Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-14
FOUR NEW JUDGES
PROVIDED IN BILLS
PASSED BY HOUSE
D. C. Supreme and Appeals
Courts Gain Two Each on
Presidents Approval.
FAVORED BY SIMMONS
AFTER SEVERE CENSURE
Chairman Says Secret Check-up He
Caused Last Winter Brought
Results.

Two additional justices for the SUI
preme Court of the District and two
additional judges for the District Court
of Appeals are authorized in bills passed
by the House late yesterday by unani-
nous consent. The two bills, fathered
by Representative Gibson of Vermont,
creating these four additional judges
were passed earlier in the week by the
Senate, so they now go to the President
for his signature.
This will increase the number of JUS
tices on the District Supreme Court
bench from five to seven and on the
District Court of Appeals bench from
three to five. The purpose of these
bills is to relieve very serious and in
creaSing CONGESTION of cases in these
courts and is part of the program to
expedite the administration of justice
in the Federal courts.
Chairman Simmons of the subcom'
mittee on District appropriations, whe
last Winter severely censured the Su.
preme Court justices and produced Q
time schedule of their service on the
bench as result of secret study made
by the Bureau of Efficiency, spoke in
favor of the bill yesterday saying:
II had a check made during the
Winter on that matter. 1t was found
that the judges Of the present Supreme
Court were spending the minimum
amount of time that it was possible to
spend in actual trial work.
Speed Up Assurance.
Gas the result of that check-up. how
ever, have been assured by the local
sured by the judges that there will be
an effort made to speed up and extend
the hours of actual trial work in the
trial courts of Washington.
Likewise survey is to be made, and
in the deficiency bill reported the other
day there is carried an item of $2,500S
to enable a commission to go to other
cities comparable to Washington and
study their court set-up. They have an
obsolete plan here, an obsolete way Of
bringing cases to trial, and an effort ia
to be made to see if they cannot bring
the system up to date and modernize it.
Since the judges are willing to under
take that, and since the bar aSSocia-
ton Is willing to help, I feel that Con-
gress should authorize these two addi-
tional trial judges. The probable maxi
mum cost will be about $4,000 year
per judge, and that is probably the
cheapest service the District gets from
any of its servants"
Representative Blanton, Democrat, of
Texas, protested that the justices should
open court at 8 o'clock and give the
people of the District real days work
in court"
Representative Stafford, Republican,
of Wisconsin, showed a disposition to
prevent passage of the bill for two adj
ditional judges in the Court of Appeals,
saying that he considered that court
rather an honorary gentleman's court
of the District" However, he was dis
suaded by statements made by Repre-
sentative Dyer of Missouri, speaking for
the judiciary committee, and by Repre-
sentative Simmons of Nebraska, speak
ing for the subcommittee on District
appropriations; Representative Kitchener
er Tilson and Chairman Graham Of the
judiciary committee