division of the State puts its own man into
nomination, to be placed upon the general
ticket.
In reply to a remark which fell from the
gentleman from Prince George's (Mr. Berry,)
I merely wish to say that there is no such su-
perfluity of good legal and distinguished men
in the State, that the election should not be
coextensive with the limits of the State, I do
not see any force in the objection that a man
who happens to be a resident of one district is
not known in other districts of the State.
The remarks of the gentleman from Baltimore
city (Mr. Stirling,) and of the gentleman
from Howard county (Mr. Sands,) appear to
me lo cover the whole ground, livery man
has an interest in the court of appeals, and
ought to have a voice in their election. I
hope the motion will prevail.
Mr. NEGLEY. If the arguments of the gen-
tlemen who oppose this amendment be worth
anything, they would apply with equal force
to the election of governor. Under the pres-
ent constitution, and I suppose under the one
that we intend to make, the State is divided
into three gubernatorial districts, and the
candidate comes alternately from each one of
these. But because he conies from one of
these, is that a reason why be should not be
elected by any but the legal voters of the dis-
trict from which he may happen to come
during that gubernatorial term ?
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. If the
gentleman from Washington will allow me, I
will give him the key note of our whole action
here; and perhaps he will bebetter able to
answer the arguments offered. It is this,
that we do not propose to make the judgeship
a political matter at all. We do not propose
that they shall be nominated by convention.
The very strong reason which the gentleman
seems to think he offers in support of his posi-
tion is the very greatest objection to nay mind
to adopting the principle. If they are to be
nominated, as the gentleman from Baltimore
city says, by a political convention—
Mr. STIRLING. I only said that they always
have been.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. I have
never known them to be in my district.
Mr. STIRLING. There may have been an
exception in that one district, but I know that
in every other district of the State from the
eastern shore to Allegany, they have been
nominated by political conventions.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. I have
not known such a state of things to exist.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. At the last election of
judge of the court of appeals, were not both
candidates nominated in convention?
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. No, sir;
they were recommended without any nomina-
tion. It is our desire that they should not
become connected with politics, one way or
the other, but should be kept separate and
distinct from every political movement of the |
State. We want the judgeship of the State
to be held as a high and exalted position,
above the politics of the present day, so high
that they/can look down upon and scan the
action of political men of the day, and I have
no doubt that in many instances, it will be
with great contempt. I want them to be sep-
arate and apart from politics; and in our dis-
trict I have never known them, since they
have been elected under the revised constitu-
tion, in the slightest degree connected with
politics. I do not think I could vole for a
judge who would go to political meetings
and electioneer for such a position. 4 think
it would be a sufficient objection in my mind
to any man, no matter bow well qualified in
other respects, if I knew him to enter into the
general politics of the day and to attend po-
litical meetings, or if be were to solicit votes
as aparty candidate for such a position. The
man who would do that, I should conceive to
be incapable of holding such a position, and
unfit to hold it.
1 say that it ought to be kept clear of poli-
tics. If not, they may carry their political
prejudices upon the bench with them. They
will not administer the law in the spirit of
the law, but they will carry their political
prejudices upon the bench and degrade the
profession and the high position of judge, 1
say, therefore, that the very reason the gen-
tleman assigns as the strongest reason why
they should be elected, by general) ticket, is
the reason why I shall oppose their being
elected by general ticket; if it is to result in
their being nominated by a party convention.
Mr. NEGLEY resumed; I understand the
gentleman from Prince George's (Mr. Berry)
to shift his ground of objection.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. No, sir;
1 do not shift; I add that as another reason.
Mr. NEGLEY. Then that is another count.
Now as to this last reason, he says he desires
to keep the election of judges of the court of
appeals away from politics. What is your
government? What are the executive, legis-
lative, and judicial departments of your gov-
ernment? Do they not all pertain to poli-
tics? The very name of politics embraces
the executive, legislative, and judicial depart-
ments of any government. It is a patriot the
business of the public, as the derivation of
the word signifies You cannot separate the
judicial department of the government from
politics Yon cannot make it something out-
side and disconnected with it. There is a
common principle connecting the judicial,
executive, and legislative forms of all govern-
ments, and yon cannot separate the judicial
department. It is a manifestation of the
same general principle in one direction; a
manifestation of the national mind. What is
government? The national mind. The form
of government is the form in which the na-
tional mind shows itself to the world. It
shows itself to the world in three distinct |
