The Atlanta Journal,
Sunday, 14th September 1913,
PAGE 1, COLUMN 1.
Journal's Prediction of
Week
Ago Fulfilled in
Appointments
by Governor by Which
Three
Courts Are Shifted
JUDGE ROAN
SUCCEEDS
TO COURT OF
APPEALS
Charles S. Reed Takes
Judge
Roan's Place on Stone
Mountain Circuit,
George M.
Napier Is Solicitor
General
Governor John M. Slaton yesterday announced appointments
incident to the new Atlanta judgeship exactly as The Journal
exclusively predicted last Wednesday.
His appointments are as follows:
To the fourth division of the Fulton superior court, Judge
Benjamin Harvey Hill, chief justice of the state court of appeals.
To succeed Judge Hill on the court of appeals, Judge L. S.
Roan, of the Stone Mountain circuit.
To succeed Judge Roan on the Stone Mountain circuit,
Charles S. Reid, solicitor general of the circuit.
To succeed Mr. Reid as solicitor general, George M. Napier,
of the Atlanta bar.
EFFECTIVE IN OCTOBER.
The appointments will not become effective until cases now
pending before the court of appeals have been disposed of. The
governor said Judge Hill expected the court to finish by October 6,
on which date the new docket will be taken up, and if the judge's
expectations are correct the appointments will go into effect on
October 6, although, if necessary, they will wait a few days for the
court to finish.
The reason for waiting, as will be obvious to lawyers, is that
it was considered proper for court of appeals cases, having been
heard by the full court, to be decided by the fall court, instead of
by two judges"which would happen if Judge Hil should leave the
court now.
Also, several motions are pending before Judge Roan which
he is desirous of disposing of before he leaves, and Solicitor Reid
also has a number of matters to wind up.
Most important of all Judge Roan's pending motions is the
motion of Leo M. Frank's attorneys for a new trial, which is set for
a hearing on October 4. There is a possibility, however, that this
hearing might be postponed, in which event the appointments
would not wait and it would therefore devolve on Judge Hill to rule
on the motion.
As above said, The Journal's exclusive story last Wednesday
predicted the judgeship appointments exactly. The Journal did not
undertake to predict the governor's selection of a solicitor to
succeed Mr. Reid, as there were several in the race and at that
time the result seemed more or less up in the air.
THE NEW JUDGESHIP.
Several years ago it became necessary for the legislature to
pass a special act authorizing the judge of the Stone Mountain
circuit to preside regularly over the criminal division of the Fulton
superior court, and Judge Roan has performed this duty, he being
judge for the Stone Mountain circuit at the time the act was
passed and continuously ever since. He served without extra
salary for a number of years, but for the last few years Fulton
county has been supplementing his Stone Mountain circuit salary
of $3,000 per year with an extra of $2,000 per year, thereby
putting him on the same salary basis as the regular presiding
judges of the other divisions of the Fulton superior court.
SALARY IS $5,000.
The new judgeship carries the same salary"$5,000 per year
"but the court of appeals, to which high bench Judge Roan is now
commissioned, pays only $4,000 per year. Thus, Judge Roan goes
to a higher court on a smaller salary, while Judge Hill comes to a
lower court on a higher salary.
Judge Hill is the son and namesake of Benjamin Harvey Hill,
one of the greatest orators and statesmen that Georgia has ever
produced, whose marble image stands in a lobby of the state
capitol at the foot of the stairway leading up to the state's high
courts.
Judge Hill has been chief justice of the court of appeals since
it was created in 1907. He served as solicitor general of the Fulton
superior court for eight years, being succeeded by his brilliant
brother, Charles D. Hill. He served four years as United States
district attorney in the northern district of Georgia, under
President Cleveland.
Solicitor-General Reid has served the Stone Mountain circuit
for several years, and proven his ability as one of the best
criminal lawyers in the state. His home is at Palmetto, Ga.
George M. Napier, who succeeds Mr. Reid, is a member of
the law firm of Napier, Wright & Cox, one of the leading firms at
the Atlanta bar. He is a past grand master of the grand lodge of
Georgia Masons. His home is at Decatur, Ga.