"Better Pay"

"The two greatest lawyers of the U. S." were presented to the Judiciary Committee of both Houses by a delegation from the American Bar Association. The two lawyers are among the most noted of those who go frequently into court to look upon the faces of Federal judges, and both are onetime nominees for President -- Charles E. Hughes and John W. Davis. They had come to argue for a bill increasing the salaries of Federal judges. Mr. Hughes snapped his fingers: "I don't care that for all your Fourth of July orations about love for America. The way to show that love is to pay a living wage to American judges." He pointed out that in Manhattan a Federal judge paid $7,500 a year is likely to live across the way from a state judge paid $17,500 a year. "In New York, for example, an apartment in a respectable neighborhood costs half a judge's salary." In England judges are paid $20,000 to $50,000, but Chief Justice Taft receives only $15,000, and the Associate? Justices who serve with him get $500 a year less. Mr. Davis quoted John Marshall: " 'An ignorant, corrupt and de pendent judiciary is the worst affliction any people can suffer. No man who is inadequately paid can be independent in thought.' "If the present salaries are to be continued, judges should be required to take the oath of celibacy so as not to expose their dependents to the hardships which such salaries entail."