The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-07-09
The Filling of
the Vacant Bench.

While no democrat, and no demo
cratic newspaper, could or would
condemn the appointment. of a demo
crat to succeed Judge Swayne, 1t Is
unreasonable to expect it. While Mr..
Roosevelt has disregarded party lines
at times in some such appointments,
it would be political folly for him
to do so almost on the eve OF a
national election, and it were futile
to expect, him to do so If the district
in which the vacancy exists furnishes
a republican who is qualified for the
position and backed by party harmony
in fractional endorsement.
For these reasons, The Journal re-
CARDS as futile any efforts to secure
the appointment of democrat to sue
ceed>Judge Swayne, and there is room
to suspect that any serious effort along
that line might be very inexpedieEt,
1t might easily result in the naming of
some republican from a doubtful"
state, and he might easily be far less
worthy of the office than that Repub-
lican son of Florida who is the logical
party candidate, and against whom
nothing can be urged either personal
~ or professionally, for whom can be
urged more than enough to make the
appointment commendable in the eyes
OF all who are both fair and compe
tent to Judge.
The appointment is to be made by
republican president, and under
American tradition, and public custom
the reasonable, consistent, logical
thing for the president to do will be
to appoint a republican to the posi-
ton. as long as there is competent
republican in the district to appoint
There is, in The Journals opinion,
only one contingency under which the
president could be expected to go out
side of his own party to make this APP
pointment, and that would be on the
ground that no competent member of
his own party were a resident of the
district That contingency of course
does not exist
1t is possible the president might
go outside his party to appoint judge
If the prominent members of his party
In tie district to be affected We're
hopelessly divided as to who was the
proper man, but this is not the case,
for the republican state organization
is unanimous in it's choice. In fact,
there-is but one republican seriously
mentioned in connection with the ap-
pointment.
1t seems to The Journal that the
proper thing for democrats to do-if
they take part in this matter at all
is to lend their endorsement to the
most suitable member of the presi-
dents party, and thereby insure the
appointment of citizen from their
own district, and eliminate the chance
of having a man from some other
state appointed
The federal court for the northern
district of Florida has been presided
over for seventeen years by a judge |
who was foreign to our people. The |
journal does not wish to speak i'll of |
the dead, but it speaks only the truth |
when il says that, whatever the rea- |
sons, his conduct of this important |
trust was anything but satisfactory |
to the people of this district. 1t mat |
tiers not how earnest or sincere he !
may have been in the performance of |
his official duties the fact remains |
that he was entirely out of touch with |
the people over whom he presided |
5udicially
T'ha Journal might wish 10 see a |
democrat appointed to the position,
but it realizes that this is highly i'm
probable, if not impossible. After all, /
the FIRST essential is to have a man in
win )m are united fitness for the Office
and sympathy and understanding of |
the people whose cases he must try.
He should be a native F1oridian, and
not only one who was born in this
state, but who has spent his life here,
who knows the habits, manners, Gus
toms, and who enjoys the goodwill
and esteem, of the native Floridian
The conditions favor the appoint
ment of a republican There is such
, republican applying for the appoint