Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-12-23

payable out of the county treasury; shall have
a right to farm out the sheriffs'ty for the bene
fit of their county and that such provisions
should be made as i'll secure prompt and
faithful discharge Of duty. am satisfied thar
a law may be enacted which will make thu
county courts a most valuable and eificienl
branch of cur judiciary; and that this reform.
should be adopted wi,houtdelay.
1t is extensively believed that This reform.
cannot be cons'itutonaly effected. An exam
lnalon Hthis subject will remove all officially.
The justices hold their Office at the pleasure OF
the General Assembly, and Of course their pre-
sent powers may be terminated whenever il,
may be thought wise to do SO. AS far back as
1860. this power was exercised, and the COM
m!ssioners who then officiated as Justices Of the
peace were deprived Of their powers, and re-
duced to elgh; in each county. the Oldest being
retained. If such policy be ado, ted, it could
go anto operation promptly and wthost the
least difficulty or embarrassment. and would
give US cour, upright and efficient, and freed
from many Of those Influences which have ex-
'ensively and fatally operated to impair its jus
value. ask for these Suggestions careful Gun
slderallen. But uhatever may be your pleas
ure az to the thorough reformation of the pow
ers Of the coaHiy courts and the justices there
Of. which have recommended. | most respect
fully urge that ths nnraber of justices now re-
qnired by law to constitute court may be re-
duced. have often the great inconveni-
ence Of a court composed Of four justices, which
might be wholly obyiated if the law were to
provide that the county court should hereafter
consist Of not less than three justices. The diff
ficulty of forming q conrt, which is now treqn-
emily very great, would also be essentially re-
dcced. Incapable Of seeing a single objection
to this modification, whilst its advantages are
obvious, | trus, ii will receive your favorable
consideration.
1t is found upen examination that the resoIu-
tons of the 18th of March, iS47, changing the
time Of making and providing for printing the
reports Of public officers and others cannot be
executed, ii being impossible for such reports to
accompany ahe Governors message, bound as
required by sal1 resolution. 1t is practicable,
to furnish the printed reports as required; and
suggest that the resolutions be modified accor
dinghy.
bled in the city of Philad lphia in May last. for
the purpose of taking into consideration the ad
option of measures fol general registration OF
the births, marriages and deaths, within the Sc
veral States. The result. was the adoption of
two resolutions in support Of said objects.
herewith communicate them for your consider
alton.
The highly patrio!ic and benevolent purpose
Of these gentlemen, seeking no individual ad-
vantage, but only the happiness and longevity
of their race, gives force TO their views which
it will be found difficult to resist. Their de-
sign liz, however, not new it has long engag
ed the attention Of the most enlighted and hui
name. 1t was part, in fact; of our colonial
system,i il being required as far back as 1851 :,
by various enactmens Of law, that each Minis
ter should make ga register of all burals, chris
Jennings and marriages - and that the minister
or warden should make report thereof on the
LIST Of June Of each year.
respectfully ask your attention to the va
rions suggestions Of the A;ijutant General. as
embraced in his report, repeat the opinion
formerly expressed. that our present militia sys-
TEN Involves great waste of time TO the peo-
pies is immoral in its tendencies. and productive
of gteat personal and public expense. In my
Judgment; two great objects Connected with this
system ought 10 be foslered and sustained lst,
to encourage the volunteer system; and 2dly.
to effect some cheap and certain method Ct en-
roment.
herewith communicate the letters of Major
Gen. z. Taylor and brevet Col. M. NJ Payne
of the U. S. Army. acknowledging the receipt
Of the resolutions adopted by the General As
senby of Virginia on the 9th of March last.
directing sword to be presented to those off
GERS for their services on the Sth and 9th of
May last.
Mr.. Justice Story, in the case to which /
have previously referred, in delivering the opn-
ion Of the coutt, says: at is historically well
known, that the object of the clause in the
Constitution of the United States, relating to
persons owing service and labor in one State,
and escaping into olher States, was to secure to
the citizens Of the slaveholding States the com
plete right and title Of ownership in their
slaves, as property, in every State in the I'm
ion into which they might escape from the
State where they were held in servi,ude. The
full recognition of this right and title was in
dispensable to the security of this species of
property in all the slaveholding States; and in
deed WAS SO vital to The preservation Of their
domestic interests and institutions, that it can
not be doubted that it constituted fundamen>
tai article. without the adoption of which the
Union could not have been formed. Its true
design was to guard against the doctrines
prevailing in the non -slaveholding States, by
preventing them from interrreddