Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1909-12-07
On h Nauy:

portant matters between coordinate
branches of the department, 20 So
cure these. results he has i~naugurated
a tentative plan involving certain
changes in the organization of the
Navy Department, including the navy
yards, all of which have been found
by the attorney general to be in ac-
cordance with aw. Il have approved
the execution OF the plan proposed be-
cause of the greater efficiency and
economy it promises.
The generosity of Congress has pro-
vided In the present Naval Observatory
the most magnificent and expensive as
| Economical establishment in the world
| 1t IL being used for certain naval pur-
| poses which might easily n ade-
| uuately be subserved by a small di-
| vision connected with the Navy Depart
ment at only a fraction of the cost of
the present. Naval Observatory. The
official board OF visitors established by
| Congress and appointed in 1901, ex-
pressed its conclusion that the Official
head of the observatory should be an
eminent astronomer appointed by the
President by and with the advice and
consent Of the Senate, holding his place
| by a tenure at least as permanent as
that of the superintendent of the Coast
| Survey or the head of the Geological
! Survey, and not merely by a detail Of
two or three years duration. I fully
concur in this judgment. and urge a
provision by law for the appointment
| of such g. director.
| 1t may not be necessary to take the
observatory out of the Navy Depart
ment and put 1t into another depart
| ment In which opportunity for scien-
| tiic research-afforded by the observa-
tory would seem to be more appropri-
ate, though ! believe such a transfer
in the long run Is the best policy. /
am sure, however, L express the desire
of the astronomers and those learned
In the kindred sciences when / urge
upon Congress that the Naval Observa-
tory be now dedicated to science under
| control OF a maj of science who can.
if need be. render all tLS service to
the Navy Department which this OBJ
| servatory now renders, and still fur
| nish to the world the discoveries in
astronomy that a great astronomer
using such a plant would be likely TO
make.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
The deplorable delays in the admin
i~stration of civil and criminal law nave
received the attention Of committees OF
the American Bar Association and of
many State Bar associations, as well as
the considered thought of judges and
jurists. In my judgment, a change in
judicial procedure. with a view to re-
ducing it's expense to private litigants
In civil cases and facilitating the dis
patch of business and final decision In
both civil and criminal cases, consti-
tutes the greatest need In u Ameri-
| can institutions. I do not doubt for n
moment that much Of the lawless vio-
lence and cruelty exhibited In lynch
ings is directly due to the uncertainties
and injustice growing u Of the delays
in trials, judgments. and h executions
| thereof by our courts. OF course these
remarks apply quite as well to the adj
| ministration of justice in State courts
| as to that in Federal courts, and with
out making invidious distinction it is
| perhaps not too much to say that,
speaking generally. the defects are less
in the Federal courts than In the State
courts. But they are very great in the
| Federal courts. The expedition with
which business is disposed of both On
the civil and the criminal side of Eng
fish courts under modern rules of pro-
cedure makes the delays in our courts
seem archaic and barbarous. The pro-
| cedure in the Federal courts should
| furnish an example for the State courts.
I presume it IL impossible, without an
amendment to the Constitution, to unite
Under one form of action the proceed
inss at common law and proceedings in
equity in the Federal courts. but il is
certainly not impossible by 4 statute to
simplify M make short and direct the
procedure. both at law and in equity.
ia those courts. II is not impossible to
cut down still more than it is cut down
the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
10 IS to confine it almost wholly to
| statutory and constitutional questions.