The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1914-05-02
coon GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI.


political Improvement Of conditions
in Mississippi.
The men who fought the old
Legislative caucus ring of 1910,
and who stood by Senator Varda-
man and the principles of good gov
eminent declared and advocated by
him, and who elected him to the
Senate of the United States. are
standing solidiy together, united
in the purpose of placing the State
on higher standard of its public
affairs.
We want to raise the standards
of public life. and to infuse finer
spirit into the administration of
the public affairs of the State We
want a Legislature composed Of
men of intelligence and patriotism
and independence. of broad d-guage
views. and who will raise above
the temptations of the spoils of
office and destructive influences of
public patronage. We want a
judiciary that is composed of men
of learning in their profession, to
use the expression of a great Miss.
issipian of generation ago. Law
yers who are learned above their
fellows" !"
The people now for the first time
since the era before Reconstruction,
are allowed to elect their Judges
and chancellors. With the people,
therefore, under the new constitu-
tional provisions. rests the respon-
sibility and the whole responsible.
ity, of electIng a judiciary that
will restore to Mississippi the pres
tiRe that this commonwealth ENJOY
ed as State distinguished for the
purity, the independence, the
learning and the wisdom of its
judges. There were the days of
W. L Sharkey and William YER
ger, of Pinckney Smith and Henry
Ellet. of Chalmers and Kennedy,
and the scores of iurists who grac-
ed and adorned the Supreme Bench
of the State. There were Shall
Yerger and John Orion, John W.
6. Watson and men of their class
who distinguished the circuit
courts of the State.
There was in those days no such
public monstrosity known in the
State as partisan Judge. When
the fires of Reputation ragged in
the State. and the question of the
Reputation of the Union Bank
bonds came before the Supreme
Court of the State in the very
midst Of partisan campaign. the
decision of the question of the
validity of the bonds was made by
unanimous count, William I.
Sharkey and WilIiani Yerger. ar
dent Wings. and Pinckney. a no
less ardent Democrat, all joining
in the decision rendered by the
court
We of this generation, unfortun.
ately for ourselves and unhappiIy
tor the State. have witnessed
different spectacles in the perform
ance of the judiciary of the State.
We have seen something of the
effects of the poison of partisanship
in judicial decisions in recent years
in Mississippi. not alone in civil
causes, but in criminal cases in.
volving the reputation, the charac-
ter and the liberty of the citizens
of this State. We have seen the
guilty escape and the innocent pun
ished. God save the mark! There
has been the spectacle of COM
plaisant judges. fawning appointees
of executive favor. playing with
the right and liberties of the citI-
zen
A senator on the floor Of the
State Senate asked Senator Nc.
Laurin. who was making a speech
in favor of an elective judiciary. if
he thought that better judges and
chancellors would be elected by the
people than were appointed by the
Governor, to which Senator Nc
Laurin's reply was simply this.
MAY God help them if they are
no better"
In ante bellum days the people
elected all of their judges, and
there is no question that the judi
ciary of no state stood higher than
that of the State of Mississippi
Why cannot the people at once
elevate the standard of their judi
|ciary? Let them ignore the petit.
fogger, snd the oily politician, and
bring out themselves and on their
own initiative. the best mon for
these high. honorable and most re-
sponsibIe positions
The life, the liberty, and the
property of the citizen depend up
on those who preside over the
courts of the State. Contemplate
the enormous moral and official re-
sponsibility of those judges: what
momentous issues are brouhgt be-
fore them
When one is grievously i'll he
selects the most skIlful physician
or surgeon; when his property or
his liberty is at stake he finds the
strongest and the most learned and
the most trustworthy lawyer to
protect him: when he buys a piece
of property he uses every effort to
see that he gets q good title. BY
the same token. why should be not
proceed with the same caution and
lcircumspection in the selection OF
| q judge to whom he may be com
PEELED at any time for the protec-
tion Of his legal rights and his