OCR Text |
Show x X bA --- p- ,,,.''i.-J1(a...yt-fJ.riyy..- Kl.' -)..l iMl1lltlllMfipiif.yHl1yjijfry.i ' ', - The Corrupt Judge: Manton Case Shocked U.S. DESERET NEWS, Tueiday, May 20, 1969 i Second o a Sane By JOS PH BOR KIN North American Newspaper Alliance WASHINGTON Manton, senior judge Jude Martin T. of the U S. Second Circuit Court of Appeal-- , by 1939 had teached a position of such eminence and respectability that he was regarded as the tenth ranking justice of the United States, just below the nine justices of the Supreme Court. In fact, he w as a likely choice to succeed his fellow Catholic justice Pierre Butler when the latter died or retired although there were rumors that some of Manton's colleagues on the circuit court bench had complained about his questionable character to President Franklin Roosevelt in order to forestall such an appointment. But to the nation at large, he was a distinct judicial personage. One can imagine, then, the shock reg- istered by the Congress and the public when, in an open letter to the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, a young district attorney, Thomas Dewey, charged Judge Manton with judicial corruption on an unprecedented scale. He stated that Manton had employed fixers, approached litigants for loans, engaged in corrupt bankruptcy practices, and performed a host of improper activities tantamount to the sale of his judicial office. The day after the story appeared, Judge Manton announced that he would issue a statement that would satisfy the public that there is nothing wrong or immoral about his judicial conduct. Asked by reporters whether, in his opinion, there was anything wrong or immoral about a judge having business interests outside his judicial duties, Judge Manton replied, I never thought it was wrong or immoral. I know that other judges have such interests. However, instead of issuing a statement that would satisfy the public, Judge Manton tendered his resignation to President Roosevelt, who promptly accepted it. The resignation, Manton declared, was dictated solely by his desire to avoid becoming the central figure in a controversy that would weaken public confidence in the general administration of justice. He defended his business activi- - Y OUR HEALTH M.D. Dear Dr. Thosteson: I have heard there is a treatment for arthritis called gold shots. Can you tell me anything about it? Are there side effects? I had to give up cortisone because I was bloating so badly. Mrs. M.C. Answer: The use of gold shots (injections of salts which are gold compounds) is not new. It is employed with rheumatoid arthritis. This method was to a considerable extent abandoned for a time, but now is being used in selected cases. The treatment is most effective when used early in the disease. It could be if your worth considering in your case doctor concurs. Since he knows more about your particular case than I do, obviously, be guided by his judgment. side Yes, there are toxic effects that must be effects, if you prefer watched carefully. These are kidney irritations, skin eruptions, blood disturbances. Urine and blood must be checked frequently. The treatment is not used on a continuing basis, but only for a limited time. Dear Dr. Thosteson: My brother works with a jackhammer breaking up concrete. The sound is so bad that for a while after he gets home, he cant hear too well. He has started wearing ear muffs which help a great deal. My question is, would having his mouth open, with a pencil in it, help relieve the pressure from the noise? My mother thought it would help. A.L. Answer: Loud, continued noise can affect hearing you've perhaps noticed the ear cups worn by people who work around jet planes at airports. Your brother is wise to have started wearing the ear muffs. I am not familiar - mouth theory, but with the pencil-in-th- e doubt that it would help. The problem isnt pressure building up; it Is the impact of strong sound waves, which can damage the fine structures of the inner ear. Dear Dr. Thosteson: Recently I read an article entitled, Vitamin E Good for Everything." I was much impressed by the article but my doctor scoffed st it, and felt it was a waste of money to buy this vitamin. Is this vitamin as valuable as the article says, and are doctors just now becoming aware of what it can do? Mrs. M.L.A. Answer: Doctors have been aware of vitamin E for quite some time, but they arent finding evidence that it does any of the things that a handful of supporters claim for it. Study indicates that vitamin E is sufficiently plentiful in so many foods that