El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-08
JUDGE MORRIS
ON JUDGE HARPER
To The Voters of The Eighth ST.
preme Judicial District:

ureme Judicial District:
During my canvass Of the district l
Fsve circulated card on which j make
The statement that a majority OF the
LAWYERS Of FL PasO support me LoI
chief Justice of the Court OF ClVh
ADpeals. which l know to be true from
a canvass Of the bar. Judge Harper ny
opponent. is circulating a card over lne
district in which he makes the IolioM
ing statement: My opponent asked tIL IN,
endorsement of the Ell Paso Bar wnlcn
request was rejected by a vote oil % u
This statement is 50 grossly inaceur-
ate and misleading that l 1eel DouHI
TO reply TO il, through the papers, d l
am through with my canvass OF tllS
seventeen counties outside II - 49,
COUNTY which are embraced N ms
district While I have solicited the
support OF some individuals OF u % %,
] never made any request 70 s.S 80 90
Association for an endorseiiles T. uoL
have / solicited the support o. many
of them and the Bar never letccLeu
any proposition to endorse me
Not wishing to rest this matter on a
question of veracIty PetWeeu7 JoU5 { - a
per and myself / addressed note 10
NTr Walter Scott the member OIL the
Bar who was chosen by me Bar meet
ing in question as their CHAIRMAN ana
who presided at that meeting request
iDu him TO give me statement OF The
facts on the point at issue. He gave
me the following answer
''El PasO, Texas, July 1st, 1SI2.
Judge Morris;
Dear Sir
In answer to your inquiry Of this
date. / have to state that the meeting
of the bar was called by several mem
bers thereof. as expressed in the call 20
decide whether the bar would lnCorSe
one of the candidates for Chiefs Justice
of the Court of Civil Appeals, and II so,
which one it would i2dOrsa. Inc bar
meeting decided by a vote OF IS to % as
shown by the record. that 1t would not
make an Endorsement as an aSsOciat ton
No motion to indorse any particular
candidate was made or voted on. y
motion to decline to take action on
the matter was the only motion voted
on. 1t vas the sense OF the meeting
that each individual member OF the
bar should be LETT free to support either
of the candidates unaffected by an ass
citation Endorsement, both being mem
hers of the local bar
Respectfully,
Walter II. Scott
Judge Harpors statement can mean
nothing else than that the Bar voted on
q request by me for an endorsement and
rejected my request. thus carrying the
implication that a majority OF the bar
virtually opposed my candidacy as
against him. which IS grossly untrue
and is calculated to deceive the voters
OF outside counties
The endorsement. or refusal of en-
GCrseme1t Of lawyers Of candidates Tor
IudgeSh5p justly carries with the
public great weight Hence the pro-
nriety Of my correcting judge HGrper's
Statement And since he has seen pro-
per to make that fling at me I feel
justified in retOrting in kind am re-
liably informed that the Bar of FL PasO
has never endorsed judge Harper Tor
any jUdgeship- Almost without eXper-
fence as a lawyer, he began early in his
professional life to hold office, and has
ever since held office. He was first a
Justice of the peace. then a county judge
and afterwards district attorney. He
then aspired to become a district judge. !
The Bar endorsed his opponent judge I
\ n. Walthal and was almost undn- !
imOUSly opposed TO elevatinE to the dis ;
tTict bench judge Harper, who had mad 4
almost no experience in the trial Of 4
civil cases. Judge Wltbau withdrew /
from the race and judge Harper was
elected by deIauIt n tsTH wards DOIlIl- !.
cal conditions in FL PaSO county pre-
vented him from having an opponent for
the district 5udEeShip- As he was prac-
tically without experience in civil mat
tried civil case before him, after the !
41st district court was created Lately, /
when the docket OF the 41St court be- /
came crowded with business the trial Of 4
civil cases was undeTtll1-=n before .uiSe |
Harper, the lawyers in the main writing /
his charges to the JurieS Tor nin1-a 4
practice which IS not improper IN trial !
court. but it would be utterly lEadmiS- /
sible for lawyer to write his opinions /
for him if he was on the appellate bench. I
a Washington judge VAS l.Ut out OF /
office fer such an act Judge harper /
has had no practice in the appellate /
courts. and it is imDOssiDie that he can !
be sufficiently informed to properly |
take part in the discharge of the duties ]
Of an appellate court. No criminal /
cases would come lsefO:e the Court rf /
Civil Appeals to which he aspiTes. But /
it may not be out of !-lace 70 coil stten- ;
ton to the fact that ne has seldom /
been sustained Dy the higher courts N /
his criminal trials ~ Importance !
wherein skilled lawyers were engaged I
His ordinary trials of thaft burglary /,
and assaults being very simple were /
often sustained. But sucl cases as the
Max Miller murder case AID others were /
on numerous Il oCnds IN the I,
recent case OF Mrs. OrneT, a murder
case, the Court Of Criminal appeals (
severely criticised his action IN viola
ton OF a well known statute r"uuir-
ing the verdict Of the iucy in a murder
case to specify the deEree IF murder
of which they found the defendant
guilty The law places the resDCGsi bill
ity on the judge to see sbat the verdict
is in proper form, for Y hich purpose he
may direct corrections or Scn1 The Jury
back for further cOnsi Ter atiou and cor 2
Tection. The Court OF Criminal Appeals