Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-08-13
Election of Judges by the People.

~ GiecClOn OF JuogeS Dy Lne keoplo
Inc most deporable feature in tlic new
Constitution OF Virginia. is the investiturc
of tne people with the power TO elect our
Jul..6$. We considerths, or.many weigh
ty reasons, one of the worst evils which the
passion for change and innovation has yet
brought upon the State; and we would
willingly advocate q Convention for the sole
and specific purpose of restoring to the
Legislature the power of filling all vacan-
ees on the bench. That body ought new
cr to have been dvcstcd of this important
power. AS long Hs they held it, it was cx-
crclscd with an eye single to public good,
and wc do not rccollcct an instance in
which the public interests were compromi-
Sod by an appointment under the old sys-
tenn. Why should the people be troubled
with judicial elections, and how arc they
proftcd by them? They do not vote d-
Senators in Congress- and yet they expert
cnce not the slightest dctrimcnt from this
source. If, then, the present mode Of
clccting the high officers just named, be
consistent with the public welfare, why
should not the same mode of choosing Jud-
gcs be equally consistent with it?
1t is an unwise and dangerous practice
ina government like ours, that of multi
plying and ramifyng popular elections be-
yond the conservative standard prescribed
by the fran, rs of our federal and State po-
ltics. Who believe that the national wei
fare would be iNprovcd by withdrawing
the election &c President and Vice Prcsi-
dent from the Electoral College and pla-
cling il immediately in the hands of the
people? Or. tlrt the States would be ben
Gifted by shifting the election of Senator'S
from the legislative chambers to the coun-
typrccimcts
The administration of justice "comcs
home to the bosom and business of every
citizen alike. There s, or should be, no
distinction of pcrsons--no fear or favor
nothing whatever to warp its decisions in
II Court Of Law. Intellectual capacity, IN
tcsrity and frmncss Of purposc-unswer-
wing fidelity to duty-tliesc are the great
rcqa'S tcs for the bench. An independent
in i",;ry is one of the main bulwarks OF
tha blic s;tfcty and happiness. Every
me cent, therefore, which serves or tends
to :'rumscribc or weaken the spirit of IN
de- lcncc in n Judge, should be indig-
naut'v fruwncd down by the people,, as
pregnant only with misc lrief
We assert, without the fear of contra
diction, that an elective judiciary is not
and cannot be as independent us one that
is not elective, in the sense in which We
are now using the term. In the former
case, the Judge is dependent for his Office
upon popular favor, and is compelled 1T
comparatively short invervals, here in Vir-
ginia, to submit to the ordeal Of the ballot
box, where a thousand influences which
would be puwcrlcss in the Legislature may
operate to defeat him. Especially do those
remarks hold good in times Of warm party
excitement like the present ''Daggiug
the crminc OF justice in the mirc of poli-
tics, arc words of solemn import They
convey nm idea which is revolving to. the
mi l'of every lover of justice and they
n-:'' a degradation of the bench which
cInry citizen should strcnuo,lsly cndcavor
to e. rt, as well for the sake Of his own
ns public interests.
-. evil, however, is upon u.s. and the
besi that can be done is to countcract and
d'2rr'n it by a strictly conservative, exercise
ot nc franchise by every voter at a judi
cal election. If the candidates would abb
sttN from canvassing their respective dis
trvts in stump ftsiion-if the people will
cschcw all political party Influences in Civ
ing their suffragcs-if they will look only
to the judicial character of the proceeding,
and to tho fitness of the candidate, if clcc-
ted, to discharge the peculiar functions
of the office which he seeks ut their hands
then and so long will the present system
be rendered comparatively innocuous.
IStcr$bn,y E,prcss.
TIE Emperor Napoleon, says the BoS-
ton Transcript, has his own way of dealing
with difficulties, whether social, municipal,
OF lntcrnational-as. my be seen by his
| treatment of tho gas companies of his caI.-
ital. Finding, four or five years ago, that
the Parisians complained of the character
and price of the gus which was. served to
them, he cnused some gas-works to be built
III the grounds of the palace Mt st. Cloud,
and fitted will, the necessary apparatus for
the manufacture of that important article.
Then, under his own supcrintcndcnce, as
sisted by several eminent chemists and sci
cntftic inen, he caused experiments in tho
manufacture of gas from all the various
materials, from the cheapest to the dear.
est. to be made. When he had tried tho
different kinds in the pnIaco, and had figu-
red mp the cost te his satisfaction, he inv.