Pocahontas star herald., 1912-05-17

murder in the second degree. No
one will say that this man should
not serve his entire time, knowing
that he committed the crime; but
let man who is popular among
the people and who is friend of
the prisoner circulate a petition for
his pardon, and you will find that
a majority of the people will sign
it. Why? Because some popular
man has circulated it. Therefore,
we sayIthat judges should not be
subject to the recall, for the people
through the influence of some popu,
lar men might decide upon a ques-
tion that would be detrl-
mental to our peace and common
safety.
The majority Of the common vot-
ers are not competent to determine
whether decision made by the Su-
preme Court or State Court Is in
accordance with law and constltu.
ton. How will they secure the ev-
idence concerning the lneficiency Of
a iud ge? President Taft answers
this question in the following state.
ment: ,"Think," says Mr.. Taft,
"of the opportunity such n system
would offer to political Bosses 10
control, as they have been, not only
of conventions but of elections"
1t is an undisputed fact that many
of our officials are elected who do
not deserve the position. At the
polls the list of candidates is sub
mitted TO the voters and in many
cases, he casts his ballot for the one
whose name looks best to him,
disregarding the dement's of that
candidate. Even In the school
districts the voters have been known
to sign as many as four petitions,
some of which were Numerically
opposed. Therefore, if men within
80 small jurisdiction as the school
district render decisions of this kind
which are so destructive TO their
children, the rising generation, how
much more injustice would the
majority do to our government and to
the minority if they had the power
to recall a judge for an unpopular
decision?
This proposed recall is only a
theory-it is untried, and to adopt
such a system would drive our
government into the bounds of
Socialism. Then why tear down
the government or forefathers
fought for and established, under
which we have enjoyed liberty to
the fullest extent and under which
we have so rapidly progressed, for
a system that is untrled, unreliable
and dangerous?
That the recall of judges not only
tends to weaken our necessary inde.
pendence but is directly destructive
thereof can be easily proven. You
would place Judge in office and
say to him, "You shall maintain
the principles of justice; but if you
oppose the will of the governing
body in maintaining those princi-
pies, you shall be withdrawn from
office and disgraced for life. If
you render an unpopular decision
you shall be recalled and a candi-
date placed in Office who has not
offended popular opinion" Contro
versies over labor trou bles, polIti
cal and religious issues, the remov-
al of county seats, etc. These and
many other cases could be cited
when a majority of a city electorate
would be tempted to recall a con
scientious Judge. No doubt, in
some cases, the Judge renders
decisions which are against his will
and still be in accordance with the
law. For instance, take the case of
the lady mistress, teacher in Kan
sas, who was tarred and feathered
by some impolite men. The Judge
in his own words said, 81 would
rather sentence those men 10 the
renitentiary for ten years, but fine
of three hundred dollars is the ex