The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-03-15


with the popular majority. This feature Of the
system constitutes its chief recommendation.
And although 1t is the fatality of our Secretary
of States exuberant diplomacy to create az
much mystidcation as it clears up, we should
be quite willing to have the experiment tried,
provided it would lead to the retirement Of any
member of the Cabinet about whose soundness
on the Presidents policy Of restoration there
can be the slightest doubt.
Our Local Judges and Justices. ana
the Present Vicious System OF Their
Election.
In the midst of the general decentralization
and corruption which have 80 long prevailed
among our city officials of all descriptions. 1t ID
refreshing, especially in the administration o.
iustice. 10 note here and there an example
WORTHY the respect and confidence of the com
munity. Such an officer was JudRe. Hoffman,
as our Recorder such ia BE- as Mayor; and
such, we have NO doubt will Mr.. Hackett, our
present Recorder, proye to be for be has the
reputation not only Of capable but Of dili
gent and honest man. Our law abiding citi-
Gems have many reasons, also, TO be well salts
fed with such faithful and fearless dispensers q
justice as Judge Barnard and Judge Russell.
whose very names have become terror 70
evildoers but such officers as these are tho
shining exceptions to the generally democrats
ing results of our present vicious system
of casting the choice 81 our judges and JUS
tees into the general scramble Of our popular
elections.
Our police Justices, for instance, Of New
York and Brooklyn, including Williamsburg,
have acquired Of late years most unenviable
notoriety, taken in the lump--not vastly better,
in fact than that of the mock auctoneers. They
are in too many instances regarded, not as the
guardians of the public safety, but as the
friends, if not the confederates of rufians,
thieves and vagabonds OF every stripe. Where
there is so much smoke there must be some
Ere. And why is this? How are we to account
for this shameful state Of thingss The explains
ton is very easy. The rufianly elements Of
this city hold the balance Of power in our city
elections; and this power is perhaps most
actively exercised in the elections Of our police
justices, before whom the rowdy, thief and cut
throat are most likely to be called to answer
for their crimes In turning loose one of these
delightful managers Of our primary elections
the justices concerned may win twenty, fifty or
hundred votes as candidate for another
term, or for something else. He may lose in
the same proportion by pursuing the opposite
course. The temptation, therefore, to befriend
these masters of the ballot box is hard 70
resist, and hence the benevolent indulgence1
accorded by some Of our police justices to mo-
torious offenders of high and low degree. They
are Investments for another election.
The root Of all this mischief lies. we say, =
the present vicious system of electing our DID
pensers Of Justice They are thus to . greab
extent placed at the mercy Of the very criuk
malls it is their duty to bring to punishment
the Presidency, modern democracy, in the
North especially, disregarding the lana
marks of the founders Of our popular instt
tutions, began to spread itself In the form a
an epidemic, and universal suffrage and ~
rights of the people to the election Of judges q
all grades and for limited terms, carried every
thing before Thorn. The wonder u that The
the attempts made against It, has escaped
these innovations. Experience, however, has
proved the wisdom of the fathers of the consti-
tuition in placing those judges above the oliquss
and rings Of corrupt election managing polt
ticians and we have also learned from dear
experience the folly Of departure from that
system. Our local judges and justices should
be appointed by the Governor, with the con-
sent of the Senate, and should hold their ofAces
during good behavior and capability to dis
charge their official duties. In our Constitu-
tional Convention which is to be elected next
fall it Is to be hoped the supreme State law
will be thus amended.
In this matter of the election OF our local
judges we have been going on the road TO mob
law and anarchy, and we must turn back. We
must place our agents of the law above the
fears or favors, the brides or hostile combi
nations of confederate rufians, and then the
mass of the work in netting out even
handed justice to criminals will not
fall upon few such Independent ana
courageous judges as Hoffman, Barnard and
Russell but all of them will be free to pur-
sue the same course. We must have our judicial
system so amended at the foundation that .
righteous administration Of justice in this city
and its surroundings will depend neither upon
our primary elections and their managing row
dies, nor upon the lucky circumstance of secur-
ing here and there judge who is neither to be
bribed nor bullied into indulgenccs to rogues
and rufflans. Let our judges and Justices be
appointed by the Governor and confirmed by
the Senate, TO retain their places during good
behavior, and justice will prevail. We must
set back our State constitution to this ancient
landmark before we of this island and the neigh
boring islands can expect to be relieved Of the