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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1896)
rep ZJ-t. 7 THE COURIER. &S&gm i tt - ii. IE? Highest of all in Leavening Powers-Latest U. S. Gov't Report DrhVtl Baking Powder ABSOLUTELY PURE while balf or more of the criminals con victed by the county attorney have been in the fpenitentiary. Convicts are re leased at the penitentiary at the expir ation of their term with 85.00 and a suit of clothes. In most instances the money is spent within a few hours in this city, and then the ex-convict takes up once more his business of crime right at the very doors of the pen. The penitentiary cost the county 95 for convictions, etc., to every 1 that it saves n having convictB taken of its hands." This may be an exaggerated view of the penitentiary menace. Ihere may not be 500 ex-convicts at large in this com munity. But if there are 300 there is serious danger in the fact. It is not a good thing that Lincoln should be the dumping ground for the criminals of the state. A leaven of 300 or 500 con firmed brutes and law breakers may so leaven a whole community that the opposing influences of education and morality will be largely neutralized particularly among a certain class. In some states released convicts are escorted to the state line. TLere are ethical objections to such a course, but it is not right that Lincoln should bear this great criminal burden. It is bad enough to have the politicians of the state drawn to the capital without the curse of a constant, unloading of criminals in "our midsf "The Judiciary" is the title of an ed itorial in a recent issue of the World Herald. The subject is admirably handled. Within certain limits all property is placed in the hands of the judge," says the World-Herald. "And he can by his decision turn it to the one disputant 'or the other. If he knowingly and intentionally does injus tice he is as guilty of the theft as the highwayman or the burglar, but it is sate to say that our judges, as an almost universal rule, do possess honesty of purpose." Continuing the Omaha paper Bays; "Courage, moral courage, is no less important if the judge is to act with exact fairness, and the impor. tance of courage is growing as the difference between the very rich and the very poor increases. When an in significant individual, without much power to aid or to injure, stands upon one side, and against him is arrayed an influential corporation or some great aggregation of capital, it requires the highest form of courage in the judge to be absolutely impartial. The pressure upon a judge is something great and is not to be underestimated, whether the pressure comes frota the opinion of pro miaeat persona in society or whether it manifests itself in the threat of punish ment or the promise of assistance. The most difficult thing to be contended with is a judge, however, is bias or prejudice. It is difficult to meet be cause even the judge himself may be en tirely ignorant of its existence, and it may manifest itself even when he thinks he is meting out exact justice to those who appear before him. Every person who has a heart has sympathies. No one can reach maturity without being af fected by the circumstances which sur roaad him, and by the experiences through which he has passsd. The sil ent aad imperceptible influence of asso ciaiioB and environment cannot be avoided or laid aside. If we concede the existence of bias in a judge the ques tion arises how can that be met and overcome? There is but one way, and that way is found in a method of elec tion, which will, in the first instance, enable the people to select a judge whose sympathies are with the masses of the people rather than with any particular class of people, and then put it in their power to punish him if his conduct upon the bench is not satisfactory. "In Nebraska we have a constitution which provides for the selection of all judges by a populai vote, and any at tempt to change the method of selection would meet with almost unanimous op position. "Do the peoplo of Nebraska favor the election of their judges at home, and still bslieve in the wisdom of vesting in the president of the United States the power to appoint all federal judges? Is the power of appointment the safer, the farther it is removed from the people? "Is a judge appointed by a president more apt to bo satisfactory than a judge appointed by a governor, or by the county commissioners? Certainly, if there is any difference, the power of ap pointment could be more safely en trusted to an officer close to the people than to the officer farthest removed from the voters. "The World-Herald favors the adop tion of a constitutional amendment pro viding for the election of all federal judges by popular vote in the districts over which they preside. "Machinery, however, is of no value until it is Bet in motion by intelligence, and so the machinery of government, though ever so perfect, is of no ad van- , 4 Vs. -Vi - 3&'. rf& THE INTER OCEAN -IS THE- Most Popular Republican Newspaper of the West And Has the Largest Circulation. TERMS BY MAIL DAILY (without Sunday) $6.oo per year DAILY (with Sunday) $8.00 per year The Weekly Inter Ocean l $1.00 PER YEAH J M S A NEWSPAPER THE INTER OCEAN keeps abreast of the tines in all respects, it spares neitner pains nor expense in securing ALL Infc NEWS AND THE BEST OF CURRENT LITERATURE. 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