The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-04-04
OUR SUPREME BENCH.
The Evils of Political Partisanhip In
their Selection.

Referring to the approaching convention
10 nominate candidates Tor the Supreme
Judge, the Columbia Herald says:
THE lawyers Of The State and the people
should see 10 il that the politicians co not
run away with the convention, and n~mi-
nate men for these high positions without
regard TO some political influence or end
This II entirely correct, as lar Us II goes,
but we wish that our esteemed n3mcrake had
gone a step farther, and taken the position
which we have assumcd-lo Wit, that the
highest judicial tribunal Of the Common
wealth should be divorced, absolutely and
uHcondition1lly, from all connection with
parts III politics, and that the Supreme
ndgcs Uf Tennessee should be Ch, sch with
out reference 10 3hair party affiliations. The
mere fact that 4 man Is = y amOcrat can by
no possibility have the slightest effect upon
his fitness for a non political Office. There
ne Democrats, the names OF whom lm0rv' IS
the pity have been mentioned ii connection
with the Supreme Bench, who pos ess mel
Their the intellect, the education, nor the
moral character which should be made es-
senGal prerequisites TO elevation to that
exalted station. That tn sc prerequisites
are not always considered es-e initial is cvi-
denced by the fact that the Supreme Bench
OF tennessee Is to-day occupied by tn, the
intellect OF some OF whom II wOa.d wrench
severely 10 acccptdDlv til the Office Of JUS
lice OF the Peace. They are the creatures
of partisan convention. Fer their eleya-
ton pipes We're laid, wires were pulled, the
passions and prcjudiccs OF the war appealed
10, and ali the machinery Of pot-houze ana
ring set III motion. Thar they might reach
the Supreme Bench the oraiilc Is dragged
through the dirty pool Of party politics, and
men whose jaoIciBI shoes some Of these
Democratic nominees were scarcely wor-
thy to unlOose, bat who scOrH. 1 to pull
wires, and were too pure to lay pipes, were
contumelioUslv set aside.
The Judges OF the Supreme Court OF
Tennessee should be the best lawyers IL the
State. They should be pre-emincnt above
their felio IS for native intellect, Tor crudi-
uon, for legal ttJsinments and general cul-
5ure, and especially for unimpeached integ-
rity and private character without stain.
They should be men Of broad and catholic
mind and judicial temPcr-men whom pas
sion would never sway and prejudice be
impotent 10 affect, while they poised the
scales which held the lives, the liberties and
the fortunes OF their fellows. The question,
as he Democrat ~ should be asked con
corning none OF thenI-and that Other qUCs-
ton, openly asked at the last Judicial Con-
yention, "NVas he IN the Confederate #rMy?"
should be held 30 foreign 70 the high inter
csts involved a. TO disgrace the man who
propounds II.
Ne have no hope that the coming con-
vention Will be any improvement on the
last, and take it for granted thai the most
experienced Puilcrs OF wires viii be the nom
inveF, without especial regard to fitness.
There il ample material in Tennessee for the
composition Of Supreme Bench which
would be the peer Of any in the land Such
men as Judge Mcfarland OF the present
bench, Hon. Nm. +. Cooper Of Nashville,
Col. Jo rdan Stokes, Of Lebanon, Chancellor
Marks, eX-ChancciiOr Lurtcn, Judge Henry
G. Smith, Of Memphis, Hon. Howell +.
jackson, Of Jackson-sach men as these
would a3oGn the oIIaine and honor the
CommoGT ealth; but such men being igno-
rent OF tic occult ways Of rings, and despis-
ing the tactics Of the pot-house, would stand
very scaut showing, We take it, before Dou--
ocratic Judicial Convention