The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1867-09-28
OrphnER' Courts.

We have heard some drmncrnis assert tina
there j. nothing IN the new cons'ituiion requir
ing judges Of the url,hahs Court to he LAWYERS
Now, with all rcsieci To the opinion oi these gen
iemcn. IL plain Language means ANYTHING. the,
are mistaken. We give below srriions and
of Article Of the nr~ Constitution
Nsei'oH The Judicial power Of th. state shall h
vested % Court 10 Apiras. Crcui Courts. Orphan.
courts such Courts fer The city % baltimore are here
inafeT uv for aud Ja.lic-s % the Peace all .ai,
Courts shall h. Courts Of Record and each shall have
sa 70 r used IN the naturalization of all prorss Issu
Section TAs Ju'ig,i # All Of fAs ,a CoHris .hAl
c citizens 81 the state Of MARI land and quaiae 70
iers undcr this Constitution, aud shaii have reside,
therein not less than ave years aud not less than Il,
months. newt pccc'linE their election or appointment,
IN The Judicial Circuit The case may for 1hl th.,
may l, respectively. elected appointed They shai
not c less than thirty age at the time of the
election. appointment and suslt 81 rIIcrtp Sao,
tho,E VINO HA't hErN ADMITTED To FA.cTtcT LAW Is
rnis srAfE. AMI most distinguished for Integrity
wisdom and 'ognd legal knowledge
isn that plain enough can there he doub
tina; Judges oi the Orphans Cour, must ., lar.
y'T' We think there can be no question about
H. and were Of the opinion, until lately. tina,
this provision h,i crcp, into the new Cons'iiu-
ito" unawafts and the Constitution did no, in.
tend to require that the Judges in question
should lee lawyers. but we think now that III,
provision wa made knowingly and purposely
The language Of the uew Constitution, quoted
above, was taken nearly rerbafim from the one
!, was designed 10 supercrle The old instrument,
however, expressly provided that the Jud.
ees Of the several Courts, eSceyth Judge, OH.
OrPhs"s Co"T's. shall be selected from
'' those who have been admitted to practice Law
- in this State The words We have italicized
were excluded from The new Constitution. show.
ing that the provision IN relation TO Judges OF
the Orphans Cour, was intentional.
We have heard also. that some Of our demo.
cratic friends say that il II is really so that Jud.
ges of the Orphans Courts must be lawyers. they
will Dodge d-,hat is, they will cleo, three law.
yers, and then these lawyers will refuse TO quail.
y, leaving vacancy which the Governor may
oil blythe appointment, Of any one, Not so. gen.
tlemon; the Convention didn't do things in that
loose sort Of way. In the article o, the new
Constitution relating TO the Orphans Courts, i,
10 provided that in case Of vacancy 10 the Of
- flee OF Judge Of the Orphans Court, the Gov.
'ernor shall appoint, sabjec, to confirmation or
rejection BY the Senate, some sMita5le per,on 10
" I'LL the tame for the residue OF the term lie
mus, be suitable person, tina, is one yo,,,s,isg
hs CoHsihsiionai qualifications. one Of which Is
that he siaH hare ben ADMITTED 10 Jraefio,
" iar ~ his Safe"
This is no, partisan question; We have not
referred 10 l, with any political feeling. We
think II measure which must be distAs,e.
iul to the people and nnthoughi Of by them when
they adopted the new Constitution. There will
he trouble getting men 10 act a. Judges -
We do not know a member Of our bar who
would have IL. because probably all Of ;hem
make more than the salary Of the Office by their
practice in the Orphans Court As measure
Of necessity. three legal gentlemen Of the county
NAV be induced 10 accept the position. hut our
legislature when II meets again. should abolish
this provision by = Constitutional Amendment.
We feel sure that the people, regardless Of their
political predictions will ratify H. We van,
justice IN our Orphans Courts and not 50 much
Of lar, and we feel convinced that this will be-
more readily ohinintd by having ,hrr honest
farmers, for instance. on the Bench. than by
having three lawtcis, each of shom will look
at question IN n purrl! i'gai light. each have
different lar up"n the snne suhjrri, and zach
coniendinr that his position is the right one