ADDITIONAL JUDGE FOR WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON.

FEBRUARY 5, 1909.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. MALBY, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 27061.]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 27061) providing for an additional district judge for the western district of Washington, and for other purposes, report the same with the following amendments, and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

Strike out, in lines 4, 5, and 6, the following: "a resident of the western division of the western district of Washington as.

Strike out, in lines 7 and 8, the following: "who shall reside in said division."

The bill provides in its first paragraph for the appointment of an additional district judge for the western district of Washington, to meet the exigency now existing in both the circuit and district courts of that district by reason of the continued and increasing growth of the business of those courts.

This district has but one district judge and no resident circuit judge. It is the second largest in the ninth circuit in volume of business, being alone exceeded by the northern district of California, which has two district judges and a resident circuit judge. The circuit judges in the ninth circuit are engaged in the work of the court of appeals. A circuit judge has not presided at nisi prius or in the circuit court in the western district of Washington for over nine years, either in trials, motions, or chamber business, all of the work of both circuit and district courts being done by the resident district judge with the aid of visiting district judges. A greater number of civil cases in which the United States was a party was commenced than in either in the district of Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, or the southern district of Ohio, each of which districts has two district judges, a greater number than for the western district of Pennsylvania, the eastern district of Missouri, the district of Massachusetts, or Indiana, each of which has, besides a district judge, a resident circuit judge.

The number of general civil cases, i. e., cases in which the United States was not a party, was 272 commenced and 249 terminated, a total greater than in either the districts of Minnesota, Nebraska, or the southern district of Ohio, greater than the district of Indiana, southern district of California, or eastern district of Missouri, each of which has a resident circuit as well as a district judge.

The business of this class in the western district of Washington, as measured by the total amount of judgments rendered, $694,752.96, was greater than in any of the eight above-mentioned districts except two, that of Indiana and the western district of Pennsylvania.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, there were of civil cases in which the United States was a party in the 85 districts of the United States 3,202 commenced, an average to the district of 37.65, and an average to the district judge of 34.6. In the western district of Washington there were commenced 60 cases. During this time there was a total of cases terminated of 2,483, an average to each district of 29.21, and an average to each district judge of 26.41. In the western district of Washington there were terminated 51. During the same time there was a total of civil cases commenced in which the United States was not a party, excluding bankruptcy, of 11,703, an average to each district of 161.21, and to each district judge of 124.5. There were of this class commenced in the western district of Washington 272. The total number of this class terminated during such time was 9,128, an average to each district of 107.4, and an average to each district judge of 97.1, while during the same time there were of this class terminated in the western district of Washington 249 cases.

It thus appears that the work accumulating and being done in the western district of Washington is more than twice that of the average district, and is only equaled by those districts which have two or more judges.

The western division of the western district is suffering most. This is the division in which visiting judges have been doing the work. There were commenced in the western division of the western district, excluding bankruptcy, 126 cases during the half year between June 30, 1908, and January 1, 1909, and terminated 58 cases, an increase in the six months of 67 cases, the increase being greater than the number tried.

Visiting judges from the districts of Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and eastern Washington have given in the western district of Washington 104 days' service in the past fiscal year, and yet there is such an excess of cases commenced over those tried as to indicate that there is ample work at present to occupy another judge, even if there were no further increase in the business.

For the fiscal year of 1907 there were of all cases, excluding bankruptcy, commenced in the southern district of Ohio 230 and terminated 186. In the district of Minnesota, commenced 372 and terminated 347. In the eastern district of Pennsylvania, commenced 691; terminated 604. In the district of Indiana, commenced 169; terminated 182. In the district of Massachusetts, commenced 533; terminated 350. The first three mentioned districts each have two district judges; the last two mentioned have a resident circuit judge, as well as a district judge. To send visiting judges into this district does not meet the necessity, and they are not available for that purpose in the ninth circuit. The

districts in that circuit are large, the distances great, and the means of travel not of the best. Judges can not be called in from other districts, even where willing, without imperiling the business in their own districts in emergency matters. The terms held by visiting judges are held at irregular terms, and necessarily adjourned before business is completed, for which litigants and attorneys can not be expected to satisfactorily prepare so as to fit in with other court engagements. Embarrassments and delays sometimes arise in cases of new trials on account of the difficulty of getting the same judge to return to hear the motions and to retry the case. The judges from such districts as Idaho, Nevada, and eastern Washington can not be expected to have the training to try admiralty cases and other litigation growing out of the commercial activities of a seaport.

