Evening star., 1938-02-23
BILL TO. PROVIDE
MORE us. JUDGES
HERE IS DEBATED
Senator King Renews Com.
plant Local Jurists Do Not
Work Hard Enough.
LOGAN CITES RECORD
TO CHALLENGE CLAIM
Says Record of Case Terminations
During 1887 Indicates Some
Ones Diligent Labor.

Senator King. Democrat, of Utah
today renewed his complaint before
Senate subcommittee that judges Of
District Court here do not work hard
enough, but his contention was chal-
lenged by Senator Logan, Democrat, Of
Kentucky.
Testifying on the bill to add three
members to that court and one more
to the Court of Appeals, Charles E.
Stewart. clerk Of District Court. pre-
sented figures to show the steady in
crease in volume Of litigation in the
last eight years, which has made
Washington one of the five busiest
Federal court districts in the United
States.
Bolitha J. Laws. president Of the
District Bar Association, also defended
the volume Of work performed by Dis
trict Judges, and, in support of the
bill. pointed out that cases following
the usual course are not reached for
trial for 16 to Is months after being
filed.
L have been shocked by these sta
tistics." said Senator Logan. Il had
no idea such condition existed any
where"
Il haye had lawyers tell me it is
largely the fault of the judges" SEN
ator King replied, referring again to
summer vacations and adjournment of
the court on some days at 3 o'clock
If these figures are correct, some
body has worked and worked harder
than he should" Senator Logan re-
! sponded. He had reference to the
testimony of Mr.. Stewart, which
showed 6,965 cases terminated, or an
average OF TIA per judge, in 1887. He
gave other figures showing that the
District record for termination was
higher than in the southern district of
New York, another congested area.
Senator Logan pointed out a large
number of cases terminated here and
elsewhere do not require trial, but
even allowing for this, he indicated he
regarded the District record as high
for the disposition of cases.
In further defense of the court, Mr.
Laws said that some years ago two
members Of Congress were appointed
judges Of the District Court not long
after there had been similar criticism
at the Capital that local judges were
not working as many hours as they
should. He recalled that for a time
the daily sessions were extended to S
O'Clock. but said the courts later aban-
doned that practice, finding it was in
| terfering with efficiency and slowing
up decision of cases they had taken
under Amusement.
Both Mr.. Stewart and Mr. Laws
contended the hours of trial each day
form only a part of judges work,
which also includes considering pro-
bate and other orders in chambers and
research on cases after court hours
When subcommittee members began
to debate whether judges generally
should write more decisions instead of
giving oral opinions. and what effect
that would have on delay, Senator
Logan. defending the writing of opin-
IONS. illustrated MS point with an ex-
perience from the Senate.
The Kentuckian related that Sena-
tor King had been speaking in the
Senate on question without con-
vincing him.
But when he went to his Office and
wrote me a letter, setting forth his
position, I saw that he was right"
Senator Logan continued.
Senator King contended the in
crease in divorce cases after Congress
broadened the grounds for divorce here
was major factor in the increased
amount of litigation. The Utah ,Sena-
tor announced he wanted time to
analyze the figures presented by the
court clerk and would ask for further
hearing later. Justice F. Dickinson
Let's was present representing the
court and took part in some of the dis
cussion Of court procedure, especially
relating to the volume of patent ap-
peals in Washington.