The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-06-22
In IN. nark Anain

-" - -" -
Ii Is no secret thai the system
received a greater colt from the eleya
ton Of the Hon. Ge1rge n. Powers 10
the position Of chief lueiioe OF the
supreme cOun OF Vermont than In
anything that had previously occur
red. When Ne recall that fact that
the attorneys for the interests we're
more active than anybody else In
seeking TO prevent the elevation OF
Chief Justice Powers 20 his present
position. and pe-sisiently pulling the
string OF protest following that event,
IL Is not necessary % 90 further into
that feature OF the situation. Bur
lington Free Press.
once again curiosity o'erIoWers
The Messenger. and despite the fact
that IL was unable 20 get any inform
alton about ghosts" etc. from the
contemporary. IL Will venture 10 re-
quest light on The matter referred 10
above. Let's get this thing In shape
and see where IL leads. When Chief
Judge John ". Rowell resigned. his
natural successor chad the old rule OF
seniority been followedl. would have
been Judge LOveland Munson. But
the executive saw ~ 10 leave the
beaten path and appoint Judge Pow
ers TO the chief justiceship. This he
had a perfect right 10 DO and he could
have found no man In the state better
qualified for the position than Judge
Powers. which can be said without
casting any aspersions on Judge Nun
son.
Now. what The Messenger Is an.
able 10 understand. Is. how Is any
class in the commonwealth going 10
suffer because OF the selection OF
Judge Powers? The Free Press con
tinually talks about the interests but
il fails to tell us what those interests
are Presumably. il means the cor.
porations. Taking this for granted.
how are the corporations going TO SUI
fer from the selection OF Judge Pow
ers? Is the contemporary toying To
say that the corporations have tam
pered with our courts and that they
had Judge Munson under such con
troll that. were he elevated to the
chief justiceship. he would have lost
sight OF his obligation To see that
equal justice Is done TO all. and would
have favored the corporations at the
expense Of the people?
Even II this were true The Messen
ger fails to understand how the eleva
ton of Judge Munson would have en-.
abled him to serve the corporations
more than he is now able TO serve
them as a member of the court. As
The Messenger understands 1t. the
chief justice Of the Vermont supreme
court is not cloaked with substantial
~ any more power than the other
members. II is true that he leads
the judges to the bench. but he does
No. it seems that we're Judge Mum
son tool OF the corporations he can
serve them now as well as he could
had he been selected TO succeed
Judge Rowell.
What OF Judge Powers? Is IL the
desire OF the contemporary to let the
people understand that this judge !.
| so thoroughly in their favor that he
would not hesitate to do injustice e
the corporations IL In so doing h,
would be helping the people TO sons
advantage which under the constitu
| ton they ought not TO possess? I.
this why the Interests got the iol
the contemporary refers to?
In this connection permit The Mes
| senger to say that II does not believe
that the corporations are trying {,
| tamper with the cour.s, also tina
| Judge Munson is an honorable gentle
man who does not deserve such trea
ment as the contemporary has Afford
ed him. and that Judge Powers stands
for equal justice TO all under the con
stitu.ion. The Messenger also fail
TO see what The Free Press can hop,
to gain for itself or any OF its favor
ties by continually casting mud a
everything Vermont, o, by trying 4
rob honorable men OF high repute o
the enviable regulations they hav,
gained by long years of upright &C
ton in the public service. The Free
p -osss explanation, while il Is no
expected, nevertheless will he await
ed with interests. Adams Mossen
gee.