New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-07-30
THE RUN JUDGES.

70 rum and the pestilenee is not only an unSouhd
LAWYER. bad Judge, and legal incubus but ne Is
hesdes. dangerous member of society. What Is 10
no done with him Both rum and the cholera as the
experience of half year has proved, could be
.piri.ed ont of the way, if we could only get
GOOD radiance Of some of judges They,
after ALL are the real nuisance, which the experiments
of the Boards of Health and Excise to be power
less TO disinfect We cannot sprinkle their decisions
with ohoorde Of lime; what Is the use oil trying 10
dissipate epidemcl The efforts Of the Board oil Health
tend one way, those Of our city judges 90 anotner
Health, reason morals ald common sense. WORKING
in the ciys behalf, have been met at every import
ant step by an injunction. 1t was never more
necessary than now that the groggeries should
be closed; but an injunction kept them open. The
public health is the first concern o. CITY, but tue
last, it seems. Of city judge. wherefore let no
one be surprised that the course oil Jadiemi
decisions in our city courts has been uniformly
favorable to bad liquor first and bad health
afterward. Between perpetuaiing the grogShop
and keeping in full blast the bone-boling and
fa,.melting nuisance, while tho health OF the
CITY is suffering as il never suffered before, It Is not
needful to show the relation Our csy judges have
made il manifest beyond doubt or cayil tina, judge
who protects nun By decision is equally ready 10
protect cholera by an injunction. No amount Of re-
spect for judicial opinion and OF liberation for legal
perversity can long Withstand the raids that hsye
been made daily from the bench upon tho public
health The war is serious the moment
single victim falls by the epidemic and
all who survive are bound to make common cause
against the bench II is said in behalf OF the rum
Judges that they are honest men, and are bound to
interpret the law according TO their lights whether
their judgment conflicts with the popular opinion or
not We shall try to estimate this plea at its worth.
Have we heard Of one Of our judges running counter
to the interest that elected himi Have not most
of them been found in direct hostility TO the public
conscience Remarkably not one OF their legal errors
have ever leaned to virtues sido while the dnit
of their every decision sufficiently important
10 draw general attention, has been invariably
opposed TO every reform, no matter how well
supported by enactment or approved by the
intelligent voice Of tho community. II has
become judicial axiom that in doubtful eases Of legal
interpretation decision is to be rendered the side
which is manifestly that Of tho public good If such
doubt existed either in the Of the Excise law
that Of the recent njunctons in favor Of bono-bong
the duty Of our judges was clear The student reader
Of the laws against the excess in liquor traffic, and in
preservation Of the health Of the city, cannot believe
for a moment that these laws were ineffective
for their objects, our judges in sympathy with
the general good. They have preferred to strain
point in favor of the worst evils which threaten the
community; and with no pleasant antecedents to fall
back upon their record for years is an account Of dis
grace long outstanding Whether knavery or stu.
pidty solve the problem Of judicial unftness, the
public is Of one mind that they unsuted TO their
places.
The highest and most earnest good Of every citizen
in New-York demands that tho evils OF the bonch
should DO abolished. We speak no news when We
say what has been homo truth to the vast majority
of this community for years past-that our Judicial
system should be reformed. We may do this by hay.
ing good lawyers appointed to the bench to hold
Office during good behavior-we may consolidate and
change the business Of some Of the Courts now
exercising large coordinate powers; but We can do
nothing without an appeal TO the constitutional right
of the people to alter and amend their institutions
How long the temper of the public can brook such
decisions as have lately insulted the good sense OF
this community we cannot tell. We have only
knowledge Of the almost incredible enormties en-
durcd at the swindlng hands Of the ring" andfro
the grasping greed Of corporatorS, backed by an
immoral municipality and bench. We cannot long
stand two classes Of assaants in places of greatest
advantage and power-the batteries we have erected
against evil-doers turned by evdoers against our
selves. We cannot afford to cherish pestilence on
the bench or have our courts an eternized nuisance
We must be sure that those employed to serve us do
not make US their slaves, and We must appeal to the
people TO right themselves by the powers OF the Con-
stuton and put an end TO the evils Of such an elec-
tive Judiciary as now dsgraces and Expresses New
York. o.. .;y',aSysf:>y p 49,, =. = s-.J go