The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-09-16
CWritten for The Times).

Y
The suggestion that the Constitutional
Convention shall provide Tor the election
of judges by direct vote OF the people is
naturally the most interesting, and should
be the most alarming, Suggestion that
has been made in conneotion with that
convention, toward which the thoughts of
cur people turn with so much mingled
hope and anxiety. Mr. Garland Pollard
recently wrote of this plan, with a sort
of guarded approval, in one of mis- conven-
ton articles for The Times. He says that
the fact that all except three States have
abandoned the plan now in operation in
Virginia is sufficient to justify Virginia
in seriously considering q change. The
fact that Virginia tested and abandoned
the popular election system ought TO nave
weight on the other side. Mr.. Pollard
quotes, strangely as it may seem to us
in this connection, the words
Of Chief Justice Marshall at
the convention of %: THE great
est scourge that an angry heaven has
ever inflicted upon an ungratefm and a
SHINING people is an ignorant, a corrupt
or a dependent Judiciary" That ne quotes
these words at all shows that we arc
united in a desire for the learning, purity
and independence OF cur courts and that
the difference is only as to the method Ter
it's fullillment. 1t seems to me plain that
the very dCl .li1dl l1ON4uCo LA popUiAh
election Of judges creates a dependent
judiciary, offers every temptation for a
corrupt judiciary, and provides for an
ignorant judiciary.
ON ELECTIOSEERING ARENA.
Mr.. BrodnaN, in the debate on an anala-
gous but less fragrant danger to the in
dependence Of the judiciary in the con-
vention Of 80 said: Sir, does not this
of necessity at once throw all the judges
of the State on the electioneerins arena?
Will not every interest, every feeling,
every prejudice even OF the human heart
invoke their most active exertions?" The
very qualities which fit a judge for his Of
flee dSqualify him for a popular cam
paign. The heat and clanor Of a political
campaign are destructive to the judicial
frame of mind. The time that should be
devoted to the studies of the most exact
ing OF professions is given by the candidate
for office to winning the approval Of his
cons itutents The courts should be the
stronghold of the weak, who need their
protection. Under the direct vote system,
the political life of the judge depends
directly upon the appreciation of the
strong.
Does not such state af things go to
make the judges the subservient tools
of the most pernicious purposes?' The
learning. probity and fairness of the men
who hoo these high offices in Virginia IS
orr trust; but the fundamental reason for
the being of every written constitution is
to provide as far as human wisdom can
against malfeasance. We owe 1t to our
Judges, no less than to ourselves, to pro
tect the lofty offices they hold from the
onslaught OF temptation. 60 beyond this,
SAID Mr. Ccalter, land you join the be-
trayer Of the souls of men, and You are
answcrable for the souls that are thus
tempted and destroyed"
OF VITAL IMPORTANCE.
Every CHILD knows that the judiciary is
the department of government most direct
ly affecting each of US. Our lives and liberty
and honor are in the keeping of the
courts And the purity Of the courts can
only be assured by preserving, as far as
human ingenuity can devise, their indie
pendence while maintaining in the high
est degree their responsibility.
There is no blinking the fact that Popu-
lar election makes the judge Immediately
dependent upon that strong and tickle
tning-the will of the majority. Chief
Justice Marshall says: "Advert, sir, to the
duties OF a judge. lie has to pass between
the Government and the man whom that
Government is prosecuting; between the
most powerful individual in the community
and the poorest and most unpopular