The Dignity of a Judge's Gown.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 64, 31 May 1912, Page 14

The Dignity of a Judge's Gown.

Stirringly and Beautifully Put.

By JOHN P. ALTCELO. ] No man ever added a cubit to his stature by dress. No robe ever enlarged a man's brain, ripened his wisdom, cleared bis judgment, strengthened his purpose, or fortified his honesty. If he is a little man without a robe, ho is contemptible in a robe. If a man is large without a, robe, he is simply ludicrous in one. A robe used as an insignia of office is a relic of barbarism, a relic of the age when tinsel, glitter and flummery were thought to bo necessary to overawe the common people And the robe can now perform no other function than that of humbugging tho people. A court which is worthy of the name needs no such flimsy and ridiculous assistance in order to command tho confidenco and respect of.tho community, and a court which cannot command the respect and confidence of tho people without resorting to shams of this kind, is incapable of doing any good, is incapable of protecting the weak from being trampled down by the strong, and should bo wiped out of existence. This age and tho American peoplo do not want mediaeval shams. They want light: daylight, electric light, sunlight. They want realities; they want character; they want learning; they waitt good judgment; they want independence, and they want these free from both barbaric and aristocratic subterfuges. It is only weak minds that lean upon this kind of bolstering. Our age is superior to the middle ages only in so far as it has progressed oovoiul sham and formalism, lofty pomp and hollow and dull dignity, and asks now to bo shown things just as they are. A free people is opposed to pretence and humbug, no matter whether found in high stations or low. If the American people ever reach a point where they must put robes upon their judges or any other officers in order to have the highest respect for them, then republican institutions will be at an end in this country; for men who can be inspired by a gown are but little romoved from those who can draw inspiration from a wooden god, and neither aro fit either to enjoy or to defend true political liberty. The strong, masculine and libertyloving clement of the bar doos not favor these handmaids of fraud in a temple of justice. It is the frowning and the hanging-on element, tho element which flatters and seeks a rear door entrance to the judgo, that favors them. Instead of adding dignity to a court it exposes its weakness; for every time a, judge puts on a gown he confesses that he needs this extraneous help; he confesses that he must resort tohumbug in order to make an impression. In the past, gowns have not prevented judicial murders, nor wrongs and outrages whoso infamy reaches as low as hell. So long as we tolerate in this country any tribunals that find it necessary to wear this insignia, of mediaeval conditions, just so long must we confrwß that we have reached a high state of neither moral nor intellectual development. ]