Western union. (City of Hannibal, Mo.) 1850-1851, 1850-12-26

tent, for veal or woe, 10 the community,
than the proper or improper discharge of
the duties OF any other offices of our
State. What then is the character of our
present Judgesl A shrewd man needs no
answer TO this question, when he has been
told what are their salaries. Our Circuit
Judges are paid 1000: and our Judges Of
the Supreme Court, only $l,lO0. The
same parsimony is visible in every other
office in the State, but we will confne
ourselves to the Judges. There is no very
grea, glory attached to any judgeship in
the State, and the only confederation for
accepting the office is to be found 10 the
salary. We assert without fear of contra.
dic.ion that the above salaries are not larg.
er in amount, than the proceeds Of theii
professional labor have been to lawyers of
very moderate calibre in this State, for
many years past; and that lawyers of first
rate ability, usually make much larger
sum. Can the State then hope with any
reason, to obtain the services OF lawyers
of more than ordinary capacity,
when it is unwilling to remuneraie them
properly! We think not, and believe that
the Judicial history of the State will sus.
tain the::opinion. Missouri has groaned Tor
many years under the imposition Of Judges
who would have gracea the uniform Of the
respectable corps of "F6rciWe ftcbles," but
who were out of their station when they
donned The crminc. There have been in the
State many exceptions to this sweeping as.
ser,ion, but for them Missouri is indebted to
her good fortune rather than her wisdom.
Judge Wells OF this Circuit, pre,ides with un-
.ostenta,iou' dignity an decided ability. lie
is at the same tilnc, model of a gentleman
and Judge. Judge Napton we believe to
be men of talent. There are others
whom we will not now name. But os Il
general thing, our Judges on the Circuits
and on c Supreme Court bench, are weak
M inefficient. Some of our recent Su.
prcme Court decisions, with which we
have become acquainted, through the me.
dunn OF The press, remind us in theil
phraseoiogy 1--WE will not pass upon their
legal mer,s) Of a definition which We have
seen, and which the Supreme Court could
perhaps translate for us Of transcendenta'
ism, characterization is the spiritua
cognoscence OF psychological irrefrogibiity
connected with conculent ademption o
ncoluminent spirituality and etheralizec
.~",o"G"" ii supsultory concretion." i
an uulearned man may judge of the Ian
by The language which they use, it cannO,
be of IL very high cast. The consequence
is that great deal of property is lost by
bad decision: hone ST m,n frequently fail Il
prosecute their just Claim, because foolish
Judges will permit them to be jugged on
OF them, and the knave frequently ESCAPES
unpublished.
There is general indisp,sition to go in
to Court: there is general want of conf
dence in the decisions OF the Judges: men
conf 'ence predict what will be its termin
alton. II Is little better than lottery
Directing remarks to the head of foolish
Judge, is like shooting a ghost; you may
hit it, but can make no impression. We
think indeed when everything is taken in
to consideration, it is for the State even n
very shor, sighted economy, in pecuniary
point of view, to pay their Judges poorly
A vast deal more than any increase Of THEN
salaries, might be saved to the State by
wise Judges; and no man can tell how
much would be saved to the people in
their rights Of property, Of liberty, and
life.
1t is unbccoming the great State of Mis-
souri, to display niggardly parsimony IN
restricting its officers to beggarly pit.
lance and unwise to save a few dollars in
tho way Of salaries and, by the same oper-
alton, lose large amount in the mal-ad-
ministration of the law.
We have seen in the pages OF the
"Knickerbocker" the maxim stake care OF
the pennies: the pounds will take care OF
themselves" ius,ra ted by reference TO an
engraving of an elderly gentleman seated
at his desk near an open window, through
which draught OF wind is sending scat.
tered bundle OF bank notes, while he i.
ciu'ching pile of coppers. Its Lancer
Gus maxim, and for fear of accidents sboul,