Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-02-16
The Observer.

"OhbJ -lIFC vi SCl NlSO,l OllS bllSip
| should be looked into carefully. The
| question is not what personal motives
may be Immediately back of it. Even
though it should appear that certain
judges are instigating it's passage in
order that they may profit by it provis.
ions, or that other parties are promot-
| ing it in order to create vacancies for
themselves or for their friends, this
| does not affect the question as to the
essential merits or demerits of the bill
itself. Neither should the question be
considered merely in the light of ex-
pense. If this money will really be
well spent, it will not have been
thrown away, and its expenditure
should notbe begrudged.
The real question has to do with the
probable effect of this measure upon
the judiciary itself Those who favor
the passage of the bill reason some
what as follows: OF all the depart
ments of our government, the Judi
ciary should be the one most iudepen-
dent of outside influence, the one
most free from any suspicion of inter-
est. A judge who is a holder of rail
road or industrial stocks, or who is an
extensive property owner, or who has
outside business interests of other
kinds, will frequently be placed in the
embarrassing position of having to sit
in judgment upon cases in which his
own interests are more or less directly
involved. 1t is not enough to pay
judge a reasonable living salary merely
during the time of his actual service.
If he is assured of nothing beyond
this, he is under the necessity of MAX
ing such provision as he can for the
non-earning days of old age. 1t is not
to be supposed that he can save any.
thing to speak of out of his salary.
Five thousand dollars a year sounds
large, but it must be remembered that
a Judge is expected to live in manner
worthy of his position. 1t is always
very easy for one to tell how much other
people ought to save out of their salar-
ies-much easier than it is for one to
save anything out of his own salary.
A few months ago some one asked Mrs.
Observer in what manner the Observ-
er has invested the large sums he is
supposed to has saved. The Observer
smiled sadly when Mrs. Observer told
him what had been said. 1t is really
not reasonable to expect that a Judge
can save anything to speak of out Of
his salary. Moreover, even if he
should beable to save, he will be under
the necessity or under the temptation
ofinvesting what he has saved in ways
that will more or less compromise his
independence as judge. Why not
make such provision for him that he
will be entirely relieved of all thought
for the morrow, and will be in a posi-
ton to devote himself without dis
traction and without bias to the duties
of peculiarly high and exacting of.
flee? Our judges are among the most
talented and capable men that we
have. AS captains of industry, or as
corporation counsels, they could easily
earn ten or twenty times the amount
of the salaries they receive. In view
of the comparative smallness of their
salaries, and the uncertainty of pro-
UlGInr1 for tho ft1fn ic, i
that some of them establish side con-
nections with business enterprises. or
that Others leave the bench altogether
for the larger remuneration of cor
poration counsel? Ought it not to be
made an object TO the right sort of
men to take up the work of the Judi
ciary as life work, wholly untram-
melled by any sort Of business connec-
| tions, and assured that a salary suffi-
cient to maintain them in becoming
dignity will be theirs as long as they
live?
AT first the Observer did not look
| favorably upon this bill, and at most
thought that the judges should be con.
tent to retire on half pay; but his re-
Election along the foregoing lines has
led him to favort the bill as it stands. Of
course it must not be expected that this
measure will result in the ideal per-
fection of the state judiciary. No
doubt drunken, profane and immoral
men will continue, occasionally, to dis
! grace an office that in some respects is
likest to Gods of any on earth, but the
effect of the bill, if it becomes a law,
will tend distinctly towards the eleva.
ton and strengthening of the judi
ciary.
/ We understand the First National