Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1882-10-26

Representatives. and officers are en-
powered to enforce the observance Of
order. Houses Of assembly. tribunals
Of justice. station houses. prisons and
reformatory institutions. with the tnr-
MOL and excitement Of general cleo
ton, are the outcome ofan actual gov
efhment that has proved . success.
The people are 50 far self governing.
that they decide who shall hold Office
and whom they shall remove Former
". more authority was vested In the
chief executive Of the State than there
is at present. His privileges have
been restricted. He retains the
power Of aPpointing judges Of election.
but the popular vote decides who shall
preside in the district courts. The
Judiciary election Is approaching. and
sundry members Of the bar are sitting
on the anxious bench until the returns
will be made. The judiciary Of Mary
land has always ranked high In res
rect to ability and uprightness and
will favorabiy compare with that Of
other States. 1t may not be the case
that all judges are exempt from fol-
bles, as even the honorabls court il
but human. But as long as such Pc
culiarities do not impair the wisdom
Of the court, warp its judgement. de-
feat the aims of justice or offend the
majesty of the law, voters have only
to decide If the candidate is worthy
Of all confidence They have no more
b do with the p 1liticaI records Of.
judge than with his profession of faith,
his stature or complexion. In the
election that will come off next month
it Is hoped that more regard will be
paid 70 the qualifications Of the judi
cial candidate than TO his Republican
or Democratic tendencies. 1t is not
expected that he can totally renounce
his interest in the political world; he
reserves the right to retain his per-
sonal opinions. but these shoald not
effect his judicial decisions. Nor
should he permit the fgurative ermine
robe lac is by beautiful fiction of law
alleged to wear, to be sullied by the
mire Of politics. Judge Nelson, Of
Brooklyn, the distinguished iurist who
presided on the bench during the
Beecher trial. expressed in the No
vember number of the North American
ReUielO his opinions of court-rooms
and the indispensable qualifications
of judges. He asserts the usefulness
of courts depends on the due admin
istration Of justice, and this object
cannot be effected without adequate
powers are vested in the Judges for
the preservation of order. He ad-
duces several instances where judges
were in fault in the exercise of their
authority. and shows where timid,
ignorant or partizan Judge has in
validated inadvertently the prescrib-
ed forms of law and order. While
Judge Nelson is in favor of having
the court vested with plenary powers
within its proper jurisdiction, he be-
lieves that judges should cultivate a
spirit of patience, self-restraint and
gontlemanly urbanity to members of
the bar. We believe that Maryland
can count among the legal profession
many members whose talents, wisdom
and independence would grace the
Supreme Court Let such men then
be elected. If such were already tri-
ed in the balance and not found
wanting, let them by all means retain
their high positions of trust AMI hon.
or. If other more eligible candidates
aspire to the bench. they are entitled
to fair trial without favor or pre-
JUDGE. If We cannot obtain perfect
Judges, let us make the but selection
possible.