Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Carter, Clark, Elliott, Fayette, Fleming, uklin, Gallatin, Grant, Green, Greenup, Harrison, Henry, Jessamine, Kenton, Lewis, Marion, Mason, Mercer, Montgomery, Nelson, Nicholas, Owen, Pendleton, Robertson, Rowan, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Taylor, Trimble, Washington, and Woodford, with the waters thereof.

"(c) Terms of the district court for the eastern district shall be held at Frankfort on the second Monday in March and the fourth Monday in September in each year; at Covington on the first Monday in April and the third Monday in October in each year; at Catlettsburg on the fourth Monday in May and the second Monday in December in each year; at Lexington on the second Monday in January and the second Monday in June in each year: Provided, That suitable rooms and accommodations for holding court at Lexington shall be furnished without expense to the United States, and at such other times and places in said district as may hereafter be provided by law.

"(d) The clerk of the court for the eastern district of Kentucky shall maintain an office in charge of himself, a depty, or a clerical assistant, at each of the places of holding court within said district.

"(e) The southern district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of May, 1926, in the counties of Adair, Bell, Breathitt, Casey, Clay, Clinton, Estill, Floyd, Garrard, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lincoln, McCreary, Madison, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell, Wayne, Whitley, and Wolfe, with the waters thereof.

"(f) Terms of the district court for the southern district shall be held at Paintsville on first Monday in January and first Monday in June; at London on the second Monday in May and the fourth Monday in November; at Richmond on the fourth Monday in April and the second Monday in November; at Jackson on the second Monday in March and the second Monday in September; at Hazard on the third Monday in March and the third Monday in September; at Pikeville on the fourth Monday in March and the fourth Monday in September; at Pineville on the second Monday in April and the second Monday in October; at Somerset on the third Monday in February and the first Monday in September: Provided, That suitable rooms and accommodations for holding court at Paintsville, Pikeville, Hazard, Pineville, and Somerset shall be furnished without expense to the United States.

"And at such other times and places in said district as may hereafter be provided by law.

“(g) The clerk of the court for the southern district of Kentucky shall maintain an office in charge of himself, a deputy, or a clerical assistant, at each of the places of holding court within said district.

"(h) The western district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of May, 1926, in the counties of Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckenridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Cumberland, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Jefferson, Larue, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, McLean, McCracken, Marshall, Meade, Metcalf, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Oldham, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren, and Webster, with the waters thereof. "(i) Terms of the district court for the western district shall be held at Louisville on the second Mondays in March and October; at Owensboro on the first Monday in May and the fourth Monday in November; at Hopkinsville on the third Monday in May and second Monday in December; at Paducah on the third Mondays in April and November; and at Bowling Green on the fourth Monday in May and the third Monday in December: Provided, That suitable rooms and accommodations for holding court at Hopkinsville shall be furnished without expense to the United States.

"(j) The clerk of the court for the western district shall maintain an office in charge of himself, a deputy, or a clerical assistant at each of the places of holding court within said district.

"(k) Each of the offices of the clerks in each of the districts aforesaid shall be kept open at all times for the transaction of the business of said courts in the respective districts and the clerks of the courts for the eastern, the southern, and western districts upon issuing original process in a civil action, shall make it returnable to the court nearest to the county of the residence of the defendant or of that defendant whose county is nearest to a court, and shall, immediately upon payment by the plaintiff of his fees approved, send the papers filed to the clerk of the court to which the process is made returnable; and whenever the process is not thus made returnable any defendant may, upon motion on or

before the calling of the cause, have it transferred to the court to which it should have been sent had the clerk known the residence of the defendant when the action was brought.

"(1) That the district judge of the eastern district of Kentucky as heretofore constituted and in office at the time this act takes effect shall be the district judge for the eastern judicial district of Kentucky as constituted by this act. That the clerk of the district court in said eastern district of Kentucky as heretofore constituted and in office at the time this act takes effect shall be the clerk of the district court of the eastern judicial district of Kentucky as hereby constituted until his successor shall be appointed and qualified as provided by law. The district attorney, assistant district attorneys, marshal, deputy marshals, deputy clerks, and referees in bankruptcy resident in said eastern judicial district of Kentucky as constituted by this act shall, within their respective jurisdictions in said eastern judicial district, continue in office and continue to be such officers in such eastern district until the expiration of their respective terms of office as heretofore fixed by law or until their successors shall be duly appointed and qualified as provided by law.

"(m) That the district judge of the western district of Kentucky as heretofore constituted, and in office at the time this act takes effect, shall be the district judge for the western judicial district of Kentucky as constituted by this ect. That the clerk of the district court in said western district of Kentucky as heretofore constituted, and in office at the time this act takes effect, shall be the clerk of the district court of the western judicial district of Kentucky, as hereby constituted, until his successor shall be appointed and qualified as provided by law. The district attorney, assistant district attorneys, marshal, deputy marshals, deputy clerks, and referees in bankruptcy resident in said western judicial district of Kentucky as constituted by this act shall, within their respective jurisdictions in said western judicial district, continue in office and continue to be such officers in such western district until the expiration of their respective terms of office as heretofore fixed by law or until their successors shall be duly appointed and qualified as provided by law.

