at a special or regular meeting. The court consists of forty-seven justices, elected from twenty-four districts in the five boroughs. I might add that there are three hundred employees of the court in addition to the justices, and the budget for the coming year is about a million and a quarter.

Under the new code an action must be commenced by the service of a summons, either by personal or by substituted service, and a summons may be issued by the clerk or by the attorney, as in the Supreme Court, County Courts and City Court of the City of New York. The summons is made returnable within five days before the clerk of the court and issue is joined before the clerk. Upon the joinder of issue the clerk places the case upon the general calendar, and where the party appears in person, the clerk fixes a date for trial and immediately notifies the party by mail of such date. Where both parties appear by attorney, either party may notice the case for trial. Under the old code the summons was issued by the clerk only, returnable before the court, was good only for eight days, and if not served within eight days it was necessary to make application to the court on the return day on affidavit for an alias summons. Issue was joined before the court, and the case was set for trial by the court. The court was prevented from granting adjournment for more than eight days except on consent. This caused a great waste of time of the court in the calling of calendars of returned cases, and the time of attorneys and litigants in needless appearances in court. The technical and useless restrictions upon judicial power in matters of procedure have been abolished and the discretionary powers of the court have been enlarged in the interest of justice.

The new code provides for prosecuting and defending as poor persons. A person may obtain leave to prosecute or defend an action as a poor person and to have an attorney assigned to conduct his case in accordance with the pro

visions of law applicable to like cases in the Supreme Court. The petition for such leave may be verified before the clerk of the court in the district where the action is brought, and the certificate of the clerk that he has inquired into the facts of the case that in his opinion the plaintiff has a prima facie cause of action or that the defendant has a prima facie defence, as the case may be, shall have the same force and effect as the certificate of an attorney. When the action is brought by an employee against an employer for services performed by such employee, the clerk shall not demand nor receive any fees whatsoever from the plaintiff or his attorney, if the demand is less than fifty dollars, and he is shown to be a resident of the city, to have a good cause of action, and to have made a demand for payment and payment to have been refused. In an action by a wage-earner, for services rendered or wages earned, if the plaintiff recovers a judgment for a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, exclusive of costs, and the action was brought within three months after the cause of action accrued, no property of the defendant is exempt from levy and sale on execution, and provision is made for execution against the person, by which the defendant must be actually confined, not to exceed fifteen days, and the same provision applies whether the defendant be male or female. In an action brought by a female employee to recover for wages earned or materials furnished by her in the course of her employment extra costs are allowed. Actions for wages are tried in the months of July and August, and in all the months of the year are given a preference. In every way the court makes special efforts to protect and enforce the rights and remedies and to redress the wrongs of the poor with a minimum of delay and without expense.

It oftens happens that the court has to act as an attorney for both parties, and when one party is represented by an attorney, the attorney will ask to withdraw and leave

the case to the court. The court may assign an attorney to handle the case of a poor litigant often at considerable expense and time and effort on the part of the attorneys. But it is a pleasure to state that attorneys are always willing to accept such assignments and to render service to the litigants who are unable to engage counsel to appear for them.

The new code has simplified the rules and methods of pleading, partly by expressed provisions and partly by providing that the board of justices may prescribe by rule short forms of pleadings, as have been used in England and more recently in New Jersey under the Practice Act. If no written complaint is served, a statement of the nature and substance of the cause of action is required to be endorsed upon or attached to the summons. If a written complaint is served with a summons, a written answer must be filed; and if the complaint is verified, the answer must be verified, except, in an action, where the amount claimed is one hundred dollars or less, the defendant, if he appears in person, may answer orally, and a statement of the nature and substance of the answer is required to be endorsed upon or attached to the summons. At any time before judgment, the court may direct the filing of a written pleading, verified or unverified. Provision is made for filing a bill of particulars of the complaint or counterclaim, upon written demand or upon motion, and the court may order a written bill of particulars, with or without verification, to be filed and served by the plaintiff or by the defendant interposing a counterclaim.

The plaintiff may include in the same complaint any cause of action of which the court has jurisdiction, to the end that all matters of difference between the respective parties may, so far as practicable, be determined in one action, subject to the right of the court to order them to be tried separately or that the action be severed. There may be included in the counterclaim any claims or causes of action of which the court has jurisdiction against the

plaintiff or, in a proper case, against the person whom he represents, and in favour of one or more defendants, between whom and the plaintiff a separate judgment may be had in the action, subject to the right of the court to order them tried separately or to strike them out without prejudice to the bringing of another action or proceeding. The judgment may determine the ultimate rights of two or more defendants as between themselves. The reply to a counterclaim is not necessary, but the court may order a written reply, verified or unverified, at any time before judgment. When no reply is filed, the allegations of the counterclaim shall be deemed denied. A judgment may be rendered on a counterclaim in any sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, exclusive of interest and costs. The original or a copy of the contract or other writing on which a cause of action or a defence or a counterclaim is founded may be filed with the pleading and shall be deemed a part of the pleading. Within three days after service of a written demand by either party the adverse party shall file with the clerk the original or sworn copy of any such contract or other writing specified in such demand. If the paper is not duly filed, the court may order that it be filed and may exclude it from evidence if not filed accordingly.

It is also provided that a signature to a written instrument which is pleaded shall be taken as admitted, unless the party sought to be charged thereby files with the clerk within eight days of joinder of issue, a specific denial of the genuineness of the signature, and a demand that it be proved. Such denial and demand by a defendant may be included in his answer. This last provision is new in the law of New York and is derived from a similar statute in Massachusetts.

An interesting illustration of this last provision comes to my mind. A man was sued on a check for about five hundred dollars up in Judge Spiegelberg's court-in the Fifth District. The plaintiff pleaded the check. The

defendant came in with some handwriting experts, with some photographs of the check in question and of other checks. He undoubtedly had gone to an expense of about fifty dollars to prepare for the defence in this action. The trial developed that the defendant had been out on a party —this was before the days of alleged prohibition—and two or three mornings later, when he came to, he went downtown and was confronted with this check. He immediately resisted payment and the result was that despite all his preparation to defend the case, the signature of the check had to be taken as admitted and judgment entered for the plaintiff, and he had no chance to put in a defence. That is a specially valuable provision in case of an absent witness or the decease of the person who has signed a check.

There is a further provision that no action shall be defeated by the nonjoinder or misjoinder of parties, and that the names of new parties may be added and the names of parties misjoined may be struck out by order of the court at any stage of the cause and upon such terms as justice may require.

There is a further provision that the allegations of a pleading must be liberally construed for the purpose of doing substantial justice between the parties, and that at any stage of the cause, the court must allow amendment of any summons, process, mandate, pleading, order or judgment, including a petition, precept, answer and final order in a summary proceeding if substantial justice will be promoted thereby upon such terms as may be just.

By eliminating all technical rules as to joinder of parties to causes of action, giving the court power to add or strike out parties, allowing the joinder of all causes of action or counterclaims within the jurisdiction of the court, subject to the right of the court to strike out any of them, provision generally is made for the settlement of all controversies between the parties in one action as far as practicable.