Colonel WOODCOCK. Last September, and at that time they recommended an additional judge for the southern district of New York and the northern district of Georgia.

Mr. MONTAGUE. They recommended one for New York?

Colonel WOODCOCK. One additional judge, and that will give them six district judges.

Mr. WELLER. There are six in the southern district of New York. Colonel WOODCOCK. Perhaps you are correct, but this council recommended an additional one. I wanted to show that we were not out of harmony with the council; that there is a feeling by Judge Taft that next September this additional judge will be recommended, but if Congress cares to recommend it now they would be very agreeable.

The CHAIRMAN. Will you ask the other gentlemen who are to address us to confine themselves to any additional facts?

Mr. HILL. I should like to confirm what Colonel Woodcock said about the need of an additional judge in criminal cases.

I now want to introduce Mr. Walter H. Buck, who will file the resolution of the Baltimore Bar Association. I do not know if he has anything to say in addition to that.

STATEMENT OF MR. WALTER H. BUCK, PRESIDENT OF THE

BAR ASSOCIATION OF BALTIMORE, BALTIMORE, MD.

Mr. BUCK. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I do not care to take up your time for any remarks on this subject. I simply would like to file a resolution passed by the Bar Association of Baltimore on December 18, 1923, in regard to the additional judge for Maryland. I would like to add this, that Colonel Woodcock has given you the figures as to how the work has piled up in Baltimore. Most of us, busy with out practice, are not familiar with the figures, but we know that in Judge Soper we have one of the most intelligent and industrial Federal judges in the whole United States. There is no question about that. He was a lawyer of outstanding ability when he went on the bench. That man works from 9 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon, and a lot of the times on holidays, and it is impossible for a judge to work that long. I maintain that a judge can not do good work over a long time with such hours as that. I say that litigants, and let me add, lawyers, are entitled to have a judge on the bench in the morning who has not been overworked, who is not overworked before his day's work starts. That is our proposition. Those of us who have a civil practice in Baltimore know we can not get our cases up for trial there. The cases are put on the docket; we prepare them, and they do not come up for trial.

Now, gentlemen, this is not a theory, it is a condition. The figures have been presented. Colonel Woodcock will give you any more figures your committee is interested in, but we hope you will consider this matter very carefully and grant Maryland the relief which she so greatly needs. (The paper referred to is as follows:)

Hon. JOHN PHILIP HILL,

House of Representatives,
Washington, D. C.

BALTIMORE, January 15, 1924.

DEAR SIR: At the annual meeting of the bar association held on December 18, 1923, at the Hotel Rennert, at which about 300 members were present, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

Be it resolved by the Bar Association of Baltimore City, That whereas the work of the Federal courts has greatly increased during the last 15 years; and

Whereas it is the opinion of the association that the amount of work required of the district judge of the United States Court for the District of Maryland is sufficient to require two judges to do said work: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, By the Bar Association of Baltimore City that it is the sentiment of this association that the appointment of another Federal judge for the district of Maryland is necessary; and be it further

Resolved, That the president of the association be instructed to appoint a committee consisting of such number of members as the president shall deem necessary for the purpose of taking such steps as may be necessary and proper to secure the necessary legislation for the appointment of an additional Federal judge for the district of Maryland.

I was instructed to send a copy to each of our State Senators and Representatives in Congress.

In this connection, I desire to say that I am informed that a bill is now pending in Congress for the increase in the number of United States district judges in a number of districts, but that Maryland was omitted because of the fact that Judge Woods, of the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals, stated that he did not think such increase was necessary. It has since developed that he was not fully advised as to the situation here. The number of cases is so great that it will take any case now brought at least a year to be reached for trial, and the cases on the docket are increasing so rapidly that it will soon be difficult to get any case heard, except at such late date as to amount, in many instances, to a denial of justice.

The present judge, like his predecessor, is at work all the time, but in spite of his efforts he can not dispose of the cases promplty enough to make the court function properly.

If you have any suggestions to make as to the best method of presenting the matter, and will advise me it will be highly appreciated. If you think it better to arrange for a hearing before the committee that has the matter in charge, the committee will be glad to present the claims of this district for an additional judge. Yours very truly,

A. de R. SAPPINGTON,

Secretary.

Mr. HILL. Mr. William H. Marbury, former United States attorney for Maryland.

STATEMENT OF MR. WILLIAM H. MARBURY, OF BALTI

MORE, MD.

Mr. MARBURY. I want to make a suggestion, and that is if the business of the court is really so great that it is impossible for a very able and very energetic and industrious judge to find time to give proper consideration to the cases which he has to decide, it is a case which calls for relief, because the administration of justice is the main purpose for which the governments are established among men, and to the extent that justice is not properly administered, that government is a failure, and we have Judge Soper make the statement to this committee in the letter which has been read, that it is a fact that the pressure on him is so great that he is not able to give the proper consideration to many cases. If there is one thing on earth a man is entitled to have, it is his case to be considered justly and fully before it is decided. Of course, you can get through the docket if you get over the docket like the boy gets over his lessons, puts his books on the floor and works over them. Some judges get over them in that way, and the danger is if you do not have enough judges you will give them a disease, which is a speed mania, a disease which is prevalent in other parts of the world now. We hope, and are here ready to assure the committee, that we are convinced that you can rely with absolute confidence upon the statement which is made by the judge, who asked for relief, and I think he has a right to ask relief. If he is overbur

dened with work there, so much so that he can not properly discharge the function of his office, it is not only a right, but it is his plain duty, to give notice to Congress to that effect, and we are only here for the purpose of indorsing that recommendation.

