The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-09-28
NINETEENTH YEAR.
The Judicial Election.

The Judicial Election.
The judiciary Of this State is made by II
;, Consultation . coordinate branch of the Go,
. ernment. II stands In its peculiar sphere equ
win the legislative and Executive department
. All THESE departments are maintained and euy
. ported at the public expense. The money
!" support them is raised by direct taxation, upo
tue property.of the people. The salaries OF th
: Judges areipaid from the State Treasury. Tn
I expenses of the Courts as held in the sever.
, counties, are paid by the respective coun,ie
: rom taxes assessed as county taxes Gran,
ana fetit Jurors. tees for witnesses in crmna
prosecutions, bailiffs, &C., &C., are charge
against the counties and allowed by the COUNTY
Judges, and paid by the County Treasurer.
The tax paying people are interested in these
expenses; and the Courts should to som.
extent De responsible for these expenditures
now does this matter stand in the First Ju
a'c'a' District under Judge ClaEget's admin
'strat'on! It 10 claimed by his friends
ana oy himself that he dispatches the business
-thas he puts tie laryers, witnesses, jurors.
ana parties through" He makes .he,n stand up
to their work and know their places. Tbi. all
sounds very well to outsiders, but let US exam
Inc little and see who pays the piper,-wbo
foots the bills. Suppose that there are forty or
"ity criminal causes pending in court. They
cannot all be tried in one day. 1t frequently
happens that these trials are continued through
several days and even weeks. A small armv Of
| witnesses are summoned in these cases; they
must all attend whether needed or not. and If
one is caught absent, he is fined and, put thro,
oy the court, whether he is wanted or not. The
people pay, he must attend, and so with every.
body. BY this process the expense to the coun.
y Is doubled and trebled, all of which could be
saved by adapting the rules OF the Court to the
true condition Of the business, and only re-
curing parties, witnesses and suitors to be pre.
sent when they are wanted.
The records Of the counties show an enor-
nous increase in this class Of expenditures. and
That too without showing any corresponding
increase in the dispatch OF business.
This thing of putting people through is rather
an expensive luxury for these times. Several
thousand dollars have been added to the ex. |
pendltures Of this county by this rigid exaction
oi mere power, and the tax payer may fattea
an extra pig to meet the demand.
ihls same character ofexpense has to be met
oy every suitor in Court. complete despo.
tism OF the Judge over the docket and the han.
Ishment OF all feelings Of accommodation bv
The Court,-a studied eccentricity in the Judge
in disposing OF the business, which almos: leads
TO the belief that the Court delights to "put
parties through" compels the parties li.igant to
Keep their witnesses, day after day, when under
falr spirit of accommodation as a reasonable
arrangement, they need not be retained in at.
endance. In this manner the costs are largely
increased and that too, without color of neces.
lty, ana Tor no osher apparent reason than to
how promptnsss and dispatch in discharging
he duties Of Judge.
Tis not q fault in Judge to dispatch busi-
less; On the contrary it is a merit, but it can
'ecome great fault. 1t can only be exercised
$ an incident, not as purpose and object, and
Fhen the sole purpose and object of a Court
ooks merely to dispatch business, the rights of
~ P~Asi~" oS'Ae AClS'y oSCOuOdTy, tueD IL
ecomes more than fault, it is downright.
buse.
There is vast difference between fair dis d
atch OF business, and hurrying, soldering =,
yer what comes up-a perpetual scoldng, hur-
wing up, and limiting the arguments OF the @
ttornies 10 make room for long argument by
lie Court. ::
When these mattess are properly considered, i
'ere can be but one conclusion as to the pro Q
riety OF re-electing Judge Clagget. 1t will be !. :
'und that he is man of excessive vanity ,
lat he delights in display Of his personal 81
ower-that he uses his position to crafty his
arsonal vanity, and display his individual dig ;,
ty-that he wants discrstion-that he is inca. !,
able of any steady deliberation, aud on the
hole he is as likely to be wrong as right, in u
'ery case he attempts to decide. /,