Arizona state miner., 1924-07-12
JOHN w. RAY
Brief Biography of Candidate
for Superior Judge

Following is the Address of John
w. Ray Candidate for Judge of the
Superior Court of Maricopa county,
before the Women's Democratic Club
in Phoenix, July 1st, 1924.
Ladies and Fellow Democrats.
In announcing my candidacy for the
office of Judge of the Superior Court,
| am not unmindful of it's duties, its
obligations, it's trials, and veXations.
AS a barefoot boy | went into the
clerks Office as file clerk and general
helper. l swept the floors, made the
fires, and cleaned up. / progressed
so | could write subpoenas for wit
neSSes and noted the attendance of
witnesses in a book; then they let
me issue summons and process. AT
ter that l was put to copying. There
were no typewrters in use, so | must
learn to write in lOnghand. When
got pretty good at that | was put in
the courtroom to take the court pro-
ceedings and to write them out after
court adjourned so the Judge could
sign that days work the first work
next morning.
/ have in my office, framed, GER
tificate that l had been examined and
found qualified to be Clerk of the Cir
cult Court dated April 1st, 1886. AS
I was born in September, 1863, | was
then % years old. | was the first
clerk in Carlisle County, Kentucky
in 1886. In my progress | next was
licensed to practice law after an ex-
animation. I also have that certifi-
cate hanging in my Office.
| got along as lots of other young
fellows when they stand the bar ex-
animation. I had been in the courts
IL years and knew what to do-knew
the tricks of the trade as it we're
but progress had become a sort of
habit then and I was restless. So
after plugging along for 9 years, win
ming some cases and losing some,
began to realize that | must progress
or dry uD on the stalk Either I must
know more of the why's and where
fores and be equipped and able to
meet any opponent. or | must be con
tent to go along in the rut and stun
bic through. I went to Cornell Law
School in an effort to learn the law
in 1895, after | had practiced 9 years,
was married and had 8 children.
/ have always felt that was the
best money l ever spent did learn !!
the why's and wherefores of the law.
So I went back into my practice |
but I was cramped-I still felt the |
pressure to go forward In 1897 |
was offered the position of private
secretary to Judge White of the Court
of Appeals of Kentucky. l accepted
and spent years with him in study
ing the cases that came to him for
decision. He was a great lawyer and
l got the full benefit of his learning
as well as from the briefs of oppos-
ing lawyers in over twelve hundred
cases in the 6 years, for he wrote
that many opinions, more than Judge
Ross of our Supreme Court has writ
ten all together. more cases decided
than Justice Stephen J. Field of the
United States Supreme Court wrote
in his long service of 34 years. So
you see | had the benefit of many
different questions. During that per-
iod and for 6 years afterward l prac-
ticed law in the Capital, mostly before
the Court of Appeals.
My private practice took me be- |
fore the local court, the United States !
court, and the higher courts on Ap- |
peal. No, l didn't always win; I lost |
some cases in the lower court and |
won on appeal and sometimes the
other way.
In 1905 I had gotten to the U. S. !
Circuit Court of Appeals and in 1907
[ reached the last court, the Supreme
Court of the U. S.
l am proud to say that | won my
cases in the U. S. Circuit Court of
Appeals and in the Supreme Court.
With this experience and training
| think | am justified in the belief
| am qualified to be Judge of the
Superior Court.
But you may hear some person
criticize and say, "That was in Ken
lucky and you are a candidate in
Arizona"
True, that was in Kentucky, but |
have tried cases in Georgia and in
Arkansas-and got along
l have lived in Mississippi and Lou
isiana also and the law is not mater
tally different throughout the entire
country. In Louisiana the names are
different and the procedure varies
some, yes, but the law that deter
mines right and wrong is the same,
practically, all over the United States.
Why, in the County library and
in the State library there are the de-
cisions of all the states and of Eng
land and Canada, and they are all
used by the lawyers for reference.
But, fellow citizens, if / had the
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