strength. The first article of the Bill of Rights
acknowledges and sanctions the principle, that
the right of appointment belongs to the people.
"All government originates from the people,"
&c. You have it here sanctioned by the blood of
the revolution. The very object for which these
colonies fought, was to obtain the right to select
their own agents, and to choose their own offi-
cers. is it remarkable, then, is there any thing
ultra, is there any thing, I ask, like demagogue-
ism, in the proposition that the very rights which
which our fathers fought for, and finally achiev-
ed by glorious independence, should now be en-
grafted upon our fundamental law?
Gentlemen who had not given this subject as
much reflection as they should have done, seem-
ed to think that this is ultra, extraordinary, and
may lead to dangerous results. Sir, the question
is one simply of expediency—whether the peo-
ple shall be reunited to their original rights or
not? Whether the power shall be given to them,
not for the first time, for this I think was settled
by the Revolution, but as a reversionary right to
which they have just claims of inheritance. They
do not ask for power which they never possessed
before, for they had it by the Bill of Rights, of
1776, and by the Constitution of 1776, they grant-
ed it to subordinate agents. That Constitution
being about to expire, these powers necessarily
went to the people, their original and rightful
owners. In the great trial which was then to be
made—this experiment of self-government—the
people were induced to part with this power.
They incorporated as a provision in the Constitu-
tion of 1776, that the Governor and Council
should have the appointment of judges, chancel-
lor, and all judicial officers. Sir, this was a
grant of power—a relinquishment of their own
rights and interests to mere subordinate agents,
This trust has new been in existence for more
than seventy years, and now the people desire to
bring these agents to an account. They want
now to see how the account stands. They re-
quire these agents to give them an account of
their stewardship—whether they have executed
the trusts reposed in them in accordance with the
purposes for which this grant was made ? Whe-
ther they have carried out, in truth, the original
intentions, for the public interest and the public
good? We have confided to you, the Governor
and Council, or you the Governor and Senate,
this power of appointment for wise, wholesome,
and good purposes. We expected that in the ex-
ecution of this power, you would look alone to the
common good of the people of the State. How
have you exercised the power? In the appoint-
ment of judges, have you made the interests of
the people your great polar star to guide you?
No. It has become a mere political machine in
the hands of the Governor and his friends, the
Governor and the Senate, and their friends. It
is made a great political engine, by which the
interests of a large portion of the people of the
State have been sacrificed for the elevation of
others. You have not always looked alone to
the legal attainments and uprightness of the
men you have put upon the bench. You have
not always looked to their integrity of character, |
their honesty, their capability, and the standing
which they ought to have by reason of their vir-
tues; you have selected, in many cases, mere par-
tisan adherents to certain political creeds. I am
new using language which the people have a right
to use to those subordinate agents, who have
heretofore had the exercise of this power.
Your appointments have not subserved the
public interests. You have placed upon the
bench, old and infirm men, not fit, either men-
tally or physically, to perform the duties which
the Constitution or the public exigencies require
of them. You have done all this. All the pur-
poses for which we—the people—gave you the
right and power to appoint these officers, have
been abused and frustrated, and now we choose
to take it back into our own hands. We think
we can do quite as well as you. The time has
come now, when we have a right to call upon
you for an account, to see how your administra-
tion of this trust has been discharged. We find
that you have entirely failed to fulfil the objects
for which we made you our agents. I appeal,
when I say this, to the judgment of every mem-
ber of this Convention, to the common observa-
tion of every man in the State, if what I say is
not true? Can you show mean instance, from
the time of the formation of the Constitution of
1776, to the present day, in which the Governor
and council or the Senate, in the execution of the
appointing power, have not made the appoint-
ment to depend more or less on the political com-
plexion of the applicant ? We all know that this
is so. They have appointed some good judges,
it. is true, and some very bad ones—some who
were competent, others who were incompetent.
The motives which actuate them, however, were
every way in contravention of the original ob-
jects of this grant of power. I might say to
them, then in the name of the people, you have
betrayed your trust, you have not executed it as
we intended you should, and we now take it back
to ourselves, in the exercise of this, however,
we think that we will be more discreet—we will
look more to the merit of the candidates—to their
honesty of characrer—their integrity of purpose
—to their qualifications as lawyers, as men, and
as citizens. You have not done this, and if you
were put upon your trial, you would be obliged
to plead guilty to the charge! Then, sir, we are
not demagogues—we have a right to call our
agents to a strict account of their stewardship.
They have no right to quarrel with us, because
they choose to conceive it to he an inconvenient
time. I say now is the time—now is the very
time to do it. The question of right cannot be
disputed. I hope never again, sir, to hear of
demagoguism. I hope never again to hear those
who advocate the election of judges by the peo-
ple, charged with looking solely to a disposition
to court public favor. Sir, we stand on higher
and holier ground, the impregnable ground of
right—of inherent right.
I expect to hear a good deal of declamation on
this subject. I put that, sir, under my foot.
Gentleman who declaim against this measure,
may array themselves if they please against the
constitutional rights of the people. But I will |
