Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1847-02-27

oetng DING 20 all observation ana eX'
|perience.
It'll. The short term Of Office, with
Iout any provision for retaining the
good Judges is very Objectionable
The business of a Judge is separate
and distinct calling of itself, requiring
practice and training as much as any
other occupation, and the more expo
rience one has in it, the better Judge
he will be, even up TO the age of eigh-
Ity-six. at which Chief Justice Marshall
died, if he should retain his faculties
SO long. No man can be a good farm
er, or good mechanic, or good mer.
chant; or good any thing else, without
practice, and the more practice he has
the better qualified he is for his par
ticular pursuit; and how forcibly this
rule applies TO the difficult, conplica-
ted and responsible duties of a Judge,
who can never transact bis business by
proxy, and who is often called up in,
in the progress Of trial TO decide the
profoundest questions of law, where
great interests are depending, without
any time for the consultation of books,
or Of friends or even for reflection.
Now just when your Judge begins to
be qualified, his Office expires, and a
change Of politics in his district or an
aspiring man in bis own party, may
throw him out of Office, and thus de-
iprive the community of all the bene-
fits of his judicial education. Rota-
ton in Office, which works well in
some cases, would be a miserable
principle here. The constitution not
only makes no provision for continuing
good Judges in Office, but it turns out
all the judges at once, thus leaving the
bench entirely destitute Of judicial ex-
Iperience.
Sth. 1t may be great heresy in
-lthcrc latter days, hut confess that
have still some respect for the expert
ence and wisdom of the past. In the
science of government, theories arc
less to be relied upon than any where
else, and those which have come from
the wisest men, and from the highest
authority, have often been refuted BY
experience. Judges have been APP
pointed in the United States Govern
ment, and by every State in the Union
except Mississippi, from the com.
mencement of our history to the pres
ent time. Compare all those Judges
who have been appointed, with the
high political officers who have been
detected, and you will find them as "A
body far superior both in talent and in :
tegrity. No lawyer, no judge, no
statesman ofany note, has recommend
cd the elective system. As to the
operation of it in Mississippi, we
know nothing. except by letter from
one Judge Quitman, who is now en-
gagged in the Mexican war / know
nothing of Mississippi, except | have
heard of Vicksburgh. Now, sir,
object to adopting principles of con-
stitutional law, upon the same reasons
that fashionable lady selects her
dresses, because they are the latest and
newest cut; and in those States where
| find the most intelligent and moral
people, there expect TO find the best
laws.
But New York has adopted the e.
lective system. and therefore Wiscon-
sin must-adopted, but not tried it,
and that too, contrary TO the opinion oil
her best men. There were reasons.
however, operating in that State,
which do not apply here. Her old ju-
dicial system was defective in many re-
spects. The Court of Common Pleas,
consisting of five Judges in each coun-
ty, who were paid only three dollars
per day while actually employed, was
a burlesque. The political Court OF
Errors, into which, if any sutton hap.
pened TO fall, he was most surely ruin.
ed, unless he possessed great wealth,
was equally absurd. The Supreme
Court, and the Court of Chancery, al
though they had able and industrious
Judges. were three years behind in
their business, and no labor, however
arduous, could bring it up. The
practice, proceedings, and pleadings,
in all her courts, were verbose and ex-
pensive beyond endurance. On the
other hand, the appointing power of
the Governor, in that great and
wealthy State, was so vast that it cor
rupted the whole people. He had the
appointment of some four hundred
Judges, besides Surrogates, Masters
in Chancery, Inspectors Of various
kinds, and divers other Offices, many of
which were very lucrative The c;fi-