Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-10-31
An App0lntlYe Jadieiaf) g..

The people Of the State Of New York at
the coming election, have to decide whether
their State Judiciary shall be elective as
heretofore, or arpointiye, as it ought to be-
The seventeenth section of the new judi
ciary article Of the constitution adopted in
$50. declares that the Legislature shall pro-
vide for submitting to the electors Of the
State. at tie general election in the year
eighteen hundred and seventy-three. the
question. TO be voted on by ballot, whether
the "oiiiee Of chief judge and associate judge
of the Court Of Appeals and of justice Of the
Supreme Court, and of the judges mention
cd in sections twelve and fifteen of article
six of the constitution, shall be hereafter
filed by appointment"
Should the people respond TO these qnes-
tons By an affirmative majority, then OF
course the Offices named will cease to be
elective. and. A. vacancies occur, they
will be filed by appointment by the
Governor. with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate. OF course the subject
Is undergoing some discussion in the Empire
State, and we are glad to see that the weight
Of argument and influence is in favor Of the
appointiye system Dorman 3. Eaton,
ESQ, Of New York, has recently published
an able pamphlet on the subject, showing
that the appointive is as truly republican
method A. the elective, and that experience
has proved that better men are selected foT
Judges. when the responsibility rests IN an
appointing power. and that removal from
the apprehenS9ns and temptations, inse-
parable from dependence on the popular
favor. tends to keep them upright and indie
pendent. The Bar Association Of New York
city, composed Of six hundred of the best
lawyers in the metropolis, has also taken
action uu the subject, with almost absolute
uuanimity. They declare, in 4 published
address 10 the voters, that since lS46, the
learning AMI the morality Of the legal
profession hive been steadily impaired. that
the dignity. capacity and purity Of the
Bench have decayed; that decisions have
been les. steady aud correct, and appeals
and oycrruling more frequent and that,
as a consequence, litigation and uncer-
tainty have more and more bnr1ened the
people. And above all, they say that
crimes have multiplied, and offenders
have become more bold, while judges have
grown timid, and the proportion Of persons
arrested. Nho have been brought to trial,
has been growing less and less. To such an
extent has this gone, that in the city of New
York there are more than - 900 criminally
arrested each year. as against less than 3. :
900 so arrested in London, though London
contains three times the population of New
York. They say, also, that crime and the
neglect Of punishment have increased in
about equal ratio, both in the country and
in the city districts These results they at
tribute to a false and pernieious method of
selecting judges.
We trust these considerations will not be
lost on the voters, and that the Empire
State will turn over a new leaf in the mode
of selecting her judges In Vermont, to be
sure, the elective plan has thus far worked
pretty well; but our case is n notable ex-
ception to the general rule; and how long
we can retain the chief advantages Of the
appointiye plan under our elective system
remains to be seen, even here.