few folks ever lack it. Like any vitamin, enough is enough, and taking additional amounts Is wasteful. As for it being good for everything," that claim smacks too much of Old Prof. Jones' Secret Indian Herbs, Good for Man and Beast." At The acceptance cf Manton's resignation unde fire was to be expected. Traditionally, this had been the practice in the case of a corrupt judge who was exposed. Congress did not relish the task of impeachment and even considered it unnecessary when a judge conveniently resigned. District Attorney Dewey, would not let the matter end r'. The weight of the evidence was overSeveral who had been whelming involved m bribes testified for the government. Record a k copies made by banks of bribes paid by check to Manton were introduced into evidence, as well as a copy of a note which an untrusting bnlym had demanded of Manton as promise of perfoimance, in exchange tor the advance payment of a bribe. ZS however, on such a note. He made it clear that if the federal government would not act under federal criminal statutes, he would proceed under state law. A number cf bizarie details came to light during the trial. The briber in one case engaged two different fixers to purchase Manton's decision; apparently neither knew of tiie others efforts uptil Mantons trial. In another case, the briber received a refund from Mrnton when, unable to persuade either of ti.a other two circuit judges to lender a favorable ruling, he joined them n an adverse ruling. The briher, armed with r- - idence of the bride, then blackmailed Manton into writing a letter to the Department of Justice expressing doubts of the defendants guilt. But the department was not taken in. With tha implacable Dewey in the background, a criminal investigation of Manton was begun by the U.S. attorney, and an indictment was returned. The legend of the inviolability of the modern federal judiciary was about to receive a severe jolt. The trial of Judge Manton, charged with obstructing justice and intent to defraud the United States, began on May 22, 1939, to huge crowds and flaming headlines. Few trials in the history of New York have evoked such interest. of character nesses appeared at the trial on Mantons behalf, including two former candidates for President of the United States, John W. Davis and Alfred E. Smith. eminent An wit- array Perhaps even more effective was the appearance as defense witnesses of all four cf Mantons colleagues on the circuit court bench: Judges Harrie B. Chase, Augustus N. Hand, Learned B. , I V a ffi . t ; Hand, and Thomas W. Swan. Manton obviously had been a consummate actor, for his demeanor in the inner sanctum of the judicial conference room as well as in public view on the bench appeared to have given them no indication of his cor- " i ' 1 .. ..WvwtfC . V. .... ruption. Manton's As the trial developed, image emerged as an active businessman and real estate operator. He owned a paper products company, a establishment, a laundry concern, two large hotels, eight apartment houses, fourteen houses, and over 200 acres of undevelcarpet-cleanin- g y oped land. With the 1929 crash, his corporate empire began to crumble, this fact was not generally known and, at the same time that the New York Times was suggesting editorially in 1931 that judges be kept out of business, it reported that Judge Manton was probably the richest federal judge in the United States. By 1934, Mantons properties, heavily prices, were mortgaged at either undergoing foreclosure or were on the brink of it. Moreover, he was a hopeless bankrupt. Between June, 1934, and May, 1935, he made a remarkable recovery, moving from a net debt position of $730,000 to a net worth of $750,000 an unusual happenstance for a federal circuit judge. Manton claimed that this financial recovery was due to a series of loans, advance payments on contracts, and sales of stock. $730,000 in debt, Sometimes, it Is interesting to note, the briber held back adequate reserves to pay the federal income tax on the bribe. At the conclusion of the Manton trial, the presiding judge said in his charge to the jury: The charge of conspiracy to sell justice, made against an appellant federal judge, is hitherto unprecedented in the 150 years of the federal judicia.y. The jury deliberated only four hours before returning a verdict of guilty. Man-to- n was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with a fine of $10,000 the only federal judge to be so punished. On his appeal of the verdict to the Supreme Court, Mantons brief contained an extraordinary plea : From a broad