Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-25
CANDIDATE Is NAMED
JUSTICE STAFFORD ENDORSED
FOR COURT OF APPEALS.

Justice Wendell P. Stafford of the Su-
was Endorsed late yesterday afternoon by
the Bar Association Of the District of CO.
lumbia for appointment to the position
made vacant by the resignation of Justice
Charles H. Duell from the bench of the
District Court Of Appeals The action was
taken after a spirited contest, in which the
friends of Justice Ashley NJ. Gould of the
District Supreme Court made a strong eff
fort to have him declared the choice Of the
association. The final vote stood-Stafford.
50; Gould, 43.
So intense was the interest manifested
in behalf Of the two justices that at times
it verged upon excitement. This was espe-
cially the case with the supporters OF
Justice Gould when ii appeared that the
choice would go to his opponent. Several
OF the attorneys, among them United
States Attorney Baker. John w, Ecols and
Leo Simmons, urged that the formal char
acter of the action be dismissed on the
ground that the gathering was not fairly
representative of the bar association. II
was declared that many of the members
had not received any notice of the meeting.
and that out Of a total membership of 217
only l20 were present. The majority, how
ever. stood firm in the decision to have
the vote remain as the official Endorsement
OF the association.
III OTuST.
Skirmishing marked the opening Of the
meeting, which was presided over by Attor-
ney William F. Mattingly. the president of
the association. United States Attorney
Baker first moved that 1t would be mad
visable to recommend either Justice Gould
or Justice Stafford, but the motion was lost
by vote of &C to Al, several of those pres
ent not casting their ballots. Mr. Baker
next introduced a resolution recommending
that the President be requested to name
any one of the members of the Supreme
Court of the District of Columbia setting
forth that all of the members are well
qualified for the Appellate bench. Further
more, the resolution reiterated the deciara-
ton that it would be inexpedient for the
body to fndorse any one man.
mat, however, was also voted down. and
the association adopted a resolution pro-
vldlng that the members present indicate
their choice for the appointment to the APP
pellate Court. The candidates mentioned
soon narrowed down to Justice Stafford and
justice Gould, with the final vote as
stated.
Tension Was High.
While the tension high. some of the
friends of Justice Gould strongly intimated
that the meeting had been engineered from
the beginning by the friends of Justice STAFF
ford. The exhibition of feeling was, how
ever, succeeded by display of good fellow
Since the vacancy on the Appellate bench
occurred early in September the respective
friends of Justice Gould and Justice STAFF
ford have been urg ing their names for the
appointment. Several others have been
mentioned but, as far as the bar associa-
ton was concerned, 1t was soon apparent
that the matter would narrow down to the
1urlstS named. Just when the President
VIII make the selection is not definitely
known. but it is said that he may announce
the appointment early in October.
Plan to Hold Another Meeting.
An attorney who has been active in his
support of Justice Gould sad today that a
definite effort will probably be made soon to
secure a full meeting of the bar assoca-
ton with a view of declaring the action
of yesterday void on account of the limited
He asserted that the gather
ing yesterday was by no means fairly rep
resentatiVe of the bar association and de-
clared that the vote showed a sentiment
directly at variance with that of the ma
jority of the members. He added that no
tees of the meeting had not been delivered
until Yesterday morning and that many of
the Gould supporters, he being among the
number, had never received formal notifica-
ton.
Furthermore the attorney declared that
there was not more than 10J members IN
the room when the final vote was taken.
SeVenty-hve per cent of the members
of the local bar he added, land clear
citation are in favor of the appointment of
Justice Gould. His Endorsement would
have been assured had there been full
attendance at the meeting yesterday"
The attorney went On to say that the
action also seemed strange in connection
citation that positions on the local bench
should be filled by local men.