Mr. HILL. Mr. Joseph C. France, of the Baltimore bar.

STATEMENT OF MR. JOSEPH C. FRANCE, BALTIMORE, MD.

Mr. FRANCE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I will take, I hope, less than two minutes. We are a fairly representative delegation here from the Baltimore bar. We have no idea of recommending any particular person for the new office. We have not gone that far. We know this. We realize, right away, the unpopularity of any bill to create a new office, and I think if this had been called to the council of judges attention before, that they would have acted, and would have taken the action that they are going to take. Judge Soper went on the bench leaving a big practice; I suppose his practice income was three or four times the amount of his salary as judge. He is the right type of man that should be on the Federal bench, but he will break down and resign, and then we will hve somebody there, the man that will take that position will skip over the work and say it is done. The court is self-supporting and no matter if the thing is unpopular, the creating of a new office, I know the committee will do the right thing, because there can not be any question about the necessity of giving any assistance to Judge Soper.

Mr. HILL. Mr. Edgar Allen Poe, former attorney general of Maryland. STATEMENT OF MR. EDGAR ALLEN POE, BALTIMORE, MD.

Mr. PoE. I simply want to say that we came over this morning to emphasize the necessity of the passage of this bill. It is only an act of justice to the present judge, Judge Soper, and to the people of Maryland, and it is really necessary to continue the work for the administration of justice.

Mr. HILL. Col. Stuart S. Janney. Colonel Janney has a very large practice in the United States, and is familiar with the conditions. STATEMENT OF COL. STUART S. JANNEY, OF BALTIMORE, MD.

Colonel JANNEY. I want to reaffirm the statements made up to the present. I could add nothing to them, but I indorse them.

Mr. HILL. I should like to have Representative Linthicum speak on this matter.

STATEMENT OF HON. J. CHARLES LINTHICUM, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND.

Mr. LINTHICUM. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I do not know anything I can add to what has been said. Colonel Hill has brought the best committee from Baltimore that I think could be brought to tell the needs of an additional judge. What Mr. Marbury said impressed me, and what Mr. France said impressed me. One of the principal troubles we have in this country among public officials, including the judges, is that they do not have time to think; they have too much work and not time enough to think. If Judge Soper must wrestle with 1,400 cases on the docket

this year, he will not have time to give thought to any particular case. It is absolutely incumbent upon him to get through with the docket, and he will not-if he works and disposes of three cases a day he would not finish his docket, and with this including the work under the Volstead Act, certainly one judge can not do it, if he gives the proper attention to each case. It seems to me that this committee and Colonel Hill have made out a splendid case, but what I want to impress upon the commitetee, and what I have in mind, is the fact that what we want to do in order to give justice to the people of this country is to give them time to think and consider the matters before them. It has been said several times that Judge Rose was a hard worker and managed to keep his docket clear. I wish to say that the last time I saw Judge Rose he was in the hospital as a result.

Mr. HILL. Representative Goldsborough is here and has another bill which he wishes to present. I do not know if he wants to say anything with regard to the judge matter.

The CHAIRMAN. I would like to have Mr. Goldsborough address himself to his bill for the establishment of a court at Denton, Md. STATEMENT OF HON. T. ALAN GOLDSBOROUGH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND.

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. I would like to add something to what has already been said about H. R. 5083. I represent a rural community. I am a country lawyer. Possibly we are more deliberate in the way our matters in court are handled, and we have learned by experience when we go to the United States District Court in Baltimore, that in order to get our matters considered we have to insist and insist and insist, and time after time the district judge changes his mind, just due to the fact that we have refused to submit to the snap judgments which we have seen used in relation very often to the cases which come up in Baltimore proper, where the Baltimore lawyers are concerned and where they are used to take quick settlement of a controverted point.

Now, I want to indorse what my brothers have said about the great capacity and ability to dispatch business of these Federal judges, but what we say is that their nerves are on edge, absolutely on edge, and they are not prepared to give matters proper consideration, and I think we from the country can observe it

Mr. HERSEY. What do you mean by "snap judgments"?

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. I mean decisions made without what I consider proper consideration.

Mr. HERSEY. Before this same judge?

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. Yes, sir.

Mr. HERSEY. How would you change snap judgments if you would have another term of court before the same judge?

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. I do not know what you have reference to. The CHAIRMAN. The only question is that you used the term "snap judgment." You mean judgment without due deliberation? Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. I may have used an unfortunate term. Mr. MONTAGUE. You mean too expeditious proceedings?

Mr. GOLDSBOROUGH. I have no doubt the committee understood what I meant. There is no place on earth where speed is less fitting than in a court of justice.