Reports, 543, 603.] His term was soon to expire. He, too, knew
that this decision would prevent his renomination, and it did.

In 1885, Chief Justice Cooley of Michigan, one of the great
jurists and judges of the country, failed to secure a re-election
to its Supreme Court, which he had adorned for twenty-one years,
largely on account of an opinion which he had written supporting
a large verdict against a Detroit newspaper for libel. The
newspaper, upon his renomination, described him as a railroad
judge, and kept up a running fire through the campaign, which
contributed materially to his defeat.

Political contests cost money, and if judges appear as candidates
for popular suffrage they are naturally expected to contribute to
the expense. The other candidates on the same ticket do this,
and if those nominated for the bench did not, somebody would have
to do it for them, thus bringing them under obligations that
might have an unfortunate appearance, if not an unfortunate
effect. In New York, where some of the judicial salaries are
higher than anywhere else in the country, and the terms for the
highest places are long (fourteen years), it has been customary
for those placed in nomination to contribute a large sum to the
campaign expenses of their party. This is tacitly understood to
be a condition of their accepting the nomination, and the amount
to be paid is fixed by party practice. For an original
nomination by the party in power, it is said to be about equal to
a year's salary; for a renomination half that sum may suffice.

But a judge holding office by popular election must
in any case owe something to somebody for supporting