Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-01-03
A CONSERVATIVE PROGRAM

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The Oklahoma Bar association is
to be congratulated, indeed every
member Of It ought to bo congratu-
lated on the conservative tone of ey-
cry address made at both the rcgu-
lar sessions and the banquet Tho
lawyers Of Oklahoma are largely re-
sponsIble for the multiplicity Of laws
in this state. "Us editors said
Uncle Hiram Jones one time "can
raise all the he'll we want about the
statutes made and provided but the
lawyers write the laws and they
know what they are about They
have got us editors on tho hip" And
Uncle Hiram was profoundly and
immortally right
We think that somehow or other
the state bar association has como
to realizing sense Of the fact that
We have too much law and too little
enforcement in this state We have
such a complicated system that there
is not a lawyer who can give advice
ns to what IS and what Is not Illegal
even after investigation. An eminent
authority once said that every timo
a man threw his hat in the air and
yelled for his candidate he violated
at least eleven statutes and city or
dinances. In truth the very accumu-
lation of statutory enactment has
tended to bring the law into dlsre-
pute.
We desire to especially commend
that feature of the association pro-
gram which tends to eliminate
partisanshlp on the bench. "The po-
ltical judge is a curse" said S. p.
Freeling, who is to be the next at
torney general Of oklahoma A great
truth was spoken right then. A po-
litical judiciary is tho greatest men
ace TO free institutions As long as
"a mans political affiliations are
made the sole test for the occupancy
of the bench just so long will the
decisions of the courts be governed
and controlled or at least influenced.
Experience. capacity, qualification,
n1 Ia lpi
count when 1t comes to the selection
of tho men who are to pass on the
lives, the liberties and the property
of all the citizens OF Oklahoma,
A bipartisan judiciary is the one
thing OF all others to be desired and
II tho bar association shall succeed
in bringing that about II will deserve
the gratitude Of every citizen of tho
state. We all know that judges are
human just like the rest of us. We
all know that between a Democrat
and Republican the Democratic
Judge is going to stretch a point at
lllllfN u ksNN NllN iNtphbl'lu JlNN II
shade the best OF IT, Certainly he is
not going to invoke the assistance OF
a technicality to give the Republican
a square deal but on the other hand
will use every legitimate effort to see
that the interests Of his party associ-
ate are protected.
We need fewer and better laws in
Oklahoma. We need a code which
will be Understandable by the law
yers themselves We need a code
which will not be n milestone around
tho neck of progress, code which
will not deter investment and give
Oklahoma black eye in all OF tho
great financial centcrs Of this
country and the world. We need n
reform Of tho taxation laws. We
need a radical reform In the code OF
civil procedure and also reform in
the code of criminal procedure. We
are glad TO see that the bar associ-
alton has at last come TO realize
these things and that great step
forward was taken at the Tulsa
meeting.