THE JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT. THE SUPREME COURT. The constitution provides that the judicial power shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, courts of probate, justices of the peace, and such other courts inferior to the supreme court as the legislature may from time to time establish. This latter prerogative the legislature has exercised in the establishment of municipal courts in the larger cities of the State. The supreme court consists of one chief justice and four associate justices, elected by the people, and holding office for six years, and until successors are elected and qualified. Two terms of court are held in each year, commencing on the first Tuesdays of April and October, at the capitol, in St. Paul. This court has original jurisdiction in such remedial cases as may be prescribed by law, and appellate jurisdiction in all cases, both in law and equity. The clerk of the supreme court is an elective officer, the term of office being four years. He may appoint a deputy. The reporter of the supreme court is an officer appointed by the supreme court to prepare the adjudicated cases for publication in official volumes, entitled "Minnesota Reports," of which seventy volumes have been published. The reports are now accumulating at the rate of four volumes annually. The present law regarding their publication limits them to a special size, and was passed in territorial times, when one volume was large enough for the opinions of two years. A modification of the law would be of advantage to the State and to attorneys. Originally the reporter owned the exclusive copyright, and the reports were printed and bound at his expense, the State buying of him 200 copies of each volume at six dollars a volume. In 1881 an act was passed providing that the reporter should have no pecuniary interest in the reports, but that they should be published by contract under his supervision, the publisher to agree to sell the volumes at two dollars a volume and the State to agree to buy 200 copics at that price. By this act the copyright of the volumes already published was to vest in the secretary of state for the benefit of the people of the State, but the publisher was permitted to continue the publication and sale of such volumes so long as he complied with the requirements of the act as to character and price of volumes. The publisher at that time was the West Publishing Company. In 1897 an act was passed authorizing the secretary of state to enter into a contract with F. P. Dufresne for the publication of the reports at the price of one dollar fifty cents a volume. Such a contract was entered into, and the State now buys 425 copies of each vol ume at the price last named. Under the contract thus authorized he has published volumes 68, 69 and 70. The secretary of state is charged with the distribution of the volumes, one copy to each of the several departments of state, to each judge of the supreme court, and of the several district and probate courts, and to the clerk of each district court, while the University of Minnesota receives 100 copies for the law department, and the state library receives a sufficient number for exchanges with other states and for the use of the library. The remaining copies stay in the custody of the secretary of state for future distribution by law. THE LOWER COURTS. The district courts are created by the legislature, the State being divided into eighteen judicial districts, with one or more judges in a district, as the exigencies of business may require, and the judges are elected for six years. The district courts have original jurisdiction in all civil cases, both in law and equity, where the amount exceeds $ico, or the punishment shall exceed three months' imprisonment or a fine of more than $100. Also, in criminal cases where presentments are made by grand juries. The municipal courts generally have the power of disposing of all criminal cases for infraction of city laws, and for hearing and committing for trial on arrests for violation of state laws. Chap. 146, G. L. 1891, "An act relating to villages of over 3,000 inhabitants, and providing for municipal courts therein." By the provisions of this act a municipal court has jurisdiction in civil actions where amount does not exceed $500; also, in all cases where a justice court has jurisdiction, and over certain criminal actions. Its jurisdiction is co-extensive with the limits of the county where located. The probate courts are created by authority of the constitution, one for each county, and the judges to be elected by the people, for two years. The courts are now governed by a code adopted by the legislature in 1889. The probate court has jurisdiction over the estates of deceased persons and persons under guardianship, and the examination and commitment of insane persons to the asylums. The salaries to probate judges are fixed by special law, or in lieu thereof a salary of $100 for the first 1,000 inhabitants and $50 for each additional 1,000 inhabitants, limiting the compensation, where by reason of population the sum would be larger, to $4,000 per annum. THE STATE SCHOOL SYSTEMS, The following scheme shows the elements of the school systems of the State: Common.... DISTRICTS. Independent Schools graded and ungraded. Special...... STATE RURAL SCHOOLS. STATE GRADED SCHOOLS. STATE HIGH SCHOOLS. UNIVERSITY. A common school district is controlled by a board of three members; independent by one of six members; a special by a board of six or more members. Common schools are supervised by a county superintendent; independent and special districts have their own superintendents, and in the main are not subject to the county superintendents. The state high schools and state graded schools are subject to a board of three members acting ex officio; namely, the governor of the State, the superintendent of public instruction, and the president of the university. The normal schools are at present controlled by a board of nine members. Four of these are resident directors, four are appointed for the State at large, and one, the superintendent of public instruction, is an ex officio member. The university is controlled by a board of regents, now composed of three ex officio members and nine appointed by the governor. The three ex officio are the same officers mentioned above as constituting the high school board. At date there are 6,415 common schools, 151 independent, 25 special and 97 state high and 110 state graded schools. The following figures are taken from the report of the state superintendent of schools for the biennial period ending July 31, 1898: PUPILS. 1898. Number enrolled in the public schools during the year entitled to apportionment 324,650 Number of pupils in the public schools during the year not entitled to apportionment 59,413 Average length of school, in months, during the year in common districts 6.9 |