The Washington times., 1929-11-05
MORE EDITORS
UPHOLD TIMES
REPORTERS
tcontinued from First Page,

cause their profession happens
to have to do with discovery and
publication Of public acts, legal
and otherwise, they cannot ne
compelled to testify in court con-
cerning any Of the information
they may have collected while
engaged In their work for their
newspaper.
Supposing. for example, the
newsmen had not made their in
veStigation. What then? Why,
the Washington Judge and Grand
Jury might never have suspected
the existence Of 10 speakeaSies
the reporters discovered.
AS q matter Of simple Justice
the washington reporters ought
not to be punished, simply be-
cause they called attention to
3lagrant violations Of the law.
They did their part when they
pointed the way. It is up to the
police officers and the courts to
do the rest.
Ben B. JohnstOn's ''Struts
md Frets" column in the
Macon (Ga.) Telegraph:
How do judges get that way2
Granted that they must be
allowed to keep discipline and
maintain the dignity of the
court, 1t seems to layman that
they often bring upon them
selves and upon the judicial
system in general more contempt
and more genuine contempt by
their arbitrary and unappealable
acts Of tyranny than they would
by respecting such attitudes as
that taken by the Washington
reporters.
Once there was q jurist in this
section who was celebrated for
his rigid enforcement Of laws,
rules and traditions governing
and appertaining to the conduct
Of his court. He was dead be-
fore ]. came to Macon, so all
know Of him is what I have
heard. What I have heard Of
him, therefore, may be taken as
. fair indication Of the way he
iS remembered by the general
public. What people remember
about him is that he was an
intolerahle martinez. The ord
mary man, speaking Of this
judge, who was, no doubt, an
able and learned jurist, still
refers to him resentfully and,
occasionally, contemptuouSly.
On the other hand, there was
once in this section an attorney
also deceased and known to me
only by reputatioIl-Who has left
behind him q reputation for fear
leSsneSs and independence be-
cause he dared, on occasion, to
defy this judge and others who
overstresSed their personal and
judicial dignity. II I may Judge
from popular opinion again, this
lawyers memory is green because
Of this rebelliouS trait and when
men speak Of him they do so with
admiration and respect, even
when they admit in the same
breath that he had faults and
Shortcomings.
This, I think. illustrate the
way in which the dignity Of the
court system may be undermined
~ unrelenting efforts to uphold
u and, paradoxically, strength
ened by occasional instructions.
The courts were created for the
people and their strength is the
strength Of the people. The pub
nc respects decency above dig
nifty and fair play above fuss and
feathers. The judge who makes
himself offensive by excessive
use OF the contempt penalty must
bear his share of blame for the
growing lack Of respect for law.
In this particular instance.
Justice Gordon is technically
light. Fundamentally, however.
ne is wrong and unjust.
The enforcement Of the prohi.
nition laws. or that part of the
laws which governs the sale of
iatoxicants, depends primarily on
treachery. AS the highest and
dryest Of the high and drys re.
Gently said, practically all the
convictions of liquor sellers are
obtained by the testimony of
the men who buy the liquor.
This involves an act Of betrayal
cf trust.
The fact that the person be.
trayed Is criminal does not
remove the feeling from the
mind Of the ordinary citizen
that there is something con.
temptible about it. Theoretically,
this feeling should not exist.
Actually, it does. The courts, If
they demand that the ordinary
citizen. violate his sporting con.
science, weaken to that extent
the citizens self respect. Little
as Judge Gordon seems to think,
newspaper reporters are some.
times self-respecting persons.
4 Apparently the Grand Jury re-
CARDS the publication of the eyi-
dence without the names as be-
trayaI made with intent to de-
stroy the liquor traffic. It should
be pointed out that this was not
the purpose Of the investigation,
which was conducted simply to
give the public the reading of the
flood gauge on the liquor stream.
Having done this, the reporters
duty to the public is discharged.
The public has other servants
who are paid to seek out and
arrest the bootleggers. In dis
tracing attention from this fact