Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1908-06-10
JUDGE GARDHERMAKES
REPLY TO MR.. BISHOP


and still harps on county rotation, as
well as attacking me because Pales-
tine gets the State Railroad, | will
make further reply to these matters
before 1 take up my defense against
his attack on my official record.
He says "all things being equal,
Henderson county should furnish the
district judge for the next four years"
| What proof have we that all things
are equal? When it comes to the
distribution of honors on the rotation
plan the relative population, taxable
values and court business of the re-
spective counties should be consider
ed. The counties of this district stand
relatively in all these matters as fol-
lows: Anderson first, Houston second,
and Henderson third The district
court business of Anderson county
will equal that of both Houston and
Henderson, and there are as many
lawyers at Palestine as at both Crock
EFT and Athens, and Palestine is larg
er than both of said cities put to-
gether. So it is, when we look at all
the facts, we do not find that all
things are equal.
Supposing for the sake of argument
that the natural endowment of the
two candidates aresequal, let us see
how it works l have the experience
of Twenty-Five years as lawyer and
nearly four years as a Judge am
now fifty-four years old and in good
health; active in mind and body. Mr.
Bishop, being about twenty years
younger, could wait sixteen years and
not be any older than l was when
elected Judge In fact, there is time
enough for two experienced lawyers
to be district judge for two terms of
four years each before Mr. Bishop
can claim that he is unduly delayed.
He complains that Anderson coun-
of officers" and he refers to the fact
that the governor is Palestine man.
He should remember that according
to custom the present holder of that
thigh office will, in about two years,
be a private citizen. Very few coun-
ties can hope for the honor of fur
nishing the chief magistrate of the
great state of Texas; and Henderson
and Houston counties, in common
with Anderson, should be proud that
East Texas gives, to the state the
governor, even though he hail from
Palestine. / am sure the good people
of this district are not disposed to
sacrifice me because my town is the
home of Governor Campbell
| Mr.. Bishop complains that the con-,
gresham of the Palestine district
lives in Anderson county, and that is
another reason why he, Bishop, a res
ident of Henderson county, should be
district judge. Now, candidate liv-
ing in Houston county might with
some show of reason make complaint
Il
along this line, because Houston and
Anderson counties are in the same
congressional district, and especially
would this be true if Houston county
get the congressional job; but Hen
derson county being in another dis
trict, l cannot see what right Mr..
Bishop, running as Henderson coun-
tvs candidate" has to complain.
Surely Mr. Gregg of Palestine is not
in the way of any man in Athens.
The fact that the Hon. s. A. Nc
Means of Palestine is on the court of
civil appeals of the Galveston district
is an eysore to Mr.. Bishop, and is an
other reason he gives why he should
be district judge and 1 should be
turned down. This is indeed a strange
position for one to take who lives in
the Dallas district. AS the people of
Henderson county have no hand in
the election of judge of the Calves
ton court of civil appeals, | see no
reason for Mr. Bishop to. complain of
the good fortune of Judge McMeans,
except to arouse opposition to me in
Houston county. If this be his pur-
pose, then | call attention to the fact
that while McMeans and Gill the
one succeeding the other, have to-
gether been on the court of civil apz
peals altogether for about eight years,
Judge Williams of Houston county
has been on the court of civil appeals
and supreme court for about sixteen
years.
But Mr. Bishop gives still another
reason why he should be district
judge, and that is the fact that the
present district attorney lives in Pal
estine and will be reelected to a Sec
ond term of two years without oppo-
sition. Now that Bishop is basing his
claim to office on the so-called county
rotary plan, | remind him of the fact
that Henderson county has had the