The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-02-15
Governor Bleasc and the Court.


Governor Blease had a stroke of
luck on Saturday, in the matter Of
the appointment Of a special Judge to
preside over the Richland court. II
he did not pull himself out of the
hole, into which he had plunged with
out excuse, he at least pulled the su-
preme court into the hole with him.
The situation, which at one time
threatened to develop into a pretty
serious matter was suddenly turned
into a farce.
When the governor refused last
week to appoint Mr.. Duncan Ray as
special judge to preside over the
Richland court, as he had been ask.
ed to do by the supreme court he's
made mistake. There is no doubt
about that. 1t was a political mis-
take, as all of his friends clearly
saw, for he flounted the supreme court
without excuse, and it was besides a
violation OF the law. The law saws
that a special judge can be appointed 4
by the governor only upon the recon-
mendation of the supreme court or
the chief justice. So when the gov
ernor refused to appoint the man
recommended by the supreme court.
and appointed another man instead.
he did not go according to the law.
There is no getting around that.
On Saturday Maj. J. F. J. Caldwell
Of Newberry who had been named
as special judge by the governor,
declined to serve. This was what
everybody expected him to do. In
fact he could not have done any-l
thing else.
In the menatime, Governor BIease
had been reading the law, or some
of his friends had been calling his
attention to it. He found that the
law says that whenever a circuit
judge cannot fill the assignments Civ :
en- him by the supreme court his
work shall be done by another cir
cult judge. if one can be found dis
engaged at the time. A special Judge
is not to be appointed except when
all the circuit judges are engaged.
The governor found that Judge Watts
would not be busy this week, and this
was an opportunity that he could not
miss. GO to it," said the governor
to Judge Watts, or words to that
effect, and the judge went On Sat-
urday afternoon Governor Blease
'telegraphed to Chief Justice Jones. 4
who was at Lancaster, asking that
Judge Watts be assigned to the
Richland court for this week. The
chief justice at once issued the or
der and so Judge Watts is at work.
1t is quite plain that, while the
governor went off half-cocked, and'
went contrary to the law, the su-
preme court, which is supposed to
be an authority on the law, had it
self nodded. We are surprised to
find the governor so ignorant Of the
law, and we confess that we are much
more surprised to find that the su-
preme court was so unfamiliar With
it. The governor made a break when
he refused to appoint the man recon-
mended by the suprme court and
the supreme court slipped up when
it asked for a special judge when one
of the regular circuit judges was not
working.
The situation is amusing from an
other standpoint. While Judge Watts
was not to be busy officially this
week, he was to be very busy unoffi-
cially. Judge Watts is a candidate for
the fifth place on the supreme court
bench, and the election is to be held
by the legislature this week. Then
there is Judge Withers Memminger,
another circuit judge and who is also
candidate for the place on the su-
preme court. He, too, is not officially
engaged this week. Did Governor 4
Blease discriminate between the two
judges when he told Judge Watts to
go to work, leaving Judge Memminger
free to push his candidacy? VIII
Judge Watts candidacy he affected,
favorably or unfavorably, by being,
tied down to work this week?
Another thing that makes it
amusing is that Judge Watts has
never been known to go around
hunting for more work. He has been
known TO adjourn court before the
end of the term, with lawyers and