Evening star., 1926-06-13

continued pressure upon tne r eO
eral courts Of the United States Of
new business and greater volumes OF
business has prompted Congress to
make q renewed effort to cut down
the work OF the Federal judiciary.
The latest effort In this direction Is
the passage OF law to give wider
jurisdiction in naturalization hear
ings to the commissioners of natural
ization, and thereby relieve the courts
of a large part of their work in this
respect.
About $50 900 aliens are being nat
rallied each year, and the appear
ance of these new citizens In court,
with their witnesses. occupies large
amount of the time of Federal judges.
Congress did not want to make nat
uraliZation easier or to eliminate the
careful examination. under oath, OF
the new citizens and their witnesses,
but it found that something had TO
be done to relieve the courts. so q
law has been enacted giving to com.
missioners of naturalization. appoint
ed by Federal Judges. the authority to
perform all of the functions of the
Judge except the final administration
of the oath Of citizenship. The judge,
of course. retains the right OF ques-
tioning witnesses in any case where
the applicant or the commissioner Is
not satisfied with the hearings heid
by the commissioners.
Tax Appeals Court.
Another recent effort to relieve the
courts of the litigation which has been
piling up upon them has been the
permanent establishment OF the board
of Tax Appeals. a board wnlcn
amounts to a court OF is members
tI,,o OnltaNf1VelN
Washington or in the field. to hear
anDeals from taxpayers on rulings OF
the United States Bureau OF Internal
Revenue regarding taxes.
This hoard has been Temporarily
functionirg for some time. out tne
nermanent appointments or 10 mem
hers for 12.year terms were sent W
the Senate by President Coolidge JUST
nrior to June ]. when the law po-
vided for orga nization OF the peIHa
nent board. Some political consloera
tions temporarily deiayed co.lli ,,a na =
tion If the appointees: and there mas
L..,, on interval with no board IN
session. ,,,;~h+
while all of the tax appeals mlgnt
not have gone into Federal courts II
there were no Board OF Tax Appears,
the experience Of the temporary poaro
shows something Of what the courts
800 been facing. More than 5000
n,raals have been filed and not more
than one. fourth Of them DECIDED peno'
,np the establishment or the perma
nent board. Many. II not all, OF these
anneals would otherwise nave gone
into the courts.
Fewer Laws Might Help s'tuatioh.
Manv members Of Congress VINO are
striving to reduce the actlViues vi lne
Government have ob1ected 10 'ne .
at;on of new Jurisdictions to relieve
the courts. because they claim notn-
inc 10 saved except in name. Ihey
contend in other words. that divert
mo court cases to a board OF TAX ap-
meals or assigning court uutles 10
commissioners of naturalization uoes
not lessen the amount OF work ooIe
| mr. exnense involved. but merely ere.
otas now officials who do the work OF
Federal iudges. although they are not
called Judges. There Is growing sen
timent in and out OF Congress wniIn ~
holds that the Federal Government Is
doing TOO many things. and tnat the
way to have less litigation IN feueia'
| courts Is to have fewer laws.
Probably the heaviest increase OF
| business In the Federal courts mas
heen the trial Of cases arising undef
| the prohibition amendment ana tne
| VoIstead act. and this flood OF new
business has prompted a great many
SUGGESTIONS for relieving the courts
of the added burden. The most raol-
"a, departure suggested has been tnat
bv United States Attorney Buckner OF
| New York City, who favors trylnH
| prohibition cases without a jury; Ihs
man would be such radical oepar
ture from one of the funoamen!ai
American practices that 1t Is douotlui
whether Congress would ADOPT II,
even If there were no question as 10
its constitutionality Mr.. Buckner
/ testified recently before a Senate COM
mittee that it would take many more
Federal courts and a vastly increased
force of agents and attorneys TO en-
force the prohibition laws fully IN
! New York alone.
Mr.. Buckner's testimony In TINS re.
spect was disagreed with by feoerai
ATTORNEYS from some other olstrlcts'
who declared they are enforcing pro.
hibition with the present NUMBER OF
courts. This question Is part OF the
| eternal wet and dry dispute TO some
extent. but no one questions that the
prohibition acts have Increased the
| work of the Federal courts, ana the
number of United States district ana
circuit courts has heen materially IN.
! crea sed in the past fve years, ana
| there are bills constantly penang III
Congress to create more districts ana
| more judges. r a..
Chief Justice William Howard TAFT
Of the Supreme Court Of the Nn1ted