Although this extremely degraded judiciary has passed away, yet the whole story is as pertinent today as it ever was, for the vileness Bryce describes was the result of the operation of manhood suffrage in a large city; and the same causes are still in existence. In practice in the great cities the higher state judges are usually selected by the political bosses; and the election is often a mere form, or at most a contest between rival bosses in which the public takes but a languid and futile interest. When the boss is a rich man as often happens in a great city, he gets to know some able lawyers and sometimes makes fairly good selections for the higher judicial vacancies. This is far better than the populace would be likely to do if left to themselves. Another means of protection for judicial honor has been the influence of an educated bar, endeavoring to enforce the traditions of the past, and the examples of other civilized countries to the effect that judges should be exempt from political influence and bias. But when all is said and done it is largely a matter of luck even in the highest courts whether the judges are fit or otherwise. That the highest judges are still “bossed” is not a mere vulgar notion. How can they escape? In the election for judges of the highest New York courts in 1919, the charge that certain judicial candidates were “bossed” was publicly and persistently made by ex-judges and leading lawyers. Of the California judges in 1877, Bryce says: “The judges were not corrupt, but most of them, as was natural, considering the scanty salaries assigned to them, were inferior men, not fit to cope with the counsel who practised before them. Partly owing to the weakness of juries, partly to the intricacies of the law and the defects of the recently adopted code, criminal justice was halting and uncertain, and malefactors often went unpunished. It became a proverb that you might safely commit a murder if you took the advice of the best lawyers.” (_American Commonwealth_, Vol. II, p. 430.)