The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-05-29
BAR ASSOCIATION ASKS FOR
REMOVAL OF JUDGE HUMPHREYS

mittee of five, and that all expenses in |
securing said evidence in presenting |
the same be paid by this assocition |
and that same member or members |
shall present the said charges in the /
name and by the authority of the AS |
sociation and shall respectfully urge
the removal of the Hon. A. S. Humph- |
reys from the said office of juuge."
Robertson moved that the resolution
be adopted.
W. 0. Smith arose to second the mo-
ton to adopt He did so with deeD re-
gret. lie regretted that the relations
between Bar and Judge had become
so strained as to make radical action |.
necessary. The resolutions were
sweeping and seemed to reach an eX-
treme that was unfortunate. At the !
same time he, along with many others, !
felt keenly the disgrace and dishonor
brought upon the entire Bar by Judge
Humphreys. He regretted everything
that had occurred. The case was plain
ly one of abuse of power by which the
condition of things in the First Circuit
Court had become simply intOlerable.
There was nothing left to do but to
drive right at the head of the fault.
7. McCants Stewart made a strong
plea for Judge Humphreys and against
the resolution. He counseled caution
in this crisis. 1t was quite true that
the situation was extremely bad. Bar
and Judge were at logger-heads and
feeling was bitter. Withal, it was easy
for the Association to make a bad mat
ter worse by immoderate action at this
time.
Stewart began to speak of the affair
of last Saturday and deprecated the
action of Judge Humphreys in SEN
fencing three prominent members of
the Bar to imprisonment. He began to
eulogize the high personal character of
General Hartwell, and from there
drifted off into some private matters
between himself and Hartweu. He was
in the midst of a statement that Hart
well had been instrumental in estab-
fishing him in business when he first
came to Honolulu when Hartwell call
ed W. r. Castle to the chair and re-
tired to the floor, saying as he did:
"Those are personal matters and as
president of the Association 1 do not
care to listen to them in connection
with the question now before this
body"
Castle called attention to the fact
that there was a vice-president of the
Association and retired from the chair
in favor of j. l.. Kaulukou. =
SteWart, continuing, reviewed the
numerous jars between attorneys and
court in the past month. He thought
that in the Territory VS.. Walter G..
Smlln case the court nau gone 100 Idf.
He thought in at least one instance
Chat of sentencing Hartwell Kinney
and Ballou for contempD the court had
OVerStepped all reasonable bounds. At
the same time he did not believe the
resolutions would amount to anything.
They would not be listened to at Wash
| ington, and the outcome might be very
embarrassing to the Association. 1t
would have a bad effect in the COM
|
on the question, and the passage of
such a resolution would provoke open
| war between the two factions. From
! his knowledge of the Republicans he
would venture to say that that party
would not endorse the resolutions and
| would, furthermore, support Judge
/ Humphreys in this fight.
Cecil Brown, interrupting: "Why
should the Republican party support
Judge Humphreys? He is not a Re-
publican"
Mr.. Stewart: II am giving my Opin-
! ion, and as the head of the central
committee am in position to gauge the
pulse of the party. l believe that other
parties will also decline to support this
| resolution"
Stewart contended that the proper
! way to get at the matter was to send
a committee to Judge Humphreys for
| consultation. He believed that if
! such were done the matter could be
settled without trouble.
f. Nj. Hatch was of the opinion that
the resolutions went entirely too far.
First, there was the charge of inte-
gritty He did not believe anybody had
a right under any circumstances to
vote mans integrity away without
giving him chance to defend himself.
The principle was morally wrong and
lacked support of legal methods. 1t is
a divine right that every man should
have fair play. II am not here to say
that 1 approve any part of the recent
acts of Judge Humphreys, but / appeal
for fair play" said Hatch. At best, In
the mind of the speaker, the fight was
largely one between newspapers. The
Bar Association had, as a matter of
fact, very little to do with it. Hatch
hoped the fight would be left with the
newspapers where it had started anC
still belonged. With that he offered the
following resolution and urged its
adoption:
Resolved; That the Bar Association
of the Hawaiian Islands deprecates tn,
{ attitude of Hon. A. S. Humphrey
towards the attorneys of his court al
an infringement of the right of ever!
lawyer to practice law fearlessly anC
e independently in the interests of hi
| client"
Judge Whiting agreed FULLY with tn
resolution by Mr. Hatch. He had beel
: in touch with the court lately and al
e he knew was contained in the news
: papers from day to day. He did no
Z know whether the charges were tru
> or not. At least he could not accep
the bare statements OF newspapers i
a question involving the integrity of
: man. The only fair way 10 Hcee,
was to appoint court of inquiry {
Nraff Tta1 In, 1,
= tain just what the situation has bee
? and is. Humphreys was a member q
9 the Association and was certainly en-
q titled to that consideration bv hi
+. brothers of the Bar.
w. A. Kinney began lengthy ad
e dress by saying that he had hear
: Stewart, Hatch and Whiting CRITICS
e Judge Humphreys on account of hi
: acts of the past few days and that tn
l. sudden change of front was ratht
If mystifying. He had no personal fee
If ings in the matter, but might have ha