The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-06-26

newspapers that he is to Investigate
the Judge. He appears in court He
ceedings, and sometimes takes notes,
with an air not wholly insignificant.
He interviews disgruntled attorneys.
Sometimes when ruling is made, he
hastens to the attorney losing and
suggests error. He takes statements
of stubborn debtors whom the judg-
ments and DEGREES of courts have OBJ
liged, most unwillingly, to pay their
debts. All the quid nuncs of the COM
muaity are on the alert The exam
liner, and L speak of him with great
respect, even with timid depreciation,
works in a mysterious way his won
der to perform He is a person of
largest consequence. He seems to
low of his hand, and as he walks to
the streets, he reminds one of the
lines
Ills air L tread, and as I step
1 feel my advanced head knock out
a star in heaven
No Charges Pending.
"All the while, be it remembered,
there is not syllable of imputable
censure or criticism pending against
the judge where alone charges should
be made, and that in the appropriate
offices of the representatives of the
people, to whom are committed as
well the rights of their constituents to
an upright and honest judiciary and
the honor and character of judges
who are presumed to have done their
duty.
Doesn't Inform Judge.
I'm the meantime, the examiner inn
parts to the judge no information
whatever of any complaint. There is
then no chance for defense, even II
defense to an unauthorized inquisition
by an unauthorized inquisitor was not
unworthy of the judicial station. Who
then can forecast the report the ex-
aminer will make? When it will be
made is equally uncertain. Finally,
the attorney general himself informs
the public in the most public way,
that no charges have been preferred,
but, alas, the harm, irremediab Bile,
causeless, cruel harm is done.
Destructive to Confidence.
This method is very, very recent. I
more offensive to the chastity Of jul
dicial honor, no other more harmful to
judicial vigor. With experience of
four years in the service of my state,
and "a years in the service of my
country, I declare that no other pro-
ceeding can be so destructive of the
confidence and support accorded the
judiciary by the masses of the people.
If proper with district judge, it is
equally proper with the judges of the
supreme court of the United States.
For action less directly in the pres
ence of the court, less interfering
with the administration of justice,
men have been convicted for con-
tempt of court and the convictions
have been sustained. 1t is indeed to
place the judge at the mercy, not only
of the chief, but of the subordinate of
an executive department. It is a
method. Aye, it is more Russian than
Then, too, there is no end
to it.
Investigate Every Year.
The Investigations of a judge may
and do follow for each successive
year. Does it not trench upon the
supreme privilege of the representa-
tives of the people? Is it not violating
every we'll known principle of our
constitution to secure the independ-
ence of the Coordinate branches of
our government? Surely this method
has grown UP through the action of
and the nonobservance
rather than the orders of the lawyers
who fill the station of attorney gen. |
era1 Will the attorney general longer
permit such continuous torture to the |
judges of our country? Do we dread |
constitutional investigation? No.
"Falsus honor juvat
Eft infamia mendaX ferret
Quem sed mendosum at mendacem."
"Endures Ordeal"
To endure such an ordeal as that I
have but feebly portrayed, without |
suffering the most intolerable, the 1
Judge must have the hardihood of a |
head hunting Igorotte or a Patagon- |
ian savage. And shall this un-Amer-
lean method continue? By it and
similar aggressions on the independ-
ence of the judiciary shall the august
fabric which Marshall and the great
judges who held with him have ruled; /
amid the cursings of the mob, the
jeers of the hoodlums, and the mouth
lngS of the demogague crumble into |
The independence of
the judges is the chief felicity of the
to crook the pregnant hinges of the
knee that thrift may follow fawning? |
No greater curse can be inflicted upon
the nation, said John Marshall, than a
and dependent judiciary. If
the magistrate to whom the judicial
power of the nation is entrusted shall
be dra gged down from the serene re-
be subservient to the politicians who
hold departmental offices, then truly
the noble motto, Let justice be done
though the heavens fall,'' will be sup
planted by the odious slogan, ITO the
victors belong the spoils," and the
high judicial station, once the glory
Of the nation, will become the ignoble
my brethren, that the dignity of our
noble profession depends on the I'M
1efiled purity and the righteous au-
-hority of the courts wherein you are
the priests of justice.
Foresees Dark Future.
Your courts degraded and enthraIl-
ed, your judges prejudged, uncertain,
-imorous, trem bling before the par
isans in office and before that many
headed monster the mob" wherein
lies your safety, your repose of mind, Il
h.