The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1901-03-14

State government, which, more than
any other, must be guarded against
every semblance of obligation or re-
striction and preserved entirely indie
pendent and sovereign in it's sphere of
action The Judge who sits upon the
bench to pass judgment upon all the
questions arising from q multitude OF
causes among multitude of people, in
order to render judgment fairly, must
be wholly unfettered, free from all
prejudice or partia1ity, from the inf1u-
ence of personal inclination, obligat ion
and power. Consequently it has been
deemed the part of wisdom to place the
candidates for Judiciary positions in
category by themselves, surrounded
with such peculiar regulations as to
make their nomination in the greatest
possible degree free from the politics
of caucus and convention, from the
one man power, or the influence of the
faction or clan that so often governs
political nominations by caucus and
convention. In thus iso1ating the
candidates for Judicial position, it is
the purpose to make the Judiciary de-
pendent upon nothing more nor less
than the ability and worthiness, from
the standpoint of fitness, of the men
elected to serve in that capacity.
Of course it is always within the
power of the people, if they are in
clined, to ignore and render futile all
efforts, but the fact that the trainers of
our constitution and the makers of our
laws considered it the part of wisdom
to thus guard the Judiciary round
about with such precautions is sutfl-
cient to convince the average man,
that it is his interest to preserve that
institution as invio1ab1e as the fathers
regarded it.
In e1ecting a Judge of the Circuit
Court, therefore, to be true to the
spirit of our institutions and the best
interests of all concerned, it is abso-
1ute1y Indispensable that the decision
should be made on the sole question of
merit. With the candidates before the
people, the sanctity and power of the
Judiciary are jeopardized unless the
choice of the Circuit Judge is made on
the pure and simple consideration of
merit The man who is elected to any
position whatsoever, by pull, is in
evitab1y hampered and hindered in the
proper discharge of his duty, while the
man who achieves Office entirely on his
merits has no one to thank but himself
is therefore unha mpered in the duties
of his Office.
John B. Simmons, who, through the
solicitation of his friends, has become
a candidate for the Circuit Judgeship,
is a man who is perfectly able to stand
on his merits. He is a man who has
the esteem of the bar, who has proved
his ability in many knotty case arts
ing in the course of long and varied
experience as a practitioner IN the
courts of this and other States. He is
a man whose character cannot be as
sailed, whose habits of diligence and
studiousness have placed him at the
head of his profession and made him
the natural choice of great majority
of the bar for the Judge of the Circuit
Court. There are other candidates in
the field. It is not difficult to make
comparison of the respective qualifi-
cations of all of them. If there are
any who by virtue of native ability,
extensive knowledge, wide experience
and character, are more entitled to the
Judgeship or better qualified to serve
in that high station, vote for your
choice.