February 9, 1841.
Appeal to the People of the State of Illinois.
FELLOW-CITIZENS:—When the General Assembly, now about adjourning,
assembled in November last, from the bankrupt state of the public
treasury, the pecuniary embarrassments prevailing in every department
of society, the dilapidated state of the public works, and the impending
danger of the degradation of the State, you had a right to expect
that your representatives would lose no time in devising and adopting
measures to avert threatened calamities, alleviate the distresses of
the people, and allay the fearful apprehensions in regard to the future
prosperity of the State. It was not expected by you that the spirit of
party would take the lead in the councils of the State, and make every
interest bend to its demands. Nor was it expected that any party would
assume to itself the entire control of legislation, and convert the
means and offices of the State, and the substance of the people, into
aliment for party subsistence. Neither could it have been expected by
you that party spirit, however strong its desires and unreasonable
its demands, would have passed the sanctuary of the Constitution, and
entered with its unhallowed and hideous form into the formation of the
judiciary system.
At the early period of the session, measures were adopted by the
dominant party to take possession of the State, to fill all public
offices with party men, and make every measure affecting the interests
of the people and the credit of the State operate in furtherance of
their party views. The merits of men and measures therefore became the
subject of discussion in caucus, instead of the halls of legislation,
and decisions there made by a minority of the Legislature have been
executed and carried into effect by the force of party discipline,
without any regard whatever to the rights of the people or the interests
of the State. The Supreme Court of the State was organized, and judges
appointed, according to the provisions of the Constitution, in 1824.
The people have never complained of the organization of that court; no
attempt has ever before been made to change that department. Respect for
public opinion, and regard for the rights and liberties of the people,
have hitherto restrained the spirit of party from attacks upon the
independence and integrity of the judiciary. The same judges have
continued in office since 1824; their decisions have not been the
subject of complaint among the people; the integrity and honesty of the
court have not been questioned, and it has never been supposed that
the court has ever permitted party prejudice or party considerations
to operate upon their decisions. The court was made to consist of four
judges, and by the Constitution two form a quorum for the transaction
of business. With this tribunal, thus constituted, the people have
been satisfied for near sixteen years. The same law which organized the
Supreme Court in 1824 also established and organized circuit courts
to be held in each county in the State, and five circuit judges were
appointed to hold those courts. In 1826 the Legislature abolished these
circuit courts, repealed the judges out of office, and required the
judges of the Supreme Court to hold the circuit courts. The reasons
assigned for this change were, first, that the business of the country
could be better attended to by the four judges of the Supreme Court than
by the two sets of judges; and, second, the state of the public treasury
forbade the employment of unnecessary officers. In 1828 a circuit was
established north of the Illinois River, in order to meet the wants of
the people, and a circuit judge was appointed to hold the courts in that
circuit.
In 1834 the circuit-court system was again established throughout the
State, circuit judges appointed to hold the courts, and the judges of
the Supreme Court were relieved from the performance of circuit court
duties. The change was recommended by the then acting governor of the
State, General W. L. D. Ewing, in the following terms:
“The augmented population of the State, the multiplied number of
organized counties, as well as the increase of business in all, has
long since convinced every one conversant with this department of
our government of the indispensable necessity of an alteration in
our judiciary system, and the subject is therefore recommended to the
earnest patriotic consideration of the Legislature. The present system
has never been exempt from serious and weighty objections. The idea of
appealing from the circuit court to the same judges in the Supreme Court
is recommended by little hopes of redress to the injured party below.
The duties of the circuit, too, it may be added, consume one half of the
year, leaving a small and inadequate portion of time (when that required
for domestic purposes is deducted) to erect, in the decisions of the
Supreme Court, a judicial monument of legal learning and research,
which the talent and ability of the court might otherwise be entirely
competent to.”
With this organization of circuit courts the people have never
complained. The only complaints which we have heard have come from
circuits which were so large that the judges could not dispose of the
business, and the circuits in which Judges Pearson and Ralston lately
presided.
Whilst the honor and credit of the State demanded legislation upon the
subject of the public debt, the canal, the unfinished public works, and
the embarrassments of the people, the judiciary stood upon a basis
which required no change—no legislative action. Yet the party in power,
neglecting every interest requiring legislative action, and wholly
disregarding the rights, wishes, and interests of the people, has, for
the unholy purpose of providing places for its partisans and supplying
them with large salaries, disorganized that department of the
government. Provision is made for the election of five party judges
of the Supreme Court, the proscription of four circuit judges, and the
appointment of party clerks in more than half the counties of the
State. Men professing respect for public opinion, and acknowledged to be
leaders of the party, have avowed in the halls of legislation that
the change in the judiciary was intended to produce political results
favorable to their party and party friends. The immutable principles
of justice are to make way for party interests, and the bonds of social
order are to be rent in twain, in order that a desperate faction may
be sustained at the expense of the people. The change proposed in the
judiciary was supported upon grounds so destructive to the institutions
of the country, and so entirely at war with the rights and liberties
of the people, that the party could not secure entire unanimity in its
support, three Democrats of the Senate and five of the House voting
against the measure. They were unwilling to see the temples of justice
and the seats of independent judges occupied by the tools of faction.
The declarations of the party leaders, the selection of party men for
judges, and the total disregard for the public will in the adoption of
the measure, prove conclusively that the object has been not reform, but
destruction; not the advancement of the highest interests of the State,
but the predominance of party.
We cannot in this manner undertake to point out all the objections to
this party measure; we present you with those stated by the Council
of Revision upon returning the bill, and we ask for them a candid
consideration.
Believing that the independence of the judiciary has been destroyed,
that hereafter our courts will be independent of the people, and
entirely dependent upon the Legislature; that our rights of property
and liberty of conscience can no longer be regarded as safe from the
encroachments of unconstitutional legislation; and knowing of no other
remedy which can be adopted consistently with the peace and good order
of society, we call upon you to avail yourselves of the opportunity
afforded, and, at the next general election, vote for a convention of
the people.
S. H. LITTLE,
E. D. BAKER,
J. J. HARDIN,
E. B. WEBS,
A. LINCOLN,
J. GILLESPIE,
Committee on behalf of the Whig members of the Legislature.