appeals are elected by the qualified voters of
the several districts from which they come.
There are many reasons why I think that
under that system we can get a better man
for the court of appeals than by a general
vote of the whole State.
I must confess, although a member of the
bar, that if I were called upon to vote for
the most competent man in the particular
district represented in part by the gentleman
from Allegany, I should not be half as com-
petent to judge who was the most fit person
to sit upon the bench of the court of appeals,
as the gentlemen who reside there. The same
principle would apply to being called upon
to vote for a member of the court of appeals
from our section of the State. I am familiar
with all the members of the bar in our sec-
tion of the State. I know their standing at
the bar, and their legal attainments, and
therefore I should be better able to judge who
would be most competent in my section of the
State to sit upon the bench of the court of
appeals than the gentleman from Allegany.
I therefore prefer the provision of the pres-
eat constitution. Let gentlemen think of it
for a moment, and ask themselves how we can
obtain the services of the best men to Bit upon
the bench of the court of appeals. As a
matter of course we must know the men
from whom we make the selection; and,
although a member of the bar, I must say that
I do not know personally who would be best
suited for that place in the section of the
State represented by the gentleman; and I
take it for granted that the same remark will
apply to him. Therefore there is manifest
wisdom in adhering to the present system.
Let each district elect a judge of the court
of appeals by the qualified voters of the dis-
trict. We then have the assurance that we
shall get good men upon the bench, and I
am sure it is the desire of every one present
that that should beaccomplished. I think
that this is reason enough why every mem-
ber of the convention should vote to allow
them to be elected by the qualified voters of
the district from which they come, according
to the provision of the old constitution.
Mr. STIRLING. I hope very sincerely that
the amendment of the gentleman from Allegany
will prevail. It strikes me that there
is a manifest propriety in this mode of elect-
ing the judges. I was very much struck
yesterday with the remarks made incident-
ally by my friend from Washington (Mr.
Negley) with regard to this subject. It is a
fact that the judges of the court of appeals
represent the justice of the whole State
Under the old system they were appointed by
the governor who represented the whole peo-
ple. The judge of each judicial district rep-
resents the people of that district; but the
judges of the court of appeals are obliged to
decide cases which come up from every por-
tion of the State. |
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. Will the
gentleman allow me to ask him a question ?
The appointment having been made under
the old system by the governor of the State,
was it not the uniform practice for the gov-
ernor in the appointment thus made to re-
quire recommendations from the members of
the bar from the section of the State from
which the judge was appointed ?
Mr. STIRLING. I suppose it was. That
was the mere ascertainment of his fitness tor
the office. Every citizen of the State has an
interest in every judge of the court of ap-
peals, and he has just as much right to vote
for him as to vote for the governor of the
Stile. They equally exercise a general au-
thority over the whole State.
So far as regards the selection of a proper
man, I believe that the State convention of
any political party will in every instance
nominate a betier man upon the State ticket
than would be nominated upon a district
ticket. In the first place, candidates are se-
lected with more care by the members of
nominating conventions. They come to-
gether from all parts of the State, and there
are more men among them acquainted with
the qualifications of members of the bar.—
Not only that, but they have an interest in
putting on they ticket their strongest man
because It has an effect upon the strength of
the reel of their ticket.
It is a positive fact, so far as I have had
an opportunity of hearing about it, that the
judges of the supreme court in New York
State have been less influenced by politics
and have been more able men than those
of any other courts of the State; and I be-
lieve this is largely attributable to the fact,
that while the district judge's are elected by
the vote of the districts, the judges of the
court of appeals are elected by a general
vote of the State, and both political parties
have taken pains to keep their ablest men for
the court of appeals. We all know that
when the question of the constitutionally of
the legal-tender law came before that court,
Judge Denis gave a dissenting opinion
against the law, and yet his charac-
ter was such that when his party came to
nominate a justice of the court of appeals for
the next term they unanimously gave him a
renomination. I rather think that if he had
been required to be nominated by a district
convention political prejudice would have
absolutely turned him off the bench, because
he decided contrary to the political feeling of
the party. There is less liability of political
feeling being excited against a judge for de-
ciding contrary to the prejudices of a partic-
ular district than when the election is by
general ticket. The individual citizen is
very often brought before the court in
antagonism with the people, and the judges
order the elective system are sometimes inclined
to represent the people against the in- |
