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fine for the lawyers and not the people
they are so concerned about? This is where
we need the reform, down in the trial court
area.
I submit to you that they do this because
they want to keep politics in the judiciary.
There is only one way to take politics out
of the judiciary, and that is to take the
judiciary out of politics. They appoint a
judge and then throw him into the political
arena. How can a judge campaign for of-
fice? Anyone who campaigns for office does
it by promising something, and I think —
Mr. Gallagher has stated it very well : You
do not make contributions, you make an
investment, and when you make an invest-
ment, you want a return on your money.
You want to be paid back.
You expect interest, and it will come back
to you in some form or another. We are
down here to represent all of the people,
not any chosen people, and our judges are
concerned with all of the people. We are
not putting friends on the bench. We are
putting judges on the bench. A judge must
reach his decisions according to law for
all, not for a chosen few. Remember, if
someone has a friend in court, you may be
of necessity the enemy on the other side,
and I urge you, after talking with many,
many people, we have to take politics out
of the judiciary by taking the judiciary
out of politics. Thank you.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: How much time do
I have left?
THE CHAIRMAN: Seven minutes.
DELEGATE MUDD: Might I yield two
minutes to Delegate Macdonald?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Macdonald.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: There are
two features of our/T system of selecting
judges. One is appointment by the gover-
nor and then running for election. There
are no rules or restrictions on this power
of appointment, and the tendency is to
favor those who are politically deserving.
Herein lies an inherent weakness; those
who are politically deserving are not neces-
sarily those who are most qualified.
The second feature of the present sys-
tem is a contested election. I can state from
personal experience that many qualified
lawyers refuse to offer themselves as candi-
dates for office of judge because they do
not want to undergo the time and expense
of a contested election.
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THE CHAIRMAN: You have one-half
minute, Delegate Macdonald.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: Ladies and
gentlemen, this is a true reform. I urge
you to vote for it.
The Governor of Missouri, who was
quoted by the Delegate from Baltimore
City has said: "Thus far the present plan
of Missouri, known throughout the United
States as the 'Missouri Plan', is not a per-
fect solution." However, I believe it is a
step in the right direction.
THE CHAIRMAN: Your time is up.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: It is im-
provement, ladies and gentlemen.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Johnson,
Delegate Mudd has five minutes left. Do
you wish to close now?
DELEGATE JOHNSON: Thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
At the outset I want to say that I am
very grateful to you for appointing such
an outstanding and fair man as Delegate
Mudd as the Chairman of the Judicial
Branch Committee, and although we dif-
fered on some areas, I found him to be ex-
ceedingly generous in time and patience
with respect to the questions and debates
before our Committee. I want to publicly
thank him for the outstanding job he has
perfo:rmed.
The reason I say that is because for the
first time during our debate on this ju-
dicial branch I have to take issue with a
remark he made on Friday which I was
willing to overlook; but he repeated it to-
day, and that is with respect to the debate
on the Missouri Plan.
My fellow delegates, there was no debate
in the Judicial Branch Committee concern-
ing the Missouri Plan, although we have
heard a lot of testimony, pro and con, on
the Missouri Plan. The debate, however,
was limited, as the Chairman indicated, to
how the majority adopted it.
When we reached that section of our
Committee report dealing with the Missouri
Plan, someone made a motion whether or
not to change the process, and it was
carried by a majority. A subsequent motion
was made on whether or not we should
adopt the Missouri Plan, and that was
carried by the majority; and that is where
we stood. That was the end of the debate
on any and all alternative procedures.
Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen:
To my knowledge not one witness outside
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