tutional Convention met in 1890, there was some debate as to an appointive judiciary, but the feasibility of such a plan was doubted and the system of electing judges by popular vote was continued in force. By the Constitution which was framed by this Convention and which went into effect on September 28, 1891, a Court of Appeals is established to consist of not less than five and not more than seven judges. The judges are to be chosen by districts laid off by the legislature for terms of eight years and the judge of the court longest in com mission is styled chief justice. By authority of the Constitution, the leg islature has provided that the court shall consist of seven judges and it now sits in two separate divisions, each of which is composed of the chief justice and three of his asso ciates. Though somewhat outside the scope of this article, it seems not improper to suggest that the independence of the judiciary is more certainly attained by lengthening their terms of office and thus doing away with so fre quent campaigns on the part of the judges. Party nominations for judicial offices should be prohibited. Then again freedom from local influence and a broader judicial develop ment are better secured by requiring judges to be voted for by the State at large instead of by a limited district. A similar plan in municipal affairs has been tried with suc cess where the • members of local legislative bodies are required to reside in the wards or districts from which they are chosen but are to be voted for by the whole munici pality. This general view of the organization of the Kentucky Court of Appeals brings us to a sketch of some of the eminent men who have sat in that court. It would be hard in many cases to decide which of them has the higher right to be remembered for his public services and that question shall be avoided in this review by adhering to the maxim, "Qui prior est tempere, potior est jure."
Without making invidious distinctions it is the plan of the writer to offer a brief sketch of each chief justice of the court and also sketches of such associate judges as by their long service and eminent qualifications have given to Kentucky's Court of Appeals its reputation at home and abroad. HARRY INNES.
On June 28, 1792, Governor Isaac Shelby appointed the members of the first Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Judge Harry Innés was first commissioned by him as chief jus tice of the court and Benjamin Sebastian and Caleb Wallace as associate judges. Judge Innés declined the appointment but his rela tions with the other members of the court and his prominence in the affairs of the State make it proper that he be mentioned in this connection. He was born in Virginia in 1752. When only thirty-one years of age he was elected by the legislature of that State a judge of the Supreme Court for what was then the District of Kentucky. He enjoyed the per sonal friendship of President Washington who repeatedly honored him with important trusts and made him the first judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky. He was holding this position when Gov ernor Shelby, also his close personal friend, appointed him first chief justice of the newly formed State. Thus to him was given the honor of standing at the head of two lines of illustrious men, who have respectively filled the positions of chief justice of the Ken tucky Court of Appeals and of judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky. An historical sketch, however brief, should be as accurate as possible. Those who have studied the history of the Mississippi Valley during the closing years of the last century, will recall the efforts made by Spain to ob tain control of the Mississippi river or at least the right of navigating it. Its success in its
