The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-01-20
The increase of Salaries of Supreme
Judges.

-
Tho increase of Salaries of Supreme
Judges. F:
a bill has been introduced into the
Ohio Senate, coming from the Radical
side Of the house, providing for in
creasing the salary of our Supreme
Judges from $1,000 to So, 900. But
a few months ago these Judges, for
getting that questions affecting the
construction of a Constitution and the
and the political and civil rights and
privileges Of citizens depending on it,
are entitled to the fullest and most
deliberate consideration, when drawn
into judicial discussion, and that upon
Il correct decision Of these, the secuTi-
ty aud harmony of our well balanced
system Of free and popular govern
ment mainly depend, took occasion in
a hasty, ilI-timed and undignified par
tisan decision, to pronounce some
legislation Of lsst session as,'partia'
and unjust to an extreme degree
and charged the Members Of the Leg
islature with a want of candor, and
y; prraaHaa.acsd their enactmentj "to be
a studied and c~unningly devised
Schenle."
During the late campaign Radical
news-papers and stump speeches were
full Of abuses of the Legislature be
cause OF its expenditures. Now this
same Legislature IS asked to increase
the paw OF these sane political Judges,
when they already receive almost
double what was paid wiser and bet
ter men in the same position a few
years ago. Ranney, Thurman, Cor
win, BARLEY and Caldwell, who first
gave judicial construction to our pres
ent Constitution and code of civil
procedure, received but 81, 200.
These same Supreme judges that
now, with honcyed words, plead with
a Democratic Legislature, in this hanr,
when the people are fairly groaning
with taxation. State and Fede: a.,
for an increase ofpav, and place the
increase, they and their friends, upon
the ground that it will give dignity to
the Office and place the judges them
saITes beyond the power Of want, but
a few months since allowed their
Clerk to telegraph to ell parts Of the
State that they had decided the law of
the Legislature unconstitutional,
which placed students on the same
footing with mechanics and other
men CT toll, in regard to voting. This
false telegram gave the party of which
these Supreme Judges are repronta-
tive men, hundreds of illegal votes,
and hence no contradiction was made.
Had the Judges OF the Supreme Court
been mindful of their dignity Of Office
then, they would have administered
to their Clerk q fitting rebuke for his
falsehood and deception. This tele-
graphic falsehood OF the Clerk of the
Supreme Court, Injured to the party
benefit Of the Judges, as we'll as to
that OF the Clerk whose election was
then pending, and the refusal or neg
lect of the Judges to denounce the
ialsehood, or 10 take meal to correct
it, made them parties to the fraud.
The proposed increase Of the salary
of the Judges 10 five thousand dollars
per annum tor a few months service,
does not, it is said, affect the present
bench of Judges. In one of the
term il does not, in another it does.
The c. institution says that the salary
Of the Judges shall not be increased
or decreased during their term of Of
fee. This simple provision men learn
ed in all the tfickery Of law find ca y
to evade Two years ago the salary
OF Common Pleas Judges was ~increas-
ed from S2,0Un to $500 each. It
was intended to affect the Judges
elected and qualified after its passage.
But instantly.upon the law going into
operation, every Republican Judge of
the Common Pleas Court whose term
of Office extended nj year beyond the
time, resigned, and by the Governor
was Immediately reappointed TO the
same office, and thus was enabled, by
evading the Constitution, to pocket
the five hundred dollars per apnum
that the plain letter and spirit of the
Constitution intended that they should
not receive. Pass the law raising the
salary of the Supreme Judges to the
5000 point, and within six months
we doubt not, every Judge would re
sign-and get Governor Hayes to re-
appoint him, so they, Ike the Com
mon Pleas Judges of the same Radi
cal school, would pocket the increased
salary, and thus laugh in very .scorn
ct the idea that any Constitution could
trammelthem, so as TO prevent their
putting money into their pockets.
Wehepe our legislators will not
support tine ''studied and cunningly
devised seher,e' to increase taxation
the bill lately introduced
to raise their salary to nearly double
that given to the ahlest Judges Ohio
ever put on the Supreme bench.