object be to attain that purity upon the bench,
that circumspection and examination which
should dwell with these keepers of the law,
and of the rights of the people, we should use
the means likely to produce this effect.
If there be different political parties in the
State, why not intermingle them upon this
bench, that they may watch one over the
other? Suppose a case arises upon the polit-
ical subjects of the day; for under the law
now we very often have political subjects be-
fore the court. The court being elected by
the entire State is, as I argued before, of one
political party; and there is no person in that
court to represent the other political party—
Whatever the rights of the person of the other
political party may be, there would be no
person to represent him; and the decision of
one would undoubtedly be the decision of
the entire court.
The gentleman from Washington county
(Mr. Negley) argued, that as the State was
divided into three gubernatorial districts,
why not let each district elect a governor?—
For the simple reason that there is but one
governor for the State, if we were to have
three governors, I certainly should insist that
the governors should be selected by the people
of each gubernatorial district separately, and
not from the entire State. The gentleman's
argument as to that point, I may say is an
impossibility; because during the term of
any one governor, the other two-thirds of
the State would be unrepresented. The idea
in having one governor is that the en tire State
may be represented.
The gentleman from Washington argues
further that separating the court of appeals
from politics is absurd. Has the day arrived
in the State of Maryland when it has become
an absurdity to separate a court from political
bias? I think the universal wish of the peo-
ple of Maryland should be that the court
should be placed as. far as possible above all
political bias; that it should not cringe or
bow to person or party; that it should hold
its balance equal in its bands unmoved by
any personal or political influences which
may be brought to bear upon it, and look
only to the law and the evidence as it exists
in the case, I have always believed, and I
have always thought that the opinion of the
people of Maryland was, that courts should
be governed and ruled by the law and by the
testimony, and not by political bias.
The gentleman tells me that politics reflects
the feelings and opinions of the nation. Do
we not find politics one day running in this
direction, and the next day in that? If the
court is unbiased, let it bold that intermediate
position, that it may not be swayed either this
' way or that by its influence.
The gentleman from Washington says again
that the court of appeals represents the entire
State, and therefore should be elected as an
entirety. As the gentleman from Somerset, |
I think argued, let us suppose a case, of a
nomination in the district in which Allegany
county is. We will suppose that two candi-
dates are nominated in that district, there
toeing two political parties. Might it not be
possible—aye, is it not probable, that one of
the existing political parties will have some
jurist whose attainments and whose integrity,
whose fitness for the office towers above that
of the candidate of the other party? I do not
say, nor will I pretend to say, that the party
to which I claim to belong, have men in it
who are superior to those of the other party;
but is it not probable that such a case would
arise? Then I ask the gentleman what 1
would know about their integrity or capacity ?
Although in his judicial district the vote
might be overwhelming in favor of the man
whose judicial attainments and integrity
lowered above those of the other, perchance
the political majority of Baltimore city or
of the rest of the State would more than
counterbalance that majority which his legal
attainments and his integrity known at home
would give him there. The consequence
would be that the man representing the
strongest political party in the State would
be elected, although less qualified, over the
man well known at home to be far better
qualified.
The gentleman argues that the circuit courts
are right in themselves; that it is right that
those judges should he elected in the circuits,
for the reason that they merely represent the
interests of these circuits. I do not know
how it may be with the rest of the circuits of
this State; but I unhesitatingly say that the
docket of oar court may be examined at any
time, and during my practice there, not of very
long duration, six or seven years, it will be
found that in the majority of cases upon that
docket the parties have been strangers in that
circuit. His argument therefore is not food.
There are many cases upon our docket from
the city of Baltimore, many from Washington
county, many from Allegany county, and
many from other counties in the State.—
Therefore) according to his idea) if you were
to carry it out, if all the parties who have
the right to come there and institute suits in
our circuit court ought to have a voice in the
election, our circuit judges ought to be elected
by the people of the entire State; for the
cases that come up there represent the differ-
ent parts of the State almost as much as the
cases before the court of appeals. His argu-
ment then will not hold good in that respect.
Therefore, Mr. President, I think it would
be doing great injustice to the people of the
judicial district to take from them the selec-
tion of a man known to them, a man whose
integrity and legal attainments would fit him
for an office so high, because we almost
always look to the court of appeals as the
highest officers of the State. 1, for one,
although it has been carried in this conven- |