viewpoint, it serves no public policy for a high judicial officer to be convicted of a judicial crime. It tends to destroy the confidence of the people in the courts." The Supreme Court was unimpressed, the conviction was sustained. NEXT: The cast against Judge Davn. Chief Justice Warrens concern over a judicial code of ethics stems from the fact that there is a borderline area, not clearly defined, in which judges may receive fees. Fortas was In this borderline area. Such a case was that of Judge Harold Medina of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York who, during most of his judicial career, was vice president of the J. A. Medina Coffee Company. Judge and Mrs. Medina were also featured in a paid Fan American Airways adveriisemciil U Jack Anderson carried by Time Magazine in January, 1954, promoting travel on Pan Am. That same week an antitrust suit was filed by the Justice Department against Pan Am in the Southern District of New York, the jurisdiction in which Judge Medina sat. During the Roosevelt administration there was a tough crackdown on judicial the most severe crackdown corruption in American history. Judge Martin Man-to- n of the UJS. Court of Appeals in New York was convicted of taking a bribe. U.S. District Judge Albert Johnson in Pennsylvania retired after impeachment proceedings were started against him. Judge Warren Davis of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals retired after Attorney General Francis Biddle recommended his impeachment. U.S. District Judge John P. Nields in Delaware retired after an investigation was started of his decisions, one of them being a delay giauled in the antitrust MUSICAL WHIRL By HAROLD LUNDSTROM Deseret News Music Editor mports, in dis- - cussing the reported merger of the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Rochester phony, a r Symd the Cincinnati Sympwith the Indianapolis Symp- hony hony. In any Lukus Foss, of the Utah first of its past season, event, who was a guest conductor Symphony Orchestra at the contemporary concerts thH has resigned as conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic. And the, Wall Street Journal reports that five major U S. symphony orchestras face a severe economic crisis as costs outraee revenue, a management study shows. The report, commissioned hy the orchestras in Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, New Yoik, and Philadelphia (the Big Five"), says the operating deficit of the five groups widened to $5.7 million in 1967-6At from $2.9 million in 19G3-68 t Russ Mounting New Pressure Sen. John Townsend of Delaware, both big wheels in the Republican party. On the Supreme Court during Roosevelts day, Justice Pierce Butler put himself in a position of obvious prejudice in a 1936 ruling in which the Great Northern Railroad was given a $10 million tax break. Butler had once been an attorney for the Great Northern and other railroads and had promised the Senate subcommittee which investigated him prior to confirmation that he would step aside on cases involving the railroads. Once the senators who sat on that committee had died, Butler reneged on his promise and actually wrote the majority opinion in the Great Northern case. Justice Van Devanter, of Wyoming, was also criticized for taking an Agricultural Adjustment Act payment from the federal government for his ranch at the same time he was ruling on the constitutionality of this act. The record of some of these cases, detailed by Joseph Borkin in The Corrupt Judge, induced the late Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee to introduce a code for ethical conduct of the judiciary. It failed to pass. Nobody seemed much concerned about ethical conduct in those days. Sen. Joseph D. Tydings of Maryland has now revitalized the old Kefauver code and made it stronger and with a little help from Sen. Everett Dirksen it should now become law. Orchestras Facing Economic Crisis The shadow of merger, familiar to the financial world, is beginning to fall across the American symphony orchestra scene, the New w York Times re- - I- Calvin's L' Could Be For Lean ' that rate, the five orchestras will have annual operating deficits approaching $8 million by the 1971-7season, the report 2 added. The report doesnt conclude that any of the brehestras may cease operation, but urges management of the groups to work together to meet future economic pressures and challenges, through coorefforts with the Feddinated eral Government, national foundations, and potential corporate donors. fund-raisin- g The Utah Symphony