New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-05-15
TIE Authority or JUDGES.

President Taft invited attention TO the
reco1l Of the judiciary as threatening ~
diminish still further the authority ol
JUDGES in this country. and thus endan-
eerinp the movement to give dignity ana
effectiveness to criminal procedure. the
i,;dce presidinc at a trial tends. espe-
ciaIlv I'm the Western States. TO be hardly
more. as Mr.. Taft said. than the MOI
orator of religious assembly, SO niue
authority has he over the jury or the
counsel before him. And now IL Is pro-
nosed TO make an additional encroach-
ment on the independence and influence
OF the judicial Office by making lis III
cumbents subject to popular whlms ana
gusts of passion. That judges trying
criminal cases would have little occasion
70 fear the recall can hardly he said
when the immense public interest in
some proceedings of that character Is
borne in mind California. for example
will soon vote on an amendment 10 us
constitution giving its citizens power to
recall its judiciary. Had the recall eX-
listed ar the time Of the San Francisco
graft trials the Judges of several courts,
from the lowest 10 the highest. would al
most certainly have been its targets.
San Francisco was divided between
two hostile bodies Of public opinion, one
insisting that all responsible for the cor
ruption existing should he brought TO jus
tice and the other holding that the pros
ecutions should he dropped as bad for
business" The whole state, though In
less degree. was agitated by the debate.
As the Judges decisions In those cases
diSpeased one or the other faction. the
recall would certainly have been resorted
to. What those trials would have been
like if they had been conducted under
the threat Of removal from Office for dis
pleasing the majority II is impossible to
imagine 4 worse traveSty on judicial
system than that cannot be conceived.
The recall of Judges is certain 10 be
experimental with by some of the West
ern States. and we share Mr.. Taft's hope
that the public will soon see the useless
ness Of the "nostrum." But in any event.
admirable as the English system Is, there
IS little prospect that judges In TINS
country will ever obtain the authorita-
tive position in court possessed by an
English Judge The authority of an Eng
fish Judge is largely survival. vaiu-
able one indeed. from an ariStocratic
system The Judges were members Of the
ruling classes" The jurors and the
public were in the habit of looking up 10
them. even in their private capacity. rs
superior in birth. education. Opportunl-
ties and all the other advantages that
carry weight IN an aristOcratic society.
This tradition more than anything else
has made the English judge the useful
institution that he is to-day. II is i'm
possible for this country 10 look upon
Judges In the same light \ democracy
has no such traditions. and the constant
tendency here is away from the English
view of judicial activity. Western stat
utes are full Of Jealous regard for The
importance of jurors.
But if il is Improbable that American
Judges will ever receive the authority
and possess the firm grasp upon the bust
ncss of the court which President Taft,
from his experience on the bench. re-
CARDS 50 highly in the English system.
perhaps the present impotence with the
iudciary-for the serious consideration
of the recall in some places must he re-
garded as a symptom Of such impatience
will result in causing the courts to
abandon their love Of slibtletics and tech
nicalities and introduce more popular
common sense into the business of law
enforcement Much of the laws delay
consists in trying 10 trap trial Judges in
the mazeS which courts themselves have
woven and in appealing to the higher
Judges 10 determine whether they have
been 50 trapped. Judges in Il large part
Of the country may never have more au-
/ thority than 'mOderatorS of religious as
sembllos" possess but rules under which
/ trials are conducted before them can be
50 simpified as 10 secure i'm some meas
IRE the dispatch of the English system.