The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1869-04-15
County Judgeship.
EDITOR OF THE TELEGRAPH,


Dear Sir:-It was with feelings of mingl-
ed surprise and irritation, that I read your
article, in your issue of the 8th inst, on
the Judicial Election, in which you re-
mark, that Judge Petit was nominated
by the Republicans from sympathy, and
that some Republicans felt hurt, because
he did not i7aGni:iSst more solicitude to OBJ
tain their actjge support, sc.
You (and probably the public,) so to-
tally misapprehend the facts and the
principles by which l am actuated, that
in elf-justifcation, I am compelled to as
sign my reasons.
/ am, and erer hare been, opposed to an
electric Judiciary, be it of humble police
magistrate, or the most honorable posi-
ton On the bench, known to the Constitu
ton.
The practical working of Judiciary,
elected by ballot, shows it to be subver-
sive of its independence and it has, and
still is, silently and surely sapping the
foundation of our institutions. The poor,
the wronged, the oppressed, are unpro-
| tectcd, unredressed, through it's fatal in
ANence
A judiciary thus created, has introduc
ed vigilance committees, presided over by
judge Lynch. and sustains him on the
bench, clothed in robes Of crimson, and
| of crime. Contrast the present with the
past Judiciary of New York-the former
made venerable and commanding by the
Integrity, and ability of Kent; and the
latter made infamous through the venali-
ty and subserviency of Cardoza and his
associate judges.
Contrast the Iowa court presided over
| by Becke elected by ballot, sanctioning
the reputation of honest debts, and the
| United States Court, presided over
| by Chief Justice Chase, enforcing
their payment, sustained by good morals,
! the common law, and the United States
Constitution. One court created by bal
lot, the other, by appointment.
Why was itthat the judges of California
were hurled from the bench they disgrace
ned, but that they obtained their position
through the ballots of thieves and muir
derers? Witness the frequent outbreaks
of the masses against law and order in
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and the unre-
strained rule of the Ku Klux.
A Judiciary, independent in tits position
from the vote of the rabble, would soon
create different state Of things. Where
ignorance, venality, drunkenness, and
crime rule at the polls, we shall have vice
clothed in ermine, and wrong sanctioned
under the forms of law. The burglar
vote is more potent in saying who shall
try him, than he whose house he has in
| vaded and robbed, for the criminal is the
most vigilent and active politician-he
attends the polls, and "pairs off" with no
honest voter, only with the design to cheat
him; and while the staid citizen is quietly
attending to his private business, the
rogue has an ak to grind, and he attends
to its grinding on election day. Thus the
bawling drunkard, or homeless pauper, Ia J
more potent voice in saying what Judge
shall order the administration of estates,
than him whose broad acres is fortune
to their possessor and his heirs. The one
is busy in accommodating property, the
other, at the polls appointing his admins
traitor
What sight more painful, than to see a
judge at the circuit, engaged in d;stribut-
ing political documents, advocating his
own election at the approaching canvass
Such things have been done in Wiscon-
SIM even in this circuit, and sanctioned
"5ecause 1t aoas the Western custom "'
With these my convictions, respecting
an elective Judiciary hope my republican
friends who felt hurt" will pardon me
for my apparent scant ocf soZicitude as to
their actioe support. was attending to
my legitimate business as the peoples
servant, which required my whole time
and it was for them to see that their, land my
interest, suffered no detriment from it.
Another of my beliefs is "that no one
is entitled to an Office much less should
any mere partiZan hold office, for such are
most untitled to perform its duties honest
ly and with efficiency. No man should be
paid with Office, because he is patritic,
though none should hold office unless a
true patriot.
Because love my country-have given
of my means to preserve it, and that my
sons have suffered on the march, in
the battle field, and starvation in rebel
prisons-such things, not in the least
qualities me for any Office. Though had
| been one of the many, who gleefully
rubbed their hands, and smiled derisiyely
over our defeats in the late war, it would
indicate a spirit that should forever place
me on shack seat"
The peoples officer is their servant. to
DerfOrm for them certain defined 1i1ties
be it that of Pound Keeper, Judge or
President. The merchant selects his
clerk-the farmer his laborer, with an
eye to their qualifications for their duties;
those that perform them best, they retain
if they can, those found to be delinquent
thew discharge. A watch ont of repair.