Orchestra, fortunately, docs not operate on the deficit budget system. It estimates its income, and then projects its expenses within this limitation. Art Teterson will SEE! HEAR! present his student, Robert Cundick Jr. in a violin recital Thursday (22) in the LDS Parleys Stakp Center at 8 p.m. Roberts father, Dr Robert Cundick, Tabernacle organist, wiH serve as the assisting artist. The program includes Locateili's Sonata in G minor, Franck's Sonata in A, and Griegs Sonata No. 2 in G Minor . . . The final recital for the 19(t8-f- ) season of the Chamber Music Society of Salt I,ake City will be given by the Utah String Quartet. (The rumor also persists that it will be the final recital cf the A Utah String Quartet.) Joining the Utah String Quartet for the performance that will be given in the Salt Lake Public Library at 8:30 p.m., will be the Utah Woodwind Quintet, and Gladys Gladstone, pianist. The program : Serenade for Bassoon, Violin, Viola, and Cello by Bernhard Heiden; Clarinet Quintet in A, (K. 581), by Mozart; and Scxtot for Piano, Cboe, Flutp, Clarinet, Bassoon, and French Horn by Poulenc . . . The musicians will include: Utah Oscar Charow, Norma String Quartet Lee Madsen, violins; Sally Peck, viola; David Freed, cello. Woodwind Quintet: Eugene Foster, flute; Dari el Stubbs, oboe; Martin Zwick, clarinet; Douglas Craig, bassoon; Don Peterson, French horn . . . The Chamber Music Society's 1969-7senes will include the Berlin Fhilhannon-i- c Octet; the Guarneri String Quartet, the Bartok Quartet, and a chamber group of Utahs own outstanding musicians . . . - APPOGGIATURAS Dr. Reid Nibley is resigning from the music department faculty at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and is returning to the music Dr. Crawford department at BY'J Gates, conductor of ttic Beloit Symphony, and guest conductor for the Qu ncy Symphony tins season, has been named permanent music director and conductor of the Quincy Symphony, making him one of many young conductors who conduct two orchestras . . , ... b HARRY JONES Fiv The governor'1- middle name is somewhat of a daik secret, but the L" could possibly stand for lean Cal Gov. lias shed 40 pounds in , v V the past few months, and rght after the election, too. Mo.--t winners get fat! Of course he has done a lot of talking at banquets . . . while other people ate. Now if he could just do as w ell with the state budget trim it down! . . . He might volunteer to help a Bountiful when the MIA June Conference rolls around. Members of the ward have volunteered to make 9,000 box lunches for the event. The leaders are assigning different ward members various tasks. There are 90 women who are going to make 100 cupcakes each. They haven't allotted the number of sandwiches yet. ward But they do need boxers . . . people to put the goodies in the boxes. Someone who can refrain from nibbling . . . like the governor! And you people assigned to make 9,000 sandw iches . . . dont leave the butter in the refrigerator overnight! There were a lot of police cars without inspection stickers when the deadline passed the other night. I mention it not in way of criticism, but to let you know that members of the Police Department are human, too. INSIDE REPORT suit against the Radio Corporation of America after RCAs president, David Samoff, paid $5,000 apiece to Sen. George Moses of New Hampshire and MERRY-GO-ROUN- D Inside fact is that WASHINGTON Chief Justice Earl Warren for six years has been quietly supporting a law to set up a code of ethical conduct for the federal judiciary. If this had been adopted there would have been no Fortas case, for all judges would have been required to file for public inspection their outside income. A similar code has now been adopted for the House of Representatives following the Thomas Dodd and Adam Clayton Powell investigations, and is the healthiest development on Capitol Hill for honesty in government in congressional history. the Senate, despite Unfortunately, public indignation over Sen. Tom Dodds behavior, did not go as far as the House. While senators are required to list such outside income as book royalties, magazine and lecture fees, they are not required to publish their much bigger and more vital income such as legal retainers, stock and bond investments. OUR MAN JONES me-sidc- '- By DREW PEARSON and JACK ANDERSON Their Value For Arthritis C. THOSTESON, Picseculmg Attorney John T. Cahill skilllully presented the government's case, contene.mg that Mantons sudden prosperity was due in large part to bribes and loans horn parties having litigation in the