The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-01-30
Judgment Of OuSter.--The Fate of Six
Judges,

The ed Of February is memorable for
the birth of Washington: hencefortll the
I'D Of January will be memorable for the
death Gudicial) Of six Judges. The Su-
preme Court came down like a wolf on
the fold, and Of our eight circuit Judges
only two are LEFT to tell the tale. The de-
cision in the clse of the State 1ersuS \.
J.. Shaw was given against the defendant,
Haskell rendering il, McIver Soncurring,
Willard dissenting. Judge Shaw was
elected riru voce; the Justices decide
that election by ballot alone is valid.
Thus fell Shaw md with him Macl;cy.
Townsend, Cooke, Reed, and Wiggins:-
kershaw and Wallace alone remain us
having been legally elected. The Court
has published its decision, and the TWO
Associate Justices evidently had some.
difficulty in arriving ut the conclusion
which they with unfcigncd reluctance"
reached. Chief Justice Willard sdiSscnt-
ing opinion was given with great firni-
ness and manlincSS. The decision took
the country by surprise-and on rcticc-
ton the surprise is not u pleasant enc.
The transaction bears on the face of it q
most unpleasant resemblance to that now
famous game of eight-to-sevcn which
surprised a good many of us not long
ago. Two Democrats against one Rcpub-
lican Gust five Republican Judges. AS
for Judge Shaw, u Democrat, the deciS-
ion is not likely to affect him more than
to give him two years longer tenure of
office. Look At it from any point Of view
we can, it does not present q lovely ap-
pearancc.
Why were the Judges ousted? Be-
cause while a general provision in the
Constitution says that in all elections by
the General Assembly the members
shall vote rira vocc, a special section pro-
vides that for each judicial circuit a Judge
shall be elected by joint batioL. The un-
lucky six were elected viva roce. as were
all I'll circuit Judges for the past eight
years. This is their crime, the head and
front of their offending. BY The help of
four dictionaries. and two encyclopedias,
the majority of the Court decided that
joint ballot was a very different thing
from UtUG Uoce, and that Judges elected by
the latter mode had to be Ousted from
their seats. And thus it came to pass
that the mighty difference between
!tweedledum and tweedledee has made
six of our eight circuit judgcships va
cant.
! Who will fill the vacant places? Tn
less a Democratic General Assembly is
willing to take advantage of Il decision
rendered on u mere verbal discrepancy,
the ousted Judges will be reinstatcd
with the exception of that one or two
who have given proof of Incompetence.
We can imagine nothing more diShonora-
bic in u State, or more humiliating in
the Democracy ian the substitution of
live Democratic for the five ousted Re
publican Judges. Keep out any against
whom can be brought well-founded
charges OF utter incapacity, but lot the
others be reelected, Republican though
they be. A General AssemJlythat found
itself able a year ago without cause to
promote q Republican to the Chief JUS
ticeship, should not find it much against
the grain to re-insta:e Republican Judges
whose title to office while verbally void
was virtually valid.