Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-02-14

been unturned, Der fields unploushed, the the
atre of yet doubtful and dreadful war waged
between civilized and savage man; the silence
of her luxuriant forests disturbed by no other
sound than the horrible warwhoOp, and the
shrieks ofinnocent females and the cries of
helpless children expiring under the asonies
of the tomahawk and scalping knife. With
this system, thousands of her sons have mi
grated as they would fly from pestilence and
| famine, to more favored states and territories,
where they could enjoy in peace and tran
quillity their beloved homes. Without this
system, there could have been no Kentucky tn
second, az the memorable epoch Of 1888,
your patriotic efforts to recall back, a mad AT
| mlDstration of the general government, to the
fundamental principles Of liberty and the con-
sttution. Her brave sons could not have
fought on the fatal field of Rasin, or won on
the more glorious fields of Thames and New
Orleans, those laurels which ad0rn the Anne
rlcan brow. The system suppOses that inno-
cent men have mixed their property together,
the one, believing it to be his own, having i'm
proved 1t and the other being ascertained by
Judicial Investigation to have the best title.
The principle is To give to each what is his.
And since the subjects are inseparable, this
equitable designs effected in the only practi-
cable mode. 1t gives to the owner of the best
account for what he never bought, what he
never paid for, what is not his. The Justice of
this arrangement may he proven by its own
principles, by the principles of abstract JUS
tice, and by the practice of all other codes in
like circumstances. The subject of the inn
provements, and the subject of the land on
which they are made, are capable of dis
tinct comprehension and of distinct rules.
Land before it is improved may be compared
to the raw material [; with its Improvements,
to fabricated article. A farm, with all its
fields, houses, orchards, gardens lawns and
strawberries no more resembles the same land
inits native state before these various improve
ments are put on it., than piece of Brussels
lace does the flax out of which it is wrought.
And would it not be monstrous to say to the
innocent pOssessor and manufacturer of raw
| material that he should surrender the article
ncompensated for his labor and expense !?
The receiver ola benefit owes the price oft.
The pOssessor of my money, or my property
who has acquired it through accident or mis-
| take, must give it up. The rule is, that if ex
| iequo ct homo it cannot be retained, it must be
| surrendered. Ii labor for another, without
| special contract, he is bound to rcmunera-
| ton. Do not these principles apply, with I'M
diminished force, to such state of things as
the kentucky titles exhibit Not togo into
other codes, what IS the provision made by
the laws ofOur common ancestors, in the CO .
lony of Va. when its condition bore a faint re-
semblance to that of Kentucky /? Here Mr.
Clay quoted several laws of the colony ofVir-
| gnia passed near two centuries ago providing
that the true owner should compensate the
scatter Of land. He commended that they were
more unfavorabe than the laws Of Kentucky
to the true owner-because the first of them
| compensated even The squatter, none of them
gave rents, and although all of them secured
Ia the true owner, the election TO take the land
and improvements upon paying the value OF
seating to be assessed by jury, or the value
OF the land without the improv ements, the
land was To be valued at the hne of seating, not
that OF the assessment. The same principles,
as being dictated by equity, was recognized by
the highest Judicial tribunal of Virginia, OF
which Edmund Pendleton was the president,
as late as 1894, and by chancellor of Virginia
still later. This system was not made for
Kentucky claimants ltigating with Virginia
claimants; but was made to operate between
Virginia claimants themselves. 1t was sys-
tenn on which Virginia might be emphatically
called to bcstow her appreciation, since it cor
reefs the injustice of which she was, by the
mode Of dsposiDg her waste lands, the I'M
intentional author. II is said to he abused
| lie believed there was great eXaggeration on
that subject.-And that whatever abuses had
occurred may be traced to the neglect of par
ties themselves. All that the legislator can do
IS, to Incorporate in his enactmcnts'a Just prin.
ciple, and secure it by all reasonable precau.
| tons against abuse. These precautions are
abundant in the system. In.the first place
It's benefits are denied TO all bat the person
having an apparently good title. He is liable
Tor waste and damage. Seven commission
els are TO be appointed by the court, ofwhom
five at least are TO act. They are to go ON the
land and view the improvements. They are
to be sworn. They are to value only what
combines the two qualities of permanency
and intrinsic worth, excluding what is tempo
rary, ornamental or without utility. Their
assessment may be set aside by the court, on
proper cause. If, Notwithstanding all these Sc
curities, abuses still arise he could only say
such was the lot of every thing human. The
system was not confined to contests betw eer
resident and nonresident proprietors but it,
most general application was between resi-
DENTS The difference was immense between
the condition of residents and non-residents
The nonresident remains at home, in ease anc
comfort, surrounded by his household gods
by his frieEds, his family his connexions, in thu
midst o the tombs of his ancestors, enjoying
all the benefits and Establishments of refined
society. The early adyenturer penetrated q
wilderness, exposed himselfto all the periIs o
savage war, experienced every species of suf
ferlng and privation, an exile from his countr,
and home, and who is not ready to share il
the sensibiIity and exclaim with the poet,
Breathes there man. with soul so dead
| Who TO himselfhath never said
| This Is my own, my native land
| What are the emotions which are felt by tn,
contemplation of the scenes of ones infanc,
and nativity, may be imagined. He has recent
ly felt them. Describe them he could not
Ii all prOprietOrs were nonresident, VIVA
would be the value now even of the rich Elk
horn reginn Prnhnhlv instnad of IL. Or o.