Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1891 — Should Judges Wear Gowns? [ARTICLE]

Should Judges Wear Gowns?

No man ever added a cubit to his stature by dress. No robe ever enlarged a man’s brain, ripened his wisdom, cleared his judgment, strengthened his purpose, or fortified his honesty. If he is a little man without a robe, he 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 the age when Jlnsel, glitter, and flummery were thought to be necessary; to overawe the common people. And the! robe can now perform no other function than that of humbugging the: people. A court which is worthy of the name needs no such flimsy and ridiculous assistance in order to command theconfidence and the respect of the community, and a court which cannot command the respect and the confidence of the 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 be wipnd out of existence. This age and the American people do not want medimva) shams. They want light, —daylight, electric light, suallght., They want realities; they want character; they want learning; they want good judgment; they want independence; and they want these free from both: barbaric and aristocratic subterfuges. It is only weak minds that leap, upon this kind of bolstering. Our age is superior to the middle ages only in so far as it has progressed beyond sham and formalism, lofty pump and .hollow and dull dignity, and asks how to be shown things just as they are. lam opposed to pretense and to humbug, no matter whether found In high station; or in lbw, and, in my opinion, if the American people ever reach a point where they must put robes upon their judges or any other officers inorder 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 removed from those who can draw from a wooden god, and neither are fit; to either enjoy or defend true political liberty.— Judge John P. Altgeld, in the Chicago Globe.