The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-10-14
JUSTICES OF The
SUPREME COURT
Northern Part Of the state and I'm

Northern Part Of the State and In,
rortant industries Urrcpreserted.
The geographical inequality in the
appcrtionment of the state on the
bench Of the supreme court of Penn
sylyama is beginning TO attract notice
and challenge comment There are
seven justices. including the CHIEF jus
ticc. On the bench. OF these two live
In Philadelphia one in Lancaster. one
In Franklin. one in Faycttc. one in
Allegheny. and ono in Indiana county.
All the counties represented on the
supreme bench therefore, are on the
southern boundary line of the state
except Allegheny and Indiana, and
they are separated from the line b
narrow strips, one little more than tn
width of one county and the other by
the width of two counties, Westmorc
land and Fayctte.
Every county cant have justice
of the supreme court. but each group
rcpresentating distinctive industrial
life might For example. Philadelphia
is the commercial center and Ale
chcny county the manufacturing sec
tion. There are commerce and manu-
features in other counties, but those
two represent those elements essen
TALLY. Faycttc county shares with
Pitsburg in ominenco as a soft coal
region. and Franklin and Lancaster
may be classed as agricultural sec
tious But there is the anthracite coal
recion. the oil industry. the lumber in
dustry the gas producing sections and
the vast proportion of the agriculture
of the state unropresented on the
bench of the court of last resort
Probably less than half a dozen
lawyers in Philadelphia would know
anything about the legal principles In.
volved in litigation concerning anthra.
cite coal measures. disputes about the
measurements of timber or questions
concerning natural gas. Lawyers like
physicians and educators. have be.
come specialists, and a man who may
be master of corporation law has a
very imperfect conception of the legal
questions involved in a cause respect.
ing the title TO land or the intriCacies
of n dispute over n transaction in tim.
her II is mot eururising thererore
that the friends of C.. LaRue Munson
are giving some attention to this ques.
tion. He is not only an able lawyer,
but one Of the a1l.around kind
line drawn from the center of the
state east to the center west would
cut through Northompton Carbon
SchuvlkilI. Northumberland. SNYDER.
Centre Clearfeld Indiana Armstrono
and Butler running the line hetween
Beaver and Lawrence The greater
mart of Northannton would be south
of the line and most of Carbon north
Only small slices of SchuylkiIl and
SNYDER would he north. while most Of
Centre and CIoarfiald would no an +bo+
side of the line very narrow etrin
Of Indiana would he on the unner side
of the line and Armstrong and Rut,or
would he emf in tho middIe Tbere
would he twenty.nine counties south
Of the line twenty.eirht counties north
and ten mutiIated
II Is hardly a "scuore deal" IN rivo
the twentvnine counties soutb of tha
limo sevon ire,icee of tho errror,a
court out or n nossihIe sovon 7, otbor
words II is hardly fair N give courtios
on one side Of the line all and those on
the other none when thew ere On naar.
" eouol in number In anv event II
IL not fair 70 give PhiIodaInbio throa
ont Of the seven iulces the pennsvI.
vanio me,ronoIis is qraat citv hrt
doesn't measure nm to such nronor.
tione nc ep,itIo bor n t,o+ nrono,do.