courts over which he Warren Backs Strong Judge Code Gold Shots: By GEORGE Of this income, $154,000 had been pd.J to lum in cash. ties, doming that any of them bore the slightest l elation to my conduct as a judge or to any litigation in my court On Yugoslavia By ROWLAND EVANS and ROPERT NOVAK The Soviet Union is WASHINGTON mounting new pressure on Yugoslavia saber rattling with some aimed at Marshal Titos neighbor, Alban- ia. No serious Kremlinologist really thinks Moscow would seriously contemplate operation launching the combined sea-ai- r needed to attack Albania, Red China's tiny, threadbare ally in the Balkans. Rather, they feel the threats against Albania are just an indirect Kremlin method to keep Yugoslavia off balance in the war of nerves against Tito ever since the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Its succeeding. The Yugoslavs were more than a little disturbed by recent articles directed against Albania in two and New Times Soviet newspapeis, Communist. These articles described an entire military complex of continental dimensions being built in Albania between the cities of Tirana, Drac, and Valona. This complex is supposed to contain missiles, nuclear weapons, and submarines. Whats more, the Russians claim, a large number of Chinese troops have been stationed along the Mediterranean coast. In the Soviet papers warn conclusion, menacingly. These Chinese bases on the Mediterranean "endanger the Soviet Union. As both Yugoslav and Western diplomats are well aware, this is sheer nonsense. The only Chinese military experts sent to Albania are the ubiquitous books of Chairman Maos thoughts. Thus, the true intent of the Soviet articles is either the preparation of an actual assault on Albania or a type of psychological warfare to make Belgrade uneasy. Tha latter is almost surely the case, requiring Yugoslavia to spend for defense at the accelerated level in effect ever since the Czechoslovakian invasion. The Green Thumbers are out. It is a . group of people on Social Security and whose income is limited. If they make too much money they lose their pension. So they do gardening. And one of the hardest workers in the bunch is 92! Members of a civic group invited their wives to the noon luncheon the other week . . . part of Mothers Day. And they asked the little women if their men were better husbands after 40. wouldnt believe the answers And you ... or maybe you would. One lady said her husband wasnt any better than he was in his 20s, but he was worn down enough so the routine was an easier pace. A Mrs. Johnson said that most men are better after 40, but they try to hang onto 39 for about 10 years. One, Mrs. Murphy, said husbands are 40, especially if they have been financially successful . . . and foolish enough to spend it! better after A kid on the avenues has been watching too much television. When papa put a switch to him, the kid called the cops. When he explained the circumstances to the desk sergeant, the officer explained that a father has a right. The kid hung up and called back a few minutes later. He got two police cars up to the house. Told the desk sergeant that someone had their cars. trouble than papa after the police arrived! taken two of He was in more Wit's End Saw a car with a bumper sticker that said: Get an education , . . learn to read and riot! BEG TALK Nixon Strikes Out President Nixon invited freshman Republican Sen. William Saxbe of Ohio te with nobody present in the to a Oval Office early this month in a vain tete-a-te- effort to change his mind about voting misagainst the Safeguard sile program. Saxbe was, naturally, polite and but absolutely adamant that respectful he could not support the Presidents scaled-dowproposal for the ABM defense of two U.S. missile sites in North Dakota and Montana. Moreover, Saxbe, made it clear that was the war in Vietone of his hang-up- s nam. So long as the war continued, Saxbe told the President, he could not go along with a vastly expensive new weapons system. The Presidents chat with Saxbe (they sat on the sofa together beside the fireplace) is a sign that Mr. Nixon may be starting to realize how deep and implacable is the opposition to the ABM by some Republicans. Up to now, the President has made few personal appeals on the ABM. There may be many more now. c SV-- long-rang- e & v.i j n VP V :'A - ' xJrj . 5. ' Wf iM V P Vi ' S1 wV "One way to give the poor man a tax break would be to extend the oil dsplelion exemption to people with old cars!" From phorw taken By Lionel V. Me Km IV New uopuist oany Bebv Bl'tndey tti teatur. |