El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-12-06
STEPHENS AIDS
FEDERAL COURT
Tells Fort Worth Paper He
is Not Ashamed of Help
ing City of Ell Paso.

Washington, D. G. Dec s.-Congress-
man John H Stephens has given out
the following open letter to the Fort
! Worth Record:
! Il find in d recent issue Of the Yer
7 non Call the following editorial state
ment, copied from your paper. in re-
gard to myself and the district that I
represent in congress:
Representative John H. stephens IS
engineering another Texas judgeship
bill for a little bunch or counties in the
panhandle country This viii create
: Jobs for a Judge, clerk. a deputy
clerk and q deputy United states mar
shall Feed the hungry. clothe the
I naked and give the jobless a job. for
such is the kingdom Of heaven
The malicious intent of this editor
ial is obvious Why a Fort Worth pa
per should fight or sheer at the efforts
Of the bar and citizens OF the western
and northern federal court districts OF
Texas IN trying. through senator Gull
Smith and myself. TO get new federal
court district in FL PasO and the PAN
! handle country is beyond my cOmpre-
tension The new court If engineered
by US would relieve the present judges
from a great overburden Of work. and
enable litigants TO get their cases tried
within a reasonable time, which is not
The True situation.
The Judge Of the western district.
Judge MaNey, lives IN Austin. 200 miles
from Fl Paso. where there is q large
amount Of federal litigation. and law
yers and litigants must travel this
great distance when the court is not in
actual session in FL Paso, to get any
kind of an interlocutory order from the
judge. The same is true, but the dis
lance IS not quite so great, in the
northern district Of Texas. because the
Judge Of that district, Judge Meek.
lives in Dallas. and the lawyers
/ of the whole panhandle must travel
several hundred miles to get to
Z their federal judges Both Of these
judges live in the black land belt of
our state and it seems TO be the policy
OF that belt OF the state 70 compel the
people OF west and north Texas to pay
tribute 10 their hotels. etc.
IF this is not blackland policy. why
did not the state legislature re-district
the state in 1910 or since, as the law
required2 A new re-app0rtionment
would have given TO west and north
west Texas TIE additional members OF
the state legislature and congress that
they are entitled TO- Houston now has
three congressman when she is entitled
TO only one Central and eastern Texas
would lose representation, and the west
would gain by just re-apportionment.
The same is relatively true in re-dis-
tricting for federal judicial court pur
poses. The population and increased
litigation and the vast territory OF the
demand a new federal judicial district.
Jealousy Of Cities.
can II be true that Fort Worth,
Dallas and Austin are Jealous OF Wich-
tia Falls and other western cities. and
desire to hold all west and northwest
as commercial and political wards 1
can see no other reason for the edi-
I torial above quoted
docs not the editor Of the Record
know that I was reared in Tarrant
county and have always favored Fort
Worth when 1 could honestly and con-
I sistently do 500 Does he not know
! that aided in engineering through the
state legislature bill locating at Fort
Worth q court Of appeals2 I also aided
] in engineering a federal court for Fort
Worth. and in engineering the congress
3 sionaI and judicial districts. as desired
d by citizens OF that city I am now en-
gagged in trying to secure for Fort
banks.
IF I have been for many years en-
gineering good things for Fort Worth,
why is the Record now slurrtng me
for aiding my constituents in the
panhandle and west Texas in securing
8 federal court in that part Of the
state? When the court Of appeals and
the federal court was located in Fort
thereafter, get the judges and some
other offices Of these courts?
Fort Worth Wants the Jobs.
IF my bill passes creating a new
federal district in the west and Pan
handle. is the Record afraid that some
FL Paso o. Panhandle lawyer would
get the Job? Fort Worth, according
to the Record. seems to be willing TO
take the jobs for the jobless, provided
Fort Worth gets the job, but this paper
bowls like a hungry coyote when Fl
Paso and the Panhandle want another
badly needed federal court, and the
accompanying jobs
Il write this letter in defence Of a
people who have honored me by elect
ing me to represent them in congress
for twenty years, during which time
I admit that I have engineered courts
and other good things for my district
Six years OF the time 1 represented
Ell Paso. then a part Of the district now
represented by W r Smith hence my
interest in engineering for FL Paso
and the Panhandle a new federal court
and / hope 70 succeed during this ses-
sion OF congress. the captious oppOsi-
ton Of the Fort Worth Record TO the