The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-01-07
SAYS JUDGES ARE UMOERPA|O
State Law Librarian Writes to
Governor Mead
-FOUR TH0USHND DOLLARS NOT ENOUGH
c. WILL sHAFFER DECLARES SUP
RENE COURT JURisTs
SHOULD GET MORE.

OLYMPIA, Jan. AT the request OF
Governor Mead, who perhaps desired
to discuss the question in his message
to the legislature. C. Will Shaffer. state
law librarian, has sent to the governor
4 letter discussing saiarles of supreme
Judges. Mr.. Shaffer is strongly in fav-
n of increasing the salaries OF the
| Judges He made a statement to the
! legislature two years ago in support OF
an increase in the salaries of supreme
Judges and he quotes that statement
in his letter this. year to the governor.
n the statement made to the legisla-
lure he pointed out that not a court OF
last resort in the United States has eX
ceeded that of Washington in amount
of work done. Mr. Shaffer says the
facts forming the basis for such a
statement two years ago are more ap-
parent today than then.
More than three thousand cases
have been considered bv our supreme
court in the last six years." says Mr..
Shaffer to the governor.
Judges Poorly Paid.
my time has not permitted me to
90 all through the states. but in COM
parisOn with most of the states, our
Judges are poorly paid. The trial
Judges in the federal courts. with no
greater responsibility than our judges
and with a life tenure receive over
sc. 900 per year The tenure Of office
should be an important factor in de-
termining the compensation of judi
cial officer. The tenure of our judges
S extremely low. far below the aver
age Massachusetts,. like the fedora
government. has life tenure: Pen
nsylvania twenty-one wears; some 9th
ers. twenty; New York. fourteen: Cal
ifOrnia twelve. Some of the short
states have short tenures. but in most
If them the judiciary is understood to
We out of politics, so that the tenure
IN reality is much longer
After giving the salaries of judges
! IN various states he says. Not one
# these states has more varied inter-
asts nor requires a higher degree O.
ability than the state of Washington"
Judges of the Washington supreme
court receive $4,000 a year. Califor-
MIA. for instance pays $4,000 and Wis
consin. $4,000
The Central Law Journals discus
sion of salaries is Quoted with approx
Al. In part, Mr. Shaffer says:
Cannot Practice Law.
'In the first place. this is great
state: has varied interests-all forms
If agricultural. numbering. manufac
turing. shipping. fishing. mining;
growing to be a great commercial
state in which good lawyers estab
'ished in business are getting large
fees. The judicial officer cannot keep
up his business relations. The con-
stitution prohibits his practice of law
and his duties are such that he re-
tires. almost as it were. to mOnastry.
so far as the business world is con-
cerned. Those lawyers who seek judi
cial position may be said to be those
who through love for their profession
will make a sacrifice of their material
welfare to reach what is considered
the top round in the avocation of law:
or those who have enough of the
worlds goods permitting them to af-
ford to take a judicial position. or
those who live by hope alone. not hav-
ing a sufficient practice to consider it
a sacrifice to leave Our hope is in
The first class largely.
"A clientage is valuable asset. 1t
is the lawyers living. He has worked
hard to get it, If he loses it he must
work hard again to regain it. What
merchant would give away outright
his business he has worked hard to
build up. for position of a few years
trawing the salary of one of our
Judges. if he knew at the end of that
othing to build up his business again?
THAT farmer who has worked hard
to improve his farm until it brings
i'm in a good living. would be wiling
to give away his farm and take a
position of this kind if he knew he
would be compelled to go at the end
Of his term. back to the frontier and
carve out new home? Yet this is
exactly what the lawyer does when
he accepts position on the bench 1t
is common knowledge that. especially
our supreme judges. are worse off fin
ancially after a service on the bench,
than when they came here"