The aggregate number of court and chamber sessions in the western district of Washington during the last fiscal year has exceeded the number of days in the entire year, excepting Sundays and holidays, this being occasioned by the services rendered by visiting judges.

The situation in this district is especially calculated to make business in the United States courts. It is surrounded on three sides by navigable waters and bays. The district contains a great number of government, military, and other reservations. The metropolis of Oregon lies just beyond its southern border, the largest cities of western Canada just beyond its northern border. It is the closest district in the States to Alaska. The port of Puget Sound, entirely within this district, is one of the greatest in the Union. Its railroad mileage and building and development within the past few years have been very great, Washington being in the two years just passed one of the five States with greatest mileage built during each of such years, and being the only State so preeminent during both of such years. These things, together with its large lumber, fishery, mineral, and other resources, create a large amount of important business in these courts.

The committee is in receipt of the following report and recommendation from the honorable Attorney-General in this matter:

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Washington, D. C., January 27, 1909. SIR: In accordance with the request contained in your letter of the 26th instant I have the honor to report in regard to H. R. 27061, “A bill to provide for the appointment of an additional district judge in and for the western district of Washington." The matter of the necessity for an additional judge in this district has been carefully investigated and was the subject of an examiner's report in 1907, and also of careful consideration by Hon. Alford W. Cooley, Assistant Attorney-General, who personally made a visit to the district. Mr. Cooley, under date of September 26, 1907, made the following statement:

"Judge Hanford is now working harder than it is reasonable that any judge should be asked to work, and in spite of this and the assistance he is getting from other judges from time to time the work is falling more and more in arrears.

It is the information of the department that the conditions stated to exist by Mr. Cooley are still more acute at the present time; that the business in the district is constantly increasing, and that the necessity for a second judge in this district is undoubted. Provision has been made for an additional term of court at Bellingham, and the indications are that the business at Seattle and Tacoma alone will in the very near future, if not at present, be sufficient to fully occupy the time of one judge. It appears from the accounts of the United States marshal for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1908, that Judge Farrington, of Nevada, rendered thirty-eight days'; Judge Dietrich, of Idaho, twelve days'; Judge Wolverton, of Oregon, four days', and Judge Whitson, of eastern Washington, fifty days' service in assisting and transacting the H R-60-2-Vol 1--36

business of the United States courts in said district. Notwithstanding such assistance there were on the dockets of the court July 1, 1907, 769 cases, and on July 1, 1908, 830 cases.

In view of the foregoing statements I recommend that the bill become a law.

Very respectfully,

Hon. JOHN J. JENKINS, M. C.,

CHARLES J. BONAPARTE,

Attorney-General.

Chairman Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.

Your committee find, therefore, that there is an emergency existing for the appointment of an additional judge for the western district of Washington. If relief is not given, not only will the business of private litigants be indefinitely postponed but the Government's business will likewise be brought to a standstill.

In the light of these facts it is the judgment of the committee that the bill should pass.

60TH CONGRESS, Į HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. REPORT 2d Session. No. 2065.

AMENDMENT OF DISTRICT CODE RELATIVE TO BUILDING ASSOCIATIONS.

FEBRUARY 5, 1909.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. KAHN, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 6055.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred S. 6055, to amend section 691 of subchapter 7, building associations, of the Code of Law for the District of Columbia, report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass when amended as follows:

Add on page 4, after line 2, the following, to stand as section 2 of the act, viz:

SEC. 2. That there be added to the Code of Law of the District of Columbia a new section, to stand as section 691a, and to read as follows:

"SEC. 691a. That any association or corporation organized and existing under the laws of any State or Territory to do, or now doing, in the District of Columbia, a deposit, investment, loan, or mortgage business, or otherwise having any of the features of a building association, shall be subject to all the provisions of the foregoing section of this act in respect of the powers of the Comptroller of the Currency thereover, and any such association or corporation shall at all times keep on deposit with the Comptroller of the Currency in money, or stocks, bonds, and mortgages, or other securities, to be approved by said officer, not less than twenty-five per cent of its capital and surplus as security for its depositors and creditors and as a guaranty for the faithful performance of its contracts, and may also make such further deposits of its assets, as above described, with the comptroller for such purpose as it may from time to time desire so to do."

There are twenty-one local building and loan associations in the District of Columbia, with assets aggregating $14,000,000, under the supervision of no officer of the Government. The proposed legislation will require those associations to make reports to the Comptroller of the Currency and will authorize that officer to make examination into the business affairs of the local associations doing business in the District of Columbia.