The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-29

and that the said action of the said Hon. Thomas c. Jones was not known to this court and was not participated in by the judge of this court nor was the judge of this court advised that such would De done or attempted. nor was the con- currence of this court asked in the same in any respect whatsoever, and that said alleged order was void and of no force or effect.
 Y. That there is but one court of bank rnptcy for the said Northern district of Alabama, and that. under the provisions of the act of Congress relating to bank ruptcy, such court of bankruptcy is au- thorlzed to appoint referees each for q term Of two years. and may in their dis cretion remove them because their ser vices are not needed, or for other cause;'' and that the said Alexander c. Birch was not appointed by the said court of ban,l- ruptcy for the Northern district of Ala bama.
 '8. That in and by the said alleged or ders of the said Thomas G. Jones, he has purported to direct thee Jerk of this court to refer every odd numbered case in bankruptcy to the said Alexander C. Birch, and if the interposition of this court is not invoked, that the said odd numbered cases. which would otherwise be referred to this petitioner who is en- titled to the emoluments thereof, will be referred to the said Alexander c. Birch; and that the said Birch is not referee Of this court in truth and in fact.' Copies of the orders referred to in the petition are made exhibits thereto.
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 The fact that such purported order or orders as above set forth, were made by a Limited States district judge claim ing to be a judge of this court, neces- 'sarily surrounds the questions presented with some embarrassment not generally arising in courts of justice when called upon to modify, revise or reverse the decisions of other judges or courts More especially is this the case when the mat ter has reference to an officer of the court, for whose conduct the judge is at least morally responsible. However. this may be, the constitution and laws of the United States necessarily place the re- sponsiblity to act upon all judges, to whom parties feeling aggrieved have the right by law to apply. I cannot under my oath of office decline to assume the responsibility, which the law places upon me. I cannot delegate my jurisdiction to any other judge. cannot divide my jurisdiction with any other judge. I cannot with due respect to the office I hold, decline to act when 1t is my duty to act; nor can I yield this duty to others. however eminent they may be. I cannot silently permit an- other to assume the Jurisdiction in my court, which the law places upon me. The law defines my Jurisdictions the law de- fines my rights and authority; and the law alone shall be the beacon to guide my footsteps in seeking rightful1y to de- tCrfnine this matter
 As shown by the facts stated in the petition, an effort Is made by the learned judge to create another referee in bank ruptcy In this court without the knowl- 111~ IF Il. 4nAy This Is sought to be done, first, by an order purporting to have been made while that learned judge was holding court in another district, and, second, by filing that order thus purporting to have been made, in this district on Sunday night, May 31 1908, and then finally by en- tering an order about o'clock Monday morning. June 1. ratifying the making of the previous order in another district. These various efforts at effecting the ap- pointment of referee and designating the manner in which the business of this court shall be referred to him, were all made, or attempted to be made, at a time when the judge of this court was engaged in holding a regular term of this court in another division of this district, and at time fixed by law.
 It is unnecessary, in so far as the de- cision of the questions presented by this petition is concerned, to pass upon the question of whether or not the learned judge making the orSers above referred to, is still judge of this district. It is unnecessary to decide whether the act of Congress. creating the judge of the Northern District of Alabama and designating his place of residence as the city of Birmingham in said district. makes him the sole judge of this court or not It is unnecessary to decide In this pro- ceeding whether or not Congress, in car rying out the general provision of the federal statute, that "a district judge shall be appointed for each district" did in fact and in law provide for one judge of the Northern District of Alabama. Any expression of opinion here upon that ques- tion would be mere dictum. However that matter may be determined finally, the Jurisdiction and authority of this court are expressed in no uncertain terms in the act of Congress (Act of February 25. 19O7 c. 119S, 34 Stat 931 U. s. Comp. Stat. Sup. 1S7.) The language of that statute is. that the district judge for the North ern District of Alabama, shall possess and exercise all the powers conferred by existing law upon the judges of the district courts of the United States :.
 =. and the same powers, and perform the same duties within the said Northern Judicial District of Alabama, as are now possessed by and performed by the dis tffct Judge or the OnlteQ otdteS III any of the judicial districts established by law Thus 1t will be seen, that, by the very terms of the statute, the judge of the Northern District of Alabama pos- sesses ample power and authority to ap- point or remove referee in bankruptcy if any other district judge of the United States in any of the judicial districts es- tablshed by law has such power The principle in this case is not ma- terially different from the case, 'in re Steele" reported in 156 Federal Reporter. page s53. The opinion In that case was rendered by the judge of this court on the 9th day of November, 1907, and has remained to this day the law of the case, so far as this district is concerned. That decision has not been oyerruled, ques- tfoned, denied or modified by any judicial authority. In that case it was decided that the court of bankruptcy Is not a migratory court with one judge sitting in one place and another judge sitting in another place, but is court whose domi- l cile and territorial limits are fixed by | law, and that both time and place are l essential constituents of the organization l of such court; and further, that in order 1 to constitute such court the officer must l be present at the time and place appoint 1 ed by law. In the case at bar the place l fixed by law is within the territorial | limits of the Northern District of Ala | bama where the judge of this court was l presiding in fact at the time fixed by ! the statute It was also held in the Steele case supra, that any order made by the learned judge, while holding his court in the Middle district. was coram non judice and absolutely void in so. far as its hindine effect upon this court Is