, 1842-01-22

sold it himself to the best advantage, paying
costs and charges to nobody: und, r our law,
to the contrary, the surrendered property
or rather the list Of it (for nothing is deliver.
ed)-goes to the a~ssignees; and they hunt it
up, gather it together, keep 1t, sell it, pay
themselves for their trouble and expenses
(which will usually consume the whOle) and
pay over the remainder, if any thing, to the
insuIted and plundered creditors.
Taken under its best aspect, and this act
is n property law. such as no State or the
Congress OF The United States has a right to
pass; such as no State has ever passt d; such
as no human being ever dreaned of when
our Constitution was formed, Tor t"r fifty
Pears after il. Taken under It's real end
proper aspect, and i, Is IN Insulveut law; and
is, in that respect, an Unconstitutional lnva.
sion of the rights o! the States 10 pass such
laws, and must, during its existence, silence
and nullify the State laws; as two Sets of
laws from the two different Governments
Cannot he in force at the s1me time, and
the federal authority override. that of the
States when they act upon the same subject.
Taken ut the best, it is Il law to di.charge
debts bv rendering property; hut Congress
can no more make such a law titan Il State
can. True. the prohlhIt"ry clause in The
Constitution only mentions States; bu, il
was not necessary 10 mention Congress,
which can Only do what 1t Is authorized to
do.
The bankrupt clause in the Constitution
cannot cover this act. That clause aurhOri
zes nothing but the establishment, of tie SvS.
tenn Of bankruptcy known in Engl nd al the
tine of the adoption Of our Constitution;
namely, an act for the benefit OF creditors,
10 enable them TO secure something out of Il
debtors estate which was going to ruin; it
was confined in its operation t. the tradin.
and money dealing classes. Including all the
b INKS which were not lily excepted
bv law; the remedy was in the hands of
creditors, la commence II when thew thought
proper; and the final DIS 'harne "f The hank.
rupt was completely IN their hands. They
did not grant the discharge unless fnur-ffihs
OF the creditors in number and value con.
Cured in it. TINS was and Is the English
system. 1t was the system in the con,em-
platInn Of the trainers of the constitution at
the time they adopted IL. This we know
flom the history Of the times, from the de-
bates of the convention as reported by Mr..
Madison, and bv the cnntemp"raneous ex
position of the Constitution in The early bills
brought into Congress Ia establish a bank
rupt system; in the till which was passed IN
to a law in the year 1900. and in all the bills
since brought into either House "f Congress.
until The disease of The times matched this
strange act into existence during the heats
If the late Presidential election The nc
ton of Congress for fi!tv y~ears-from 1889
ril the late Presidential elecripn-was n
frlthfuI exposition of the bankrupt clause in
the Constitution; that action was conforma-
bic to the English system, except in not in.
GLIDING banks, (for all the banks of Great
Britain are subject to the bankrupt law, ex-
cep, the Bank Of England, and a few others
expressly excepted; y and all that long course
of action and exposition OF meaning utterly
condemns such an act rs the extra session
has gwen US. Our act reverse> The bankrupt
syStern-makes it aci against lis in,eniion-I
and is therefore null and void. Suppose
other parts of The instrument were reversed
in their Object, the selection Of the jury Civ
Ell 10 the prosecutor instead "f the accused.
IN the writ of haheas corpus gwen to the
laiIor, instead OF the prisoner; would any
court observe such acts, altirnu III they might
bear the title of acts to establish The trial bv
jury, and to preserve the writ of habeas cor
pus?
| have shown that this act is unconstitu.
ti"nal, because il is perversion AID fragrant
abuse Of the authority TO establish a bank
rupt system, and because it is an invasion Of
the States right to pass insnlvent laws. !
will now show il to be Unconstitutional. IN.
on other and district grounds; and that is.
that it is an invasion of The Judicial pnwer
of the States. BY the Constitution Of the
United States. the jurisdiction of the FEEDER
al cnurts is Limited and circumscrihed, both
as TO the persons who mly he parties before
1.-THE suhlectmatier of rontroverSy--and
the amount in dispute. The parties are Ia
be inhabitants of different States-the sub
ject matter is to grow out Of Federal laws or
treaties-and the amount is limited to $500
in the district courts, and $4,000 in the cir
cult. These limitations leave all the home
transactions, dealings, and controversies of
the inhabitants of n Sra'e tn be settled AT
home. under the Stite laws. and by tribunals
10 the purpose. Every State has
established its judicial system. and that in a
way to carry Justice down To every mans
door: for besides the courts Of the county,
which how. worry oere ral Jurisdiction. there