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Most particularly there has been the recognition on the part of the several
states and very definitely in our own State of the inter-relationship, but abso-
lute independence of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of the
Government.

No more important matter ever presents itself than that relating to the
selection of Judges. Except in the instances where vacancies are filled by
elections, all of the power for the designation of Judges reposes in the Chief
Executive. This arrangement might seem to be at variance with the principles
of separation between the respective departments. However, if the occasion is
used by the Executive to indicate lack of desire to interfere with the Judiciary,
the independence of the Court is further emphasized. As illustrative of what
may be done, I refer to the joint participation of the Maryland State Bar As-
sociation, the Bar Association of Baltimore City, and other lawyer groups, in
the selection of Judges in our State. Too much commendation cannot be given
this Association for the assistance it has rendered to the Governor, under the
Presidency of Mr. Capper, and under the Committee Chairmanship of Mr.
Markell, to give to the-appointing authority the benefit of the knowledge, the
experience and the judgment of the Bar in this all-important connection. The
recent amendment to the law, which eliminates party designation in judicial
candidacy also marks a definite step forward. I hope you will agree.

A further instance of the helpfulness of the Bar in the effort to elevate
judicial standards, was given in the successful undertaking of two years ago
in the reorganization of the Magistrate System in the State. A State-wide
Committee, under former Judge Hammond Urner, made an exhaustive study,
at our request, and their recommendations for the improvement of conditions
in the Minor Judiciary were carried to fulfillment. The State and City Bar
Associations, the Junior Bar, and other legal groups backed the proposals, and
as a result there is in operation today a much-improved system of Trial Magis-
trates in the counties, where there has also been abolished the much-criticized
Fee System.

Again, in the modernization and strengthening of the People's Court and
the Traffic Court of Baltimore City, a lasting debt of gratitude is due that many
members of the. Bar Association who gave of their time and their abilities so
generously in the solution of the problems facing us. It is no exaggeration to
say that the improvement in the aggregate in all these particulars was so far-
reaching and considerable that the State has been the beneficiary.

While all this joint undertaking involved the Judicial, the Legislative and
the Executive branches, the manner of its solution did not result in the sacrifice
of the independence of any of the coordinate branches of government.

But let us not think that the only problems of the lawyer are included
within the scope of the Court and incidental activities. Today, another great
crisis looms upon the horizon of our national life. It presents to the Bar of
Maryland, and of the Nation, such a challenge as never before has been pre-
sented to the lawyers of our land. It has particular application to the very
things upon which the law was founded. The law, as you well know, is the
outcome and the result in its great features of the principles of Right and
Justice.