The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-01-15

ahIne Work, would be paid more. Lhi6 IL
cult judges, with the further considers
tlon that, qiioad the three-fourths OF this
| class who hold over, tho SALARY cannot
b aease eye Ry ts et 81 he
From what has. been said, II appears
that It will be within the power OF the
compensation OF the Judges of tho Court
| OF Appeals, or, by non-action, practically
to tie the. hands of succeeding Legislai..
Ges IN the matter AS b tS the rss
by the General Assembly Of 1906 or later
is out OF the question, for their salaries
creased and made uniform. It ls hardly
stitntional Convention intended to cause
| such q condition to obtain.
| Now as to the proprlety Of an increase
IN judicial salarles in Virginia. Until the
| Constitution of 1909 went into effect these
salaries have been little less than re-
| court of last resort have starved along
| for more than century upon n maxi
| mum annual wage Of three thousand dol
| lars, while her circuit Judges have had
! dred dollars. II Is unnecessary to 80 into
details upon the question OF what uus
has meant to many Of them. for the an
swcr Is too apparent. But 1t is simple
| Justice to all OF them to say. that no
formulated word of complaint has come
from them. They have us q body modest
~ and consistently stood fast by the con-
| tract which they made when they ac-
| cepted office.
/ They have worked faithfully, lived eco
nomically, and whom work and life were
| over, have laid them down with no herlt-
age for those who came after but tho
above riches. is far from being quick
asset. Tho only wonder Is that we have
had men of the character and calibre OF
those who have administered Justice
among us since the foundation of the
Commonwealth. 1t is fitting, however,
that. the facts of the case be submitted
to. the bar and the public by one who,
ties interested. believes that their pre-
sentaton will be welcomed BY those whose
function it is to deal with tho subject
quent legislation Code. section 1850. the
salaries, Of the Judges OF the Court OF
Appeals were raised to four thousand dol
lars. and those of the circuit judges to
regretted that tho Constitutional Conven-
ton did not once and for all settle the
question by doubling the salaries OF both
classes OF Judges. as they doubled or
greatly increased their word. and put It
beyond the power of the Legislature to
diminish them.
They took n step In the right direction.
however. by themselves raising these sal
thought, leaving the further determine
ton of the matter to tho Legislature.
Unfortunately, as has been shown, by
another provision they made this prac-
attained.
The net result Of the late changes un-
doubtedly shows an Increased sense of
the Justice of paying the professional la
here. A just hire should be paid. It
should not be difficult to demonstrate that
even the present salaries are not Rir
return for the services rendered.
There are two standpoints from which
this question may be considered-first, the
nature OF the service and the circum-
stances attending them, and second the
value of similar services as appraised by
other communities. Our effort should be
to fix fair value upon professpnN
labor OF conceded merit and faithfulness.
basis of day labor or to offer as n reply
to the present contention the fact that
lawyers can be obtained who will accept
the offices for half the money. That is
unfortunately true; they may accept the
offices, but they can never fill them.
First. then. and briefly, of the work of
the Court of Appeals. 1t is entirely with
In bounds to say that never In its history
portance OF its business been what they
are to-day. In addition to the purely
legal questions which are constantly being
propounded 10 II. the appellate .jurisdlc-
poration Commission Is bringing up sub
jects of n special and technical nature,
demanding, because OF their novelty. diff
Guilty and surprising Importance. the
most careful consideration. The court
averages about ninety days OF actual ses-
sion at Richmond: at Wytheville and
staunton together, about forty-five-a
total of nearly one-half OF the three hun
dred working days of the year the other
half being spent In examination OF briefs
and the preparation of opinions mean
ing In too many cases OF long records and
complicated facts nothing but one con-
tinuous grind. Now. what would n law
yer of reputation charge and receive for
the same amount of work rendered a
ginia.. not less than ten thousand dollars.
But four thousand seems enough when
q Judge does the work and clears his
docket up from year to year
What Is the case for the circuit 1udses1
substantially the same. They arc now
chancellors, common and criminal law
judges; they pass upon questions OF pro-
bate, administration, accounts of fdu-
orally, cover the ground formerly divided
between tho circuit and county courts
It is moderate statement that their
days days OF ACTUAL session average one hun
them in 1904 sat one hundred and eighty
days. For their services they receive
twenty-five hundred dollars annually.
second-How are similar services COM
pensated in other communities?
We are enabled to answer this by the
following table, condensed from n paper
prepared by simon Fleischman, Esq. OF
the bar of Buffalo. New York, entitled
of Judges" and read before the New
York State Bar Association at it's session
of 1905. 1t will repay careful examine
brief comment. 1t shows this, however.
that nearly oil of the live, modern, pro-
gressive States of the Union are paying
their judges more than Virginia does
hers. and many of them, OF smaller area,
population and resources than Virginia
It is true that some pay less. but. as Il
rule, they. are not among the leaders
not ono gets down to the sixteen hundred
dollar figure. until recent years the meas
ure of tho compensation of our trial
judges.
JUDICIAL SALARIES.
State Appellate. Trial.
Alabama ............S $500 S2,5O0