St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-01-22

Since the foundation of the fed
eral government, six United States
judges have been presented to the
senate for Impeachment by the
house of representatives. Three
have been acquitted and three have
been convicted and removed from Of
flee. The proceedings are attended
by the formality and respect for
law that should characterize 80 Sc
rious an undertaking, for the ac-
cused judge, may not only be removed
from the bench, but he may, by the
judgment of the senate, sitting as a
court, be forever disqualified from
holding Office of honor or trust un-
der the United States, as was the
decree of the senate I'm the case OF
Judge Archibald. So severe a SEN
tence should not be imposed without
opportunity for the accused to be
heard fully In his own defense. The
petty criminal, whose punishment
may be only a fine, is accorded this
opportunity, and such a sentence as
the senate has put upon Judge Arch
bald is quite as much of an infection
as a term in the penitentiary. The
accused is as marked man as
though he had donned the convict's
stripes. Although time has been re-
CURED to secure this result, 1t must
be admitted that the affect is more
impressive than it would have been
If Judge Archibald had been recalled
by popular agitation of his dement's.
There was an entire absence of par
tisanship in this impeachment, and
this would have been impossible un-
der any system of appeal to the vot-
ers.
In this connection it should not be
forgotten that besides the removal
OF judges by impeachment the con-
situations of many of the older statei
still provide for another method of
Kidding the bench of members whose
shortcomings do not aggregate
crime or misdeaeanor for which i'm
parchment will lie. This is removal
by address of the legislature, in
some states like New Hampshire
and Massachusetts by a majority
vote of both branches, and in others
by a two-thirds vote. Even Roose-
welt appears to have forgotten that
in his own state of New York, the
decision of whose supreme court in
a recent case he has made the basis
for his demand for the recall OF
judges by popular vote, the consti-
tuition provides for removal of
judges by address of the legisla-
ture.
While this process has been most
ly invoked by partisans after a po-
litical victory, there is no reason
why it may not be employed to rid
the bench of an unfit judge If his
derelictions are SO apparent that the
legislative body, after hearing the
case, so decide. Although it is a
power which the farmers of consid-
tutions did not expect would be used
except in rare cases, a dnatholuhg
except in rare cases, and although Ii
is more summary proceeding than
impeachment, it does furnish oppor-
tunity for elaboration that canno'
attend a recall by votes of the cleo
torate. When such authority exists
in the constitutions of states there is
even less occasion to demand a
change in the method of removing
judges. The fact is, as the. impeach-
ment and punishment of Judge
Archibald demonstrate, there is no
call for the popular recall of judg-
es. If the demand for this change
had any justification it would have
been preceded by attempts to ex-
haust all the existing provisions of
state constitutions. Il Manchester
Union.