Judge, the Governor shall fill the vacancy until the next election of the General Assembly. There is, therefore, in nearly every case the appointment of a Judge, who may serve for a considerable period before he comes up for election. He has an opportunity to demonstrate his capacity for the office, and to become known to the electorate, and whatever may be the qualifications of his opponent at the election, the incumbent has a very great advantage, and if he has made good, a very fair chance of election. There is one reflection with regard to the appointment of Judges by the Chief Justice that should be noticed. It proceeds from the fear that the appointed Judge will become arbitrary in his conduct towards lawyers, and their clients, even though his name must come before the electorate. The reason, however, for such arbitrariness on the part of Judges is not that they have been appointed, so much as that they are left without any authority over them responsible for the way they act and the work they do. The best preventive of arbitrariness, apart from the submission of the question of retirement to the electorate, would be in the fact that there is a Chief Justice over them with large powers as to where the Judge shall sit and the sort of cases he shall hear. An ugly disposition on the part of a Judge could be more effectually disciplined through the power of such a Chief Justice than in any other way. The Courts are under fire. They are justly under fire, because for a century, during which we have passed from a primitive frontier society to a complex industrial civilization, the instruments for administering justice have remained substantially as they were when first projected. No institution can hold up its head under these conditions, and no body of men can secure respect for an instrument of government which is so far out of date. Centuries ago, in the Mother Country, there was a movement away from the common law. It was a movement from Judicial justice administered in the Court, to executive justice administered in administrative tribunals. It was a reaction from justice according to law to justice according to fair play and equity. In such a way the system of equity jurisprudence had its beginning, but gradually it was absorbed, until equity jurisprudence is now as truly an integral part of our body of law as the common law itself. Today there is the same movement away from the Courts of justice to justice administered by executive tribunals, and it is of the same nature— an attempt to adjust the relations of individuals with each other and with the State according to the notions of an officer as to what the general interest and a square deal demand, unincumbered by many rules. So we have the Public Service Commission, the State Industrial Accident Commission, the Tax Commission, and others, which are in fact doing the Judicial work for which the Courts in their backward and primitive state have proved insufficient. Those of us who believe in the principles of law and the administration thereof by Courts of Law, will welcome any well-considered plan that will tend to restore the Courts to their former dignity. The remedy is not far to seek. When the Judiciary has been reorganized so as to constitute a reasoning, self-conscious and intelligent body; when the Judges are charged with the responsibility and are given the power to improve the system by which they operate; when there are official statistics of the work that is done, and public discussion of changes that are needed and reforms that should be made then we may expect the Judicial system to be reestablished and to occupy its rightful place. The President: There are a few routine matters of business some of which are interesting, but all of which must be dis posed of before the daily bath, but we shall endeavor to get through them in good style. The first is the report of the Committee on Admissions, Harry M. Benzinger, Chairman. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ADMISSIONS. Judge Morris A. Soper, President of the Maryland State Bar Assn., Baltimore, Md. DEAR SIR-I beg herewith to submit the following Report of the Committee on Admissions. The Committee has acted upon the following names and submitted the same to the Executive Council for election : HAROLD TSCHUDI, Baltimore, Md. ROBERT CLYDE MCKEE, 608-10 Equitable Bldg. EDWARD B. LOWNDES, 1009 Calvert Bldg. CARL ROSS MCKENDRICK, 34 U. S. F. & G. Bldg. LOUIS J. JIRA, 736 N. Patterson Park Ave. CHARLES BACKMAN, 700 Equitable Bldg. WM. P. LANE, JR., 81 W. Washington St., Hagerstown. J. CATSON THOMPSON, Cambridge, Md. CLARENCE W. WHEALTON, Salisbury, Md. HOOPER S. MILES, Salisbury, Md. ANDERSON D. HODGDON, Leonardtown, Md. The Committee has been informed that the above have been elected members of the Maryland State Bar Association by action of the Executive Council. Respectfully submitted, HARRY M. BENZINGER, Chairman, The Report was received and adopted. The Secretary: MR. J. FRANKLIN UPSHUR has been proposed by the two members of the Bar of Salisbury and his application approved by the Committee on Admissions. He was elected to membership. The Secretary: There have also been proposed three gentlemen: GEORGE WASHINGTON WILLIAMS, of Baltimore, GARLAND W. POWELL, Cumberland, PAUL S. HITCHEN, of Frostburg. The names of the gentlemen will be referred to the Committee on Admissions to be acted upon at our next session. The President: The next business in order is the report of the Secretary. REPORT OF SECRETARY. The report of the Secretary is mainly covered by the Report of the Executive Council and it is only necessary to add that he has endeavored to perform the general duties relative to his office. Respectfully submitted, JAMES W. CHAPMAN, JR., Secretary. The President: I may add the performance is of a very high order. Next in order is the Report of the Treasurer. REPORT OF THE TREASURER THE MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, R. BENNETT DARNALL, Treasurer. To balance as shown by 1919 report.... $4,076.56 Clarence Roberts 5.00 To membership dues 1915-16 received from the following two members: 10.00 Clarence Roberts and John Phelps... B. Harris Camalier, G. H. Lamar, S. Johnson Poe, Lindsay Spencer, L. B. K. Claggett, B. Harris To membership dues 1918-19 received from the following Lindsay Spencer, L. B. K. Claggett, B. Harris 45.00 125.00 290.00 |