FEDERALIST No. 79
The Judiciary Continued
From MCLEAN's Edition, New York.
HAMILTON
To the People of the State of New York:
NEXT to permanency in office, nothing can contribute more to the
independence of the judges than a fixed provision for their support.
The remark made in relation to the President is equally applicable
here. In the general course of human nature, A POWER OVER A MAN's
SUBSISTENCE AMOUNTS TO A POWER OVER HIS WILL. And we can never hope
to see realized in practice, the complete separation of the judicial
from the legislative power, in any system which leaves the former
dependent for pecuniary resources on the occasional grants of the
latter. The enlightened friends to good government in every State,
have seen cause to lament the want of precise and explicit
precautions in the State constitutions on this head. Some of these
indeed have declared that PERMANENTVide ``Constitution of Massachusetts,'' chapter 2, section I, article 13.(back to text)