Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1835-01-20

! r.!
The Chairman of the District Committee oi
the Senate of the United States, has repoieu
bill to provide System of Laws for the DisIi''
of Columbia, as published in the GazeHe VI '''o
18th instant This Bill is intended to enact TIC
code previously prepared and publisheo ~
book containing 6s5 pages, and, as deciareu W
the advocates oft, without discussion or dnien"-
nent. Now, whether this is correct course oi
LEGISLATION. where the lives liberty and proper
tv Of 40. 600 people are involved, and who, from
their peculiar situation, are compelled 10 submit
to it, however injurious to their INTERESTS
question shall leave to be decided py TIC ho'
norable gentlemen who have TO pass upon II;
but whether it is so or not, it is TO De presuu'eu
that the bill will be Immediately acted upon.
is true this bill provides that the code sha'i no'
take effect until after the first day OF apr" i"
the wear 1886; and the reason assigned Tor II, ny
those who are in favor Of the bill, to induce oth-
ers to suffer it quietly to pass, is, that IN Tue
meantime it may be amended, II II snail De louno
necessary; but to those who have watched the
progress of the District affairs in Congress, ths
reason is insufficient: they well know that II ths
code once becomes the law, no amendment VIII
be made to it for years to come; and, therefore,
as it contains many provisions which VIII most
injuriously effect the interests OF the whole lis
trict, as well as your individual interests, you
should not suffer it to become the law, without,
at least, one effort to amend it, or to arrest It's
progress for the present-that so important
measure may not be adopted without pubic
discussion. the only means ofshowing its defects.
And your attention is now called TO HE sup)ect,
that such measures may be adopted, as may be
thought most advisable to effect this object lest
YOU should again be told, sit is to be presumed
that what had been done, had been done by the
knowledge and consent of the inhabitants, if not
at their reauest" (as in the case ofthe causeway)
and that therefore, Congress ought not to be
charged with the evils that will flow from this
code if adopted BY the act of Congress autho-
rising the stopping up Of the principal channel
of the River Potomac, between Mason's Island
and the Virginia shore, you lost the whole of the
extensive and raiuabie trade Of the upper coun-
try by the Canal; and by the act OF Congress
granting money to Georgetown, to make the
Falls Bridge and Road free of tolls, you have
suffered direct loss Of about 35 900 dollars, laid
out upon your Middle Turnpike Road, now rem
dered useless and unproductiye by that act
You have, also, by means ola trick, been COM
PEELED to give $250,000 10 benefit Georgetown
and Washington in your subscription to the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to the manifest in
jury OF yourselves, if not, eventually, the total
destruction of your CITY, And by this Code OF
Laws, if adopted as printed, you will be COM
peed, in future, to contribute, in money, be-
tween two and three thousand dollars yearly to
Washington, and which will be increased as
your population increases. for the benefit of her
lawyers, clerks and tavern-keepers Now, |
humbly conceive that Alexandria has already
contributed enough to the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Of
Washington, and | am, as ! am satisfied all Of
you are, unwilling that she shall become trbu-
tary to Washington, for the benefit OF her law
yers, clerks, and tavern keepers, in so large
sum forever hereafter; and, therefore, you should
take all proper measures to preventit it. What
these measures shall be, however, is question
submitted to your decision; and to enable you
to act understandingy upon this subject, sub
NIT to your consideration some of the provisions
of this code, which more Immediately affect
your interests, to wit:
1st 1t abolishes the Circuit Court, and esab-
fishes in its place Court to be called the
Superior Court, to be held twice year by one
ofthe Judges of the present Circuit Court; and
1t creates Court ofAppeals to be held twice
year by the three judges of the present Circuit
Court in Washington exclusively; and it allows
appeals from the Superior Court to the Court
Of Appeals in Washington, in all cases over one
hundred dollars, and from the Orphans Court
in all cases whatever
The consequences Of these provisions will be,
that in all cases of debt over one hundred dollars
you must first sue in the Superior Court here,
where the expenses are the same as in the pre-
sent Circuit Court; and as in many cases there
will be an appeal, either for good cause or for
delay, you must, in such cases, have another
trial before the Court Of Appeals in Washing
ton, where the costs Of suit will be double per-
haps treble, those of the Superior Court, beside
the expense trouble, and loss Of time, in attend
ing that Court.
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