The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-03-16
GET DOWN AND OUT

! for years sought notor1ety. he likes
! the limelight. They say that the stan-
: dard Oil Company and other "inter-
, ests" are after Judge Lands, but
whether this be true or not, it ap-
pears to US that Judge Landis is. the
author of his own undoing.
There is a kind of an unwritten
law that one who accepts high judi
cial office sets himself apart from ac-
tive participation in business affairs.
The less he comes in contact with the
active management and oversight of
such affairs, the more he is esteem
ed as a fair judicial officer. =
Lately Judge Lands has accepted
a position as kind of national ar
bitter in baseball matters. He receives
salary several times larger than the
salary he receives as federal judge.
He undertakes to hold on to both the
office and the position with the base
ball people. Impeachment charges
have been preferred against him in
the House of Representatives for ac-
cepting the position with the baseball
organizations, and in the Senate, and
outside the senate, he has been dis.
cussed and criticised generally.
We are advised that Judge Lands
has announced that if either house of
congress will declare by resolution or
otherwise that he should not hold the
Office of federal judge while holding
the position with organized baseball,
he will resign his place on the bench.
Evidently he thinks a good deal more
of the salary as a baseball arbiter
than he does Of the responsibilities
of a position as federal judge.
We believe that aribiter Lands
should be dismissed from the bench.
He has an opportunity to resign, and
if he has enough gray matter to be a
Judge, he knows that the office Of
Judge is incompatible with his hold
ing a position with organized base
ball. 1t is shocking to the proprieties
that federal judge should be mixed
up in the wrangles of organized base
ball. It lowers the dignity with which
the people have ever clothed a good
judge to allow him, while holding
high judicial office, to place himself
in a position where he will be criti-
cised and spoken of as Judge Lands
is spoken of by the attorney for the
indicted players of the Chicago
team, when he says:
Judge Lands is a Caesar
Ike person who sits on the fed
eral bench and issues ukases with
both hands. Who says these
players will never be back in
baseball? Why Judge Lands.
Cominsky says so too, and so
does Johnson"
It is stated, that while it is highly
improper for judge to accept po-
sition such as that accepted by Judge
Lands, there is no law under which
he may be impeached. He is not
guilty Of high crimes and misdemean-
c:s. We do not think this is correct.
If Judge Lands were going around
the country operating circus, OF
staging prize fights, we imagine it
would not take long to find grounds
of impeachment which would stick.
He is not less culpable in accepting
a position with organized baseball, in
which it is charged that he is the head
Of an. organization which "makes
galley slaves" of the players. The
fact,i is he capital;zes his position on
the bench, because few people be-
leve had he not held the Office of
judge, he would have been ten
dered his present position in baseball.
If there is no law at present by
which we may get rid of this kind o.
a judge on the federal bench, if the
unwritten law recognized since tie
foundation of the republic does not
suffice, then let us have speedily
law which will enable Us to imoaach
such undesirable public officials.