"(n) That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint a district judge for the southern judicial district of Kentucky who, when appointed and qualified as provided by law, shall possess and exercise all the powers conferred by existing law upon judges of the district courts of the United States, and who shall, as to all business and proceedings arising in said southern judicial district as hereby constituted or transferred thereto, succeed to and possess the same power and perform the same duties within said southern judicial district as are now possessed by and performed by the district judges for the eastern district of Kentucky and the western district of Kentucky, respectively.

"(o) That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint a marshal and district attorney for the said southern judicial district of Kentucky as hereby constituted who shall, within their respective jurisdictions, possess and exercise all the powers conferred by existing law upon the marshals and district attorneys of the United States, respectively.

(p) That all other officers of any of the district courts created or constituted by this act holding any office in a district other than that of his residence shall cease to be such officers when their successors are appointed and qualified.

"(q) That the office of marshal and district attorney in each of said districts, deputy marshals and assistant district attorneys, and all other officers authorized by law and made necessary by the creation of said three districts and the provisions of this act, and all vacancies created thereby in any of said districts as constituted by this act, shall be filled in the manner providing by existing law. The salaries, pay, fees, and allowances of the judges, district attorneys, marshals, clerks, and other officers in said districts, until changed under the provisions of existing law, shall be the same, respectivly, as now fixed by law for such officers in the judicial districts of Kentucky as heretofore constituted.

"(r) That all causes and proceedings of every name and nature, civil and criminal, now pending in the courts of the eastern judicial district of Kentucky and the western judicial district of Kentucky, as heretofore constituted, respectively, whereof the courts of the southern judicial district of Kentucky as hereby constituted would have had jurisdiction if said latter district and the courts thereof had been constituted when said causes or proceedings were instituted, shall be, and are hereby, transferred to and the same shall be proceeded with in the southern judicial district of Kentucky as hereby constituted, and jurisdiction thereof

is hereby transferred to and vested in the courts of said southern judicial district and the judge thereof, and the records and proceedings therein and relating to said proceedings and causes herein and hereby transferred shall be certified and transferred thereto: Provided, That all motions and causes submitted and all causes and proceedings, both civil and criminal, including proceedings in bankruptcy, now pending in said eastern judicial district of Kentucky and said western judicial district of Kentucky, respectively, as heretofore constituted, in which the evidence has been taken in whole or in part before the present district judge of either of the judicial districts of Kentucky as heretofore constituted, or taken in whole or in part and submitted and passed upon by the judge of either of said districts, shall be proceeded with and disposed of in the district an by the judge of the court having jurisdiction of said cause or proceeding prior to the passage of this act.

"(s) That the terms of said courts shall not be limited to any particular number of days nor shall it be necessary to adjourn by reason of the intervention of a term elsewhere; but the court intervening may be adjourned until the business of the court in session is concluded.

"(t) That all prosecutions for crimes or offenses hereafter committed in any of said districts shall be cognizable within the district in which committed, and all prosecutions for crimes or offenses committed before the passage of this act in which indictments have not been found or proceedings instituted shall be cognizable within the district as hereby constituted in which such crimes or offenses were committed.

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'(u) That all laws and parts of laws, so far as inconsistent with provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

"(v) That this act shall take effect on the 1st day of February, 1927."

May I ask, before we start, is any one here who appears in opposition to the bill?

Mr. THATCHER. Mr. Chairman, I favor a new judge as a solution. of this question. I am in sympathy with the idea of relief for the State, but so far as the western district is concerned, the people I represent are opposed to a third district. They are in favor of a third judge. I just wanted to be here at the proper time to submit the matter for what it may be worth.

Then there are some gentlemen here from Lexington, Judge Wilson, Mr. Calvert, and Mr. Yantis, who are, I believe, opposed to the bill; also possibly Judge Kerr. I do not know how they stand on the proposition of the third judge, but they can state their positions at the proper time.

Mr. CHRISTOPHERSON. I just wanted to know if any one was present in opposition to the bill. Mrs. Langley, we will be glad to have you proceed with the presentation of your case.

STATEMENT OF HON. KATHERINE LANGLEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF KENTUCKY

Mrs. LANGLEY. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, in my opening statement in support of H. R. 5624, a bill proposing to create an additional district for Kentucky I shall confine myself only to the salient points, preferring to depend largely upon a printed brief which I have prepared and which I want to present to the members of the committee. This brief is in summarized form, and I feel that this brief, with the statement and the figures contained therein, proves beyond the shadow of a doubt the vital necessity for the immediate passage of the proposed legislation, not only for eastern Kentucky but for all Kentucky.

