The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-12

half hour before court convened one of them phoned the judge from the | capitol. asking why the attorneys for the state were so mad they would not appear in court" Being pressed for the source of his information. he re- piled he could not give it. further than 1 to say it was not derived from the | lawyers themselves. It was evident that plans were on foot to send out deroga- l tory statements about the court if it acted on the preliminary injunction in the absence of counsel. or an official statement from them. The judge, there upon, informed the attorney general of the situation and asked his presence in court.
 The attorney general cheerfu1ly com- piled. He then stated in open court that he considered the opinion on tn e restraining order "fnal,' that counsel had the option to appear or not; that | they considered it useless to further re- sist the preliminary injunction; that The did not know whether the court would consider 1t unprecedented but | so far as my knowledge is concerned, 1 If the states attorney general and as- sociates were expected to argue the question before the court, we think we ought to have been given an oppor- tunity." There was no difference be- IL. While the court expected the question of Jurisdiction would be again pre- sented in the circuit court for purposes Of review, it did not expect counsel ito argue the question before the court" Having already been sufficiently ad- vfsed as to the question of Jurisdiction, and having decided 1t, the court had no desire for further argument on it. and that was the only issue the an swers presented or intended to present. No Reflection Intended or Meant to
 Be Conveyed
 The attorney general further stated: In view of what hes been said; after the telephone message, got in the of I nee, l came down especially to asure the court as well as the presiding Judge that the action of the attorney general and associates in this matter was in no sense to be considered. nor do we desire it to be understood as re- fiecting, or as evidencing a want of consideration for the court or the pre- siding judge, and the purpose of my ap- pearance is to give the assurance that our action should not be considered as renectlon upon, or a want of courtesy to the presiding judge"
 Anxious to Injure Judge
 do not know what. If any, part the governor took in giving out In advance information to the reporters about this matter. and would be loath to believe mat he inspired the specials sent abroad from Montgomery about the partisan judge and the ''prejudged case and the angry lawyers" Tho space the governor devotes to this mai ter In his message three years after wards shows how anxious he Is that if now be used to the Injury of the judge.
 Inc Spawn of Degrading Theory before he went upon the bench. the judge had a goodly number of clients. among them one of the complainants in these cases. His only duty or effort m that relation was to obtain Justice or that client in the courts of the country, acording to the law of the land. It was well known that he did not seek to shape it's policies and was not an advocate of that client or any other cnent before any other bodies than the courts. In bitter state carn- paign years ago. in which he was A cen ,rai hsufe, neither partisan feeling nor personal rancor ever whispered that i'm this relation the lawyer did augbt which trangressed the highest ethics of his profession whose code of morals inc par selected him to write. During :, long career at the bar the people had seen conspicuous instances, from his entrance into the city council of his own town, down to the days of the con sututional convention. when the man now assailed had in the execution oe trusts confided to him bv inc nen,,,a passed impartially upon the rights n; those who were his clients only in inc courts' and often determined the publi,, Soou ran counter to their wishes and prlVate interests. and freouentIv so acled 10 ms personal detriment. His peopie trusted nm. The honors which attested their esteem came to hin, o,I,
 from his former comrades in a a',he brethren at the bar. the cftjzen .nI,;. ,n,a the people of his ward. of his town HIS county his congressional dfst rtct 'ne muse or representatives the neo ple Of the state at large. its highest court and It's governors Because of th = qualities the bestowal of these trusts attested. the President of the Tinted States. without any suggestion or 'seu ,s lfcftation from the lawyer. annoin+ad him judge with their hearty approval And now one of the successors to tba judge, In the great trust of chief roag istrate of the state. chagrined that t5a court foiled his purpose of tramninc down the constitution and laws bv force, and thus deciding q controv.rs
 Tn the courts. asks the same people to | ascribe impure motives to the judge in the discharge of judicial duty. on the ground that ten years ago. the iudge as an attorney. in the exercise of an honorable profession in an honorable way, had client which afterwards he- came one of the suitors in these cases
 Can 1t be matter of reproach or cause of distrust in any honorable mind thai the judge in his past career at the bar was liked by persons engaged in great concerns and entrusted by them to con duct their cases in the court? That all may be protected alike, the constitution forbids that any one be deprived of life. liberty or property without due process of law Even the murderer and the thief are entitled to the aid of counsel. and the law makes 1t the duty of the court to provide such aid when they are unable to procure 1t. The discharge of such a duty by an attor- ney Is an honorable one under our in- stitutions.
 A Degrading Theory
 Yet this governor would teach the