The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-05

largely blocked and many evils would arise. To quote the words of the su- preme court of Alabama in eN pafte Alabama State Bar association. 92, Ala IF: Tt can never rest In the us cretion of a judge whether he shall sit in a given case. If he Is not disquali- fled under the constitution 1t Is his duty to sit--a duty he cannot delegate or repudiate, and which no consent can devolve upon another. In the iah- guage of the same decision: To dls- qualify him. a judge must nave pc cuniary interest in the case, or one affecting his individual rights In the language of the supreme court Of the United States The suits were to com pei compliance with an order Of the railroad commission with respect to rates and charges. The parties inter- ested were the railroads on the one hand and the shippers and passengers, represented by the commission, on the other At the common law. substantial or direct interest in the event of the litigation, or close ties of blood or af- finity to a party to the suit are only causes of disqualification of a judge. l was not related by blood or affinity to either of the parties, and no one re- lated to me by blood or affinity had any stock or bonds of the railroads, or other interest in the questions, save as IS common to all pe1SOHS III AidbdHld.
 Was there any moral cause why l should seek to abdieate my duty? owned no stocks and bonds in any of the roads, and was not engaged in any business which could be affected by the decree. l did not owe my appointment to the influence or intercesslon of any of the parties. When I became can dldate for governor in 1890, both the then president and the chief attorney fI1 I nd ND ShNFi1 pni road protested against Il. as shown by the published letter of Judge Russell Houston in the Montgomery Advertiser of October IT, 1909. and 1t took no part in the contest I owed the Louisville and Nashville railroad nothing, unless there be an obligation on the part of an honorable man who renders services to another for fair compensation, in an honorable way. in an honorable calling, to do wrong in discharge of public trust whenever the person who paid for such service may afterwards become concerned. No such obligation has ever been implied, or thought to be implied, or acknowledged, by honorable men. l was in no wise a dependent, at any time in my life, of my former client, and had obtained footing in the pro fession of the law before l had any professional relations with it. The idea that because of these past relations, l could possibly become hostile to the in terest or welfare of people who hon. ored me, and unwilling to do shippers and passengers justice, suggest a pusil- luminous standard of judging ones fel- low men, which does not appeal to any right thinking man. If I owed any gratitude to anybody it was to dear old Judge Russell Houston, who had always been my loving friend, and had twice brought me back into relations with his law department when diff ferences as to discharge of duty, in pub lie trust. with the officers of one of the railroads, which formed part of It's system. caused the severance of my relations with the law department. dead when the injunctions were issued, and he had no interest to be affected by the decree. Some men suspect oth- CTS. in certain situations, because they know themselves, and the baccalaureate orator is prominent in that class.
 How anxious l was to avoid giving even color of offense to the ignorant or suspicious is shown by my letter to Judge Shelby, published in the Montgomery Ad- vertiser of September 13, l919, requesting him to sit with me. He ranked me and his judgment would have been controll- ing He could not sit with me. but l quote the advice he gave mo: 'Notwith- standing the fact that you were attorney for the Louisville and Nashville Tor d number of years, l am sure that no one fin Alabama or elsewhere who knows you will impute to you any improper motives In these cases. l think the best thiug Is for you to go with them just as you W ould with any other case. There came to me no hint of doubt aboet the pro priety of my sitting in the cares from any lawyer in or out of the cases, or a ntt pt pripprS of the former governor who began to war on me before any orders had been made in the cases and afterwards wnrE orders had been made, which the com missions counsel admitted were ineyit- able, and from which they did not intend to appeal,
 The Masters
 '"rhe baccalaureate asks you to condemn or distrust the justice Of the final decrees, because the judge did not allow the parties to control the selection Of tne masters A judge under the sanctlty of his oath Is bound to select masters ac- cording to his own convictions of the fittest person for the trust. In some jurisdictions references are male 10 stand ing masters, of course, without regard to the preferences of the parties. There were nearly a score of applicants. In looking over the names thera was not one of them upon whom there seemed 10 be the slightest probability that the par ties would ever agree If proposed to then
 l thought 1t best to select two gentlemen who were not put forward bY either interest, and who were not applicants.
 Before the appointments were made, advised the counsel on both sides Of the names of the gentlemen whom ] contem- plated appointing, saying l would hear objections, if any. to them, as l was not finally committed to them. Consultations and conferences about such matters are considered largely confidential in their nature between court and counsel and for that reason they did not get in the public prints at the time. some of the attorneys for the railroads objected to both the proposed masters, because in the past they had been engaged in litisa- ton against their clients. which excited some bitterness at the time. One of the proposed masters was entirely agreeable to the commission. As to the other an objection was presented, on the ground fo an alleged remark by him, which, on investigation, proved unfounded
 Neither of the masters was regarded by those who knew them or by the mem bers of the bar. as what are now termed
 corporation lawyers and if they had any predilections which could sway their itidgtuent they were not those of par