hod was open to objection, the
committee was unable to devise a better system.

Aside from James Tallmadge, who thought the Legislature should have
nothing to do with the patronage of government, this report called out
little opposition, so far as it provided for the election of state
officers by the Legislature, military officers by the militia, and the
appointment of higher military and judicial officers by the governor.
Van Buren had made it plain, by his exhaustive argument, that
constitution-makers, seeking the latest expression of the people's
will, could devise no better plan, and that experience in the newest
States having the same system, had developed no serious objection.
There was a readiness, also, to accept the recommendation allowing the
Legislature to designate the manner of selecting the three thousand
six hundred and forty-three notaries public, commissioners of deeds,
and other minor officers. But a buzz of disapproval ran through the
convention when the article providing for the election of justices of
the peace was reached. It was evident from the outset, that a
concerted movement was on foot among Republican leaders to establish,
at the seat of government, a central appointing power of large
authority, and the appointment of justices of the peace was peculiarly
essential to its strength. A justice was of more importance then than
now. He was usually the strongest character in his vicinage, and
whether he followed the plow, or wore upon the bench the homely
working clothes in which he tended cattle, he was none the less
familiar with the politics of every suitor in his court. In the
absence of higher courts, neighbours were compelled to go before him,
and in settling their troubles, it was usually understood that he held
the scales of justice without being blindfolded.

Van Buren did not conceal his hostility to the election of these
justices. If he had developed radical tendencies in the suffrage
debate, he now exhibited equally strong conservative proclivities in
limiting the power of the voter. His vigorous protests in the
committee-room against the election of surrogates, sheriffs and county
clerks had defeated that proposition, and in referring to the section
of the report making justices of the peace elective, he said it had
been a source of sincere regret that the committee overruled him. But
a majority of the committee, he continued, in his smooth and adroit
manner, had no strong personal