Alexandria advertiser and commercial intelligencer. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1800-1803, 1802-01-13
s E n A T E
OF TIE UNITED STATES.
Friday, Ian. S, 1902.

MIR. Breckenridge.--!t wisi De ex-
pct.ed of me, l prelu;nc, SIR, as nitro
duceo the reiolurion now under conhde-
ration, to anign my reaioas TOR wnh'sg
4 repeal of this law. This | ihall 90 ;
and Nhali endeayou, 10 fnsw,
I. THAT - Law is unneceRary aud
improper, and was 70 as its paiage; and
2. That the Courts ard Judges Great
ed by it, can and ought to be abol'ih-
ed.
RI. That the at un..:r CONFEDERATE
on, was una.ceGary a.! improper, Is
to my mind, no dificul, TAX TO prove.
No increale of courts OF Judges could be
neceaary or ju1ifaple, unieis the exit
ing courts and judges were incompetent
to the prompt and proper dacharge OF
the duties configned to. them. To hold
out thew of litigation, when 10 fact lit
tie exits, mutt be impolisic; and to
multiply expnGve fyAems, and create
ho.ts of expen!ive officers, without hav-
ing experienced an actual necei'lty Tor
them, mutt be = wanton waite OF the public
treafury.
The documen, before rs fhews, that
at the psaage of this act, the exiting
courts, not only from their number, but
from the fui,s depending before them,
were fully compe,en, to q fpeedy deei-
Gon of thoie iuits-lt ihews, that on the
18th day of June laa, there were depend.
ing in all the Circuit Courts, (that Of
Maryland only excepted, Whole docket
we have not been furniihed with 1899
iui,s. 1t fhews that Sz76 iuits of
every defcription have come before
thoie courts, in 10 years and upwards.
From this it appears, that the annual
average amount of iuits has been about
Soc.
But fundry contingent things have con-
fpired to fwell the circuit Court deckets.
In Maryland, Virginia, and in all the
iou,hern and iouth- weRern fates, great
number of fuits have been brought BY
BritiOh creditors: this fpecies of contro-
VERY is nearly at an end.
In Pennfylvania, the docket has been
Iwelled by projections in coniequence
of the Wettern infurreetion, by the
disturbances in Bucks, and Northamp-
ton counties and by the Sedition Act.
Theie find amount in this State to 40
fuits.
In Kentucky, non reGdent land claim
ants have gone into the Federal Court
from a temporary convenience be-
cauie, until within year or two patti,
there exiaed no court of general jurii-
diction co-extenive with the whole
State. | find toe, that of the fix hum
dred and odd fuits which have been CON-
menced there, 100 of them have been
profccutions under the laws of the United
States.
In mott of the ftates there have Teen
profscutions under the Sedition Act
This iource of litigation is | truf fer
ever dried up. And laftly in all the
State, number of iuits have ariien un-
der the Excite law which iource Of con-
troveriy, will, l hope, before this ief-
fion terminates, be alto dried up.
But this fame document diicloies ano
Their important fat; which is, that ne
vertheleis, all theie rn:oward and tenn
porary iources Of federal adjudication,
the frirs in thofe courts are 6sersGEng;
for from the dcckets exhibited except
kentucky, ard Tenneilse, whsfs fuits
are iummed up in the agsresa'e) II
appears, that in 1899 there were l,7A;
and in 1900 there were oS7 tuits
commenced; fhewing decreaie OF 5s7
fuits.
Could it be neceaary then to iverr9/t
courts when foits were 3tcrfGfxg ?
Could it be neeeilary to multiply Judges,
when their dusies were dimin'ihing? And
will not be juti6ed therefore in affirm
inp, that the law was unneceiary and thar
Consreis aaed under mistskcn i'm
rreaion, when they multiplied courts
and Judges at time when litigation was
actually. decrcafng,
Eut. Sir. the decrea{e of buGnefs goes