The weekly clarion., 1876-01-19
Supreme Court aud ITS Judges

Communicated
The conviction seems 10 be very gen
eral that something must be done TO eN
pedite the business Of this court--tO ge
more work and better work from H. Il
is admitted on all hands, that, as nov
constituted, the Supreme Court does not,
and cannot, adequately perform lis duties
There is admitted 10 be great accu'
mutation Of cases in the Court, that is &c
say. in proportion to the amount of. liti-
CATION in the interior courts. More case
are brought up for review than at any
former period. One cause OF this, doubt
less, Is, that since the war. there lave
arisen a great variety of questions which
are new; there has been new legislation
on new subjects; new constitution 10
/ be expOunded. and property rights and
contracts have assumed new shapes.
! Another cause is, that in a great ma
iOrity of the districts, the judges and
chancellors are grossly Incompetent No
weight is attached to their decisions, and
their want of learning and experience
leads to countless blunders in procedure,
to say nothing of the hap-hazzard judg-
ments ON the merits of cases. Notwith-
standing the character Of the causes,
and their number, however, it is the
general belief of the legal profession that
three well trained lawyers, of good intel
ligence and capacity to labor, can, with
out overwork, bring the business up and
keep it up, and NJ the same time give 10
every case the full consideration it de-
serves in the court of last resort.
The Chief Justice is now past seventy
years Of age, and besides, Is the victim
of painful, and perhaps incurable, dis
ease. Though a learned and well trained
LAWYER, and as pure 4 man rs ever sat on
the bench Of any court, he is physically
unable to perform the labor which de-
wolves upon a Judge of that court This
is manifest to all. He struggles painfully,
but Intellectually, to answer the demands
of duty. The spectacle he presents is
one of the saddest that can be conceived.
He is so poor that to abandon his Office
is TO deprive his family of the means of
support. Eight years ago he accepted a
place on the bench of the High Court OF
Errors and Appeals At that time he
was fully capable. lie abandoned his
practice, an assured source of income,
but now he could not recover it; the diff
ficulty in his case is, that he would resign
if he could. Recently, the Congress of
the United States provided for such cases,
by enabling the worn out Judge to resign,
mithout being reduced to beggary. He
may resign on attaining the age of sew
enty, without losing his salary provided
he has served ten years on the bench.
This is just and humane law. Why
not apply it here. In almost every en-
lightened country on earth, the public
servant, constrained by age and physical
iniirmity, to retire from employment, is
provided for. Our long term OF nine
years brings the case within the reason Of
the act OF Congress. The precedent is
one from which the State cannot suffer
A general law providing that any Judge
of the Supreme Court who has attained,
or may hereafter attain, the age of sew
enty years, and having served Gu the
bench of that Court and the High Court
Of Errors and Appeals, say seven or eight
years, shall, in case he resigns on account
of his age and physical inhrmity, be en-
titled to receive his salary for his unex-
pired term, provided he shall live so long.
Provided, however, that as to Judges
hereafter appointed, the privilege confer
red by this act shall not be exercised by
any Judge who shall accept an appoint
ment when his term Of Office might last
more than one year after he shall have
attained the age Of seventy years.
The case is not likely TO occur again in
fifty years. No costly precedent is set.
No system Of pensioning will be estab-
lished. 1t is a sheer act Of justice to
the Judge, and at the same time evnces
proper regard for the public service
There can be no two ways about this mat
ter. Let us not degrade high and up.
right public servant by the cruel eXpedi-
ent Of an address to remove him, nor by
subjecting him to that pinching poverty
in his old age, which a resignation is sure
to entail. Give him the opportunity to
resign, and mitigate the consequences OF
resignation by an adequate provision for
his support.
The law might well be so framed as to
give to the retired Judge a semi-official
character, by recognizing him as still the
public servant, to assist in digesting the
statutes, preparing codes OF procedure,
and in examining the systems Of judica-
tion in other States and countries, and
making such suggestions and recommend
ations as he may deem necessary 20 inn
prove our own,
A MEMBER or THE BAR.