New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-19

that during the Administration or the tate oeno
Canovas the courts, on being called upon u
pronounce upon the validity OF the VIII OF Do'
Alessandro gave a decision against the Quee'
Regent on some frivolous and altogether pre-
posterous grounds. The true reason was Una
Premier Canovas and the members OF his CAP
met. particularly the Minister OF Justice were
bitterly opposed to the Queen, and at one time
in fact were on the point of depriVlnB her vi th'
Regency in order to vest 1t in the hands OF mel
sister-in-law. the wi lowed Infanta Isabella II
giving Judgment against the Queen the no
>, riouslv corrupt courts Of Madrid, therefore
r,ore,v obeved the behests OF the Cabinet, ant
in particular OF the man who was theh MiniS'e'
~ Justice Before Sagasta had been at the
head Of affairs six months, however, the Mahri'
tribunals which had in the meanwhile peeh re
organized, the friends Of the Conservative Al
ministration being replaced on the bench pS
members Of the Liberal party, reversed the
Judgment. and the entire fortune OF Don Ales
sandro amounting to several millions OF dol
lars was placed In the hands Of the Queer
Regent who has never made any attempt tC
conceal her marked preference for the Liberia
platform.
To the obedience Of the judges of continental
Europe to the Government OF the day must OF
ascribed the fact that the principal culprits II
the great bank frauds OF Italy, as OF the Panama
Canal scandal in France, have never beer
brought to justice, those unfortunate people VINO
were convicted and punished having been no
toriousy either minor actors In the AFFAIRS or els'
merely the more or less unconscious instruments
Indeed Charles de Lesseps, the most honest aho
chivalrous Of men. VIGOROUSLY offered hifnseil
as a scapegoat and underwent two years i'm
prisonment In connection with the Panams
disaster solely with the object OF protecting his
aged father, who would otherwise have spent
the close of his life behind the bars Of a peni'
Tertiary. NJ de Beaurepaire, who resigned q
few weeks ago the presidency Of the Civil Di
vision of the Court Of Cassaton-that is to say
of Frances supreme Enthusiastically received
his post as president Of that court from the
Cabinet Of the day q reward for having while
Procurator General, or public prosecutor, used
all his efforts to shield the friends Of the Govern
ment implicated In the Panama scandal
ONE OF THE DISADVANTAGES.
or course there Is no rose without its thorns
and therefore no one need be astonished TO learn
that this Independence of the judges In Eng
land and In the United States entails certain
disadvantages, not the least Of which are the
difficulties experienced in removing from the
bench any Judge who through Illness. mental OF
physical has become untitled for the task of ad
minstering Justice. Thus it only with the
utmost trouble that the late Sir James Fitzjames
Stephen persuaded by his family and
friends to resign his place on the bench almost
a full year after he had first given public mani
festation Of an unbalanced mind And one Of the
strongest arguments ia favor of the grant Of a
pardon to Mrs. Maybrick, the American alleged
poisoner undergoing a life sentence In
England Is that Sir James was undoubtedly
mentally unsound at the time when he presided
over the court by which she was convicted. In
analogous case In France or elsewhere on the
Continent the Minister OF Justice would, with
more or less nominal sanction of the Court of
Cessation, solve the difficulty by dismlssng the
lunatc Judge.
Another advantage which the English and
American nations have over Continer tai ma
lions Is that their judges debarred by legal
etiquette from receiving any decorations. II the
present Lord Chief Justice wears the Grand
Cross of the Order OF St Michael and St.
George, being the first occupant Of his office to
be thus adorned II is because he received this
distinction while Attorney General and prior to
his elevation to the bench and there Is In the
entire history Of England only one Lord
Chancellor on record having been invested
with the Order Of the Bath on going out Of
office namely, Lord Herschell. who at the time
when he accepted this distinction was bitterly
reproached by the English press Of every shade
Of political opinion for thus degrading. as It was
aoa al he tty Of he loft offic ha
had held.
In conclusion, let me add that not even the
sovereign herself In above the law In England