The mirror., 1910-02-03
The Paper
That Won
In the Competition for Publication
in the Spectator in the Local
Chautauqua Circle.
Paper Read Before the Cha,.tauqua Circle.

Paper Read Before the Cha,tauqua Circle.
Gentlemen Of the Circle:
The motive that promptedRme to
write this article was to call your
attention to some of the judicial errors
which history has handed down to us
and the gross miscarriages of justice,
resulting in the judicial enforcement
of the DEGREES. In approaching the
subject do so with due respect and
honor to those who by law and the will
of the people, are delegated to judge
between man and man.
have nothing here to say of the
corruption of courts, nor place any
stigma on the mem bers of the judici-
ary. have respect for the courts and
admiration for the Bench as body OF
honorable men, but do not forget that
Judges are only men, influenced and
contro led by their education ..and en-
vironment. One may criticize and be
.censorious without being unjust Very
many intelligent men have thrown
arouud the judiciary holier atmosphere
than :any earthly tribun nal is warranted
to receive or possess. There is no divine
origin of the judiciary. 1t is not
hedged about with any divinity that
makes it angelical or holy, but part
of an institution of government of
mans creation for the welfare Of man.
kin /, the good order and preservation
Of society.
In my estimation the judiciary is the
most important as we'll as the most
valuable asset of all government and
comes in closer touch with the interests
aud welfare of the people as whole
than any other branch. But / do assert
it is an absurdity to hold the judiciary
in reverence and something SO sacred in
it's formation that it can not be ap-
preached without fear and trembling
judges are but men. There is nothing
in their profession or personality that
places them on pedestal of destina.
tion, or which alters their natural at.
tributes from their fellow men. There
is an old proverb that "the King car
do no wrong" There is as much truth
in the above quotation as there is in
the assumption that judicial decisions
are infallible and that no injustice il
ever rem Tered by a judicial sentence.
In the formation Of the judiciary VI
do not at all times secure for the Bencl
the wisest for wisdom, nor the mos
learned in jurisprudence, the most up
right in integrity nor the purest in tn
legal practice of the law. 1t Itisassume'
and believed by mary that state gov
ernment Judges are created by tn
rights of suffrage and by the fedora
government by executive appoint
ments. 1t is trne that to the people be
longs the right of making the Judge
who are to decide their causes, but thi
,prerogative has been made null an
void by corporate interests and th
special privileged classes who selet
and push forward to the Bench me
who have devoted their legal talents
the interests Of trusts, combinations {
capital and corporate wealth. Such me
elevated to the judiciary do not brin
to the Bench that independence I
character, nor the wisdom for an In
partial decision in trial cases, whel
equal justice is sought by both defen
ant and plaintiff.
In the last thirty years we have see
the judiciary increased to such nur
bers that there are now as many Judg
as there are fleas on the Dutchman
dog. And for years and years Il
Bench has been busily engaged in I
versing the decisions, correcting Il
mistakes, errors and general mistria
of one another until equity and justi
have been lost sight of altoge ther.
that Judean drama which took pla
eighteen hundred years ago in Z
city of Jerusalem, history has hand