I feel that it will greatly strengthen the enforcement of all the laws by bringing the machinery of the courts closer to the people.

The two districts that now exist were created 29 years ago, namely the eastern and the western districts. Since that time until now the boundaries have remained exactly the same.

In Kentucky, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we have 120 counties. Fifty-three counties are in the western district and 67 in the eastern district. Kentucky had a total population of almost 2,500,000 in 1920 and the total area of the State is 40,598 square miles.

This bill proposes to divide the State into three judicial districts, western, eastern, and southern, by annexing 10 counties from the present western and bringing them over to the present eastern and then dividing the present eastern into two districts, the eastern and the southern districts.

Mr. MONTAGUE. Is the southern the new one?

Mrs. LANGLEY. The southern is the new one. The demand for this relief has been steadily growing in the State for the past 10 years, and there has been an almost insistent demand during the last five years.

I cite in this brief figures obtained from the Department of Justice, and I am frank to say to you that it shows an increase of more than 50 per cent, almost 60 per cent, since 1925.

This increase naturally has come about by the enforcement of the prohibition laws. I feel that this is conclusive proof of the almost unprecedented increase which has resulted in congestion in the courts and certainly a grave injustice is being done to those indicted. Remember, there is only one judge and while it is true that he is up with his docket, I say to you, with a record of 3,737 indictments and 3,293 convictions in 1929, almost 10 convictions a day can such a volume of business be handled with justice to all?

The answer is self-evident to any one acquianted with court procedure. Kentucky ranks second to the great State of New York in the number of convictions and indictments.

I feel that it is sharply clear that this relief is needed and gravely needed in northeastern Kentucky especially.

We have with us to-day groups who oppose this legislation. I am glad that they are here to-day so that I may feel free to say to you that they come only from places where there are present terms of

court.

I frankly believe that deep down in their hearts they would really like to see a suffering people granted the same benefits they now enjoy, that is, terms of court.

It ought to be called to the attention of the committee that this proposed bill does not take away any place of holding court in either the present eastern or western districts of the State.

My people throughout the section of eastern Kentucky and the counties that I propose to embrace in this new southern district are in the mountainous area.

Gentlemen, this area has many varied industries. Its people have great love for the mountains and they like to remain in their own home and with their own people. They greatly dislike to go such long distances away from their homes to attend Federal courts in other parts of the State. They ask courts in their own vicinity, and, gentlemen, when you consider the tables in the brief that has been filed, showing the volume of business in this eastern district, it seems

to me no one with due regard to the rights of people and the solemnity of a court where property rights are determined, yea, more, where the liberty of citizens is taken away, can deny the urgent need for this additional district.

When we recall 3,293 convictions for crime in one district in one year and sentence passed upon these 3,293 by one judge, and this, in addition to the civil business of the court, can any one honestly and conscientiously say that this is administering the law with justice and due regard to the rights of the individual? No. It is administering the law with too much speed, in high gear, and I feel consigning men and women to the prisons with almost wholesale methods.

I doubt if those who oppose this bill will seriously question the truth of the foregoing statement, but they will urge you to leave the district as it is and recommend an additional judge.

I submit that this is not the solution.

The volume of business and the area both substantiate the claim for a separate district in order properly to administer the law and serve the people in that area.

I believe that Mr. Bachmann is a member of this committee, is he not?

Mr. CHRISTOPHERSON. Yes.

Mrs. LANGLEY. I would like to call attention to the fact that a few weeks ago Mr. Bachmann made a speech, which you all recall, on the floor of the House, describing all the districts in the United States, and calling attention especially to the situation in Kentucky. I believe also that Mr. Browning, my distinguished colleague from Tennessee, is a member of this subcommittee. Both Mr. Browning and Mr. Bachmann live in adjacent States, sister States, West Virginia and Tennessee. They have the same problems of travel and the same types of conditions as to railroads and roads that we have in northeastern Kentucky.

I am glad that they are members of the committee, because I feel that they can understand these conditions that I have attempted in this brief to bring to your attention.

I might add that Virginia, Governor Montague's State is a mountainous State, I am proud to say, belongs to us and is also in the chain of sister States. Virginia touches my own congressional district and is very close to the heart of Kentucky, as is the governor. I have prepared maps, if I may have them brought forward, showing for the information of the committee, the present district as it stands to-day.

Gentlemen of the committee, the lower map shows the district as it stands to-day and as it has stood for almost 30 years. During that period, of course, there has been great industrial development in eastern Kentucky, especially in coal, oil, and gas.

This upper map shows the mountain topography of the State and the new division as proposed by this bill creating the three judicial districts. I shall ask my colleague, Mr. Finley, of the eleventh district, to discuss with the committee the topography of the State, the railroads, and the present road system in our section of the State and also to give the areas of the new proposed district.

Mr. CHRISTOPHERSON. Mr. Finley, we will be glad to hear from you.