Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-05-07
JUDGE COOLEY
Al Estimate or fiis Character and
Abiiit, o, Leading la~ journal.

Ability or Leading la~ journal.
Fr,,ln tIe St Iouls eutIsl Law Journal
The Amer can bar have learned With pain
that one OF the greatest lurists which shis
ooantry ever produced has Jast been defeated
Of q reelection 10 the supreaas Bench ef his
own State, though Ia the full strength Of has
powers and al the very he ighg al hls useful
ness. Thomas NJ. Cooley a. = constitutional
lawyer takes rank by the side Of Story and
Marshall AZ writer Ga constitutional a.
law he Il superior u Story, because
lie l. more accurate, Ices dirfase aud
! not a. vain Of display Of learning. His
legal ia ignents surpass those OF Story III
breYity and dictiOn. They equal those Of
Marshall ia dicgiOn and Ia massive reasoning
and greatly surpaSs them III leafnug. No
Judge has ever lived Ia this country possessing
a more enlightened spirit OF lustlce or d more
evenly balanced Judicial mind. His work Oh
Iorts l. the finest epitOme Of the Law on that
subject which has ever been written IA the
English language His labors az lecturer IA
the law schools of the University Of Michigan
have given him personal acquaintance with
members of the bar Ia every section OF the
Union. Through his labors a. an Instructor,
an author and Judge hs has acquired
hold on the good opinions OF his profes
sional brethren such 40 IL probably
enjoy ed by nO other living lawyer, And Yet
this great lawyer, after haviRg occupied for
some twenty continuous years "A seat on the
Supreme bench of his State, was defeated of
reelection the other day by a political com
bination having at the head of their ticket a
man unknown to the legal profession out
side of Michigan We do not wish 10 say
anything in disparagement of him, for We
know nothing of him. He may be good
lawyer and may make an excellent Judge.
But that the people of Michigan should have
been willing To put aside law er OF the
pre-emlnent learning experience and probl-
! ~ of Mr.. Justice Cooley fora new and un-
| tried man is a striking Illustration of the
| impolicy of eecting judges by the popular
vote. Ii also points 10 the fact that the policy
| of electing judges on "off years, when no
| political officers are to be elected, Is not a
safe remedy for the bad results which fire.
| quently flow from the system of electing
| judges by the popular vote. We find that
! here, on an ''of year" as well as on pollti-
! cal year, the opposing political parties meet
| in the conventions and nominate their candi-
dates, and their party followers march up TO
the rack and vote their party ticket a. blindly
/ as they do on years when presidential cleo
| tors and members of Congress are elected.
The defeat of Mr.. Justice Cooley, though
great shame TO Michigan, Is no loss 10 him
nor to the country He had far outgrown
| the office which he filled. He will be able,
as a chamber counselor, to take, in a single
| fee, as much as the State of Michigan paid
| him for two years of toll upon her bench of
| last resort. He will have, and will no doubt
| improve, the opportunity of devoting the
leisure of his ripe years to the literature of
| the law; and we may expect from this cir
cumstance results a. beneficial to American
! Jurisprudence as those which flowed from
the narrow policy of the former constitution
of New York, which retired Chancellor Kent
| from the bench at the age of GO.