution, which fixed the salary to be paid its members, and has appropriated the gross sum of five hundred thousand dollars for salaries and other expenses of the Convention, therefore, Be it resolved, That the salaries of the members of the Convention are hereby fixed at- -and mileage at the rate of ten cents per mile circular, for not more than two sessions; Provided, That the salary of the President shall be double that of the other members, and that the Committee on Accounts be instructed to report a proposition fixing the pay of the officers for the consideration of the Convention. Mr. H. G. SMITH. I move you, sir, that the resolution be laid on the table. The PRESIDENT. It will be laid on the table under the rule. BINDING OF JOURNAL AND DEBATES. Mr. NEWLIN. I am directed by the Committee on Printing to report the following resolution : Resolved, That the printer, B. Singerly, bind the Journal and Debates of the Convention in half-binding, leather backs, and tips, with paper sides and gilt labels, and forward to the residence of each member, by express, thirty copies of each volume, as soon as they are bound, and that each member shall receipt therefor to the printer, which receipt shall be his voucher; the expense of boxing and expressing to be paid by the Convention. The resolution was ordered to a second reading, and was read the second time. Mr. J. PRICE WETHERILL. Before that resolution, as presented by the Committee on Printing, is passed, I should like to hear some explanation from him in regard to the number; whether he conceives thirty to be the proper number or not. It seems to me that thirty copies to each member of the Convention would be rather in excess of the necessity of the case. I think twenty probably would be enough. I should like to know from the chairman of the committee how he arrived at that number and the reason for it. Mr. NEWLIN. Thirty copies each would still leave over five hundred extra copies to be distributed to public libraries and other places under the orders of the Convention, and the thirty copies are not only designed for the use of the members, but so that the members can supply their constituents and any libraries or other public institutions which are not taken care of out of the additional five hundred. I think it is the proper number; it is the edition that was ordered by the House THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. Mr. LAMBERTON. I move that the Convention go into committee of the whole on the article reported by the Committee on the Judiciary. The motion was agreed to, and the Convention resolved itself into committee of the whole, Mr. Harry White in the chair. The CHAIRMAN. The pending question is on the amendment of the gentleman from Philadelphia, (Mr. Woodward,) to strike out the second section of the committee's report and insert the third section of the minority report presented by himself. The gentleman from Lycoming (Mr. Armstrong) has the floor. Mr. STANTON. Is it the third section? The CHAIRMAN. The second section of the report is before the committee. The amendment is to strike that out and insert what is found as the third section in the minority report, submitted by the gentleman from Philadelphia (Mr. Woodward.) Mr. ARMSTRONG. By reason of the amendments which were put upon the section yesterday, one striking out the circuit court, and another in relation to the appointment of supreme judges, some modifications have become necessary. I have re-drafted the section for the purpose of putting it into, I think, a little better and more concise language. I ask that it be read. The CHAIRMAN. It will be read for information. Mr. ARMSTRONG. The committee will observe that it is the same section as was before the committee yesterday, except transposed in some slight particulars, not changing the sense at all. The CLERK read as follows: The Supreme Court shall consist of seven judges, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State at large. They shall hold their offices for the term of twenty-one years, if they shall so long behave themselves well, but shall not be eligible to re-election. The judge whose commission will first expire shall be chief justice, and thereafter each judge whose commission shall first expire shall, in |