Evening star., 1939-04-25
The Bitter Truth

Attorney General Murphy sounded
realistic and vital warning when
he told the luncheon meeting of the
Associated Press that lit is a bitter
but undeniable fact that our courts
do not enjoy the unquestioned re-
spect that they had a generation or
so ago" If American democracy is
to achieve its maximum destiny, our
judicial system must merit and re-
ceive the trust of all men. That was
the import of the Attorney Gen.
erals message, and it is peculiarly
imperative at this time that it's
significance be fully grasped.
Quite properly, Mr.. Murphy first
called attention to the necessity of
increasing the efficiency of the Fed
eral courts by devising more salts
factory system of administering the
work that comes before them. 1t is
to be expected that the deplorable
condition of the dockets in some
jurisdictions, where a delay of two
or more years between the filing of a
suit and the beginning of the trial
is not unusual, will be remedied to
some extent by the recent appoint
ment of additional judges to handle
the growing volume of litigation.
Something more is needed, however,
and there is good reason to believe
that Congress should establish the
new administrative office desired by
Mr.. Murphy to coordinate the work
of the various districts
The second evil cited by the At
torney General-that of using the
office of judge to settle political OBJ
legations, particularly in the ap-
pointment of receivers and trustees
at one time threatened to assume
the proportions of national scam
dal. But this second problem, like
the first, is not particularly difficult
OF solution. The remedy lies in the
selection Of judges on the basis of
merit instead of treating judgeships
as reward for political services, and
in stimulating public interest in the
work of the courts to the end that
grants of excessive fees to receivers
and trustees will be recognized for
what they are-evidence of corrup-
ton.
The third point raised by MIR. Muir
ply is related to the second-namely,
that the general integrity of the
courts can be bolstered only by ap-
pointing to the bench the men who
are best qualified for judicial work,
regardless of political considera-
tions. With ample justification, MIR.
Murphy praised President Roosevelt's
recent appointments to the ap-
pellate courts. 1t is worthy of note,
however, that he did not mer lion
the lower court appointments, and
in that connection the record is not
so good-there being substantial
basis for the belief that in making
some of these selections the Presi-
dent has given undue consideration
to purely political qualifications.
Nor did the Attorney General al
lude to another unsavory phase of
the New Deals relations with the
judiciary-the verbal abuse heaped
on the Supreme Court and certain
of the Circuit Courts by the President
and some of his ieutenants, notably
Secretaries 1ckes and Wallace, be-
cause the justices did not agree with
some of their politico-legal beliefs.
When highly-placed public officials
resort to Incorporate attacks on the
judiciary in the hope of forcing the
judges to adopt a particular phil
osophy, it is only natural that many
citizens of the rank and file will come
to look with less respect on the
courts as whole.
If Mr.. Murphy hopes to achieve
the full goal outlined in his address,
he should bring his influence to bear
against this evil as well as against
those to which he had particular
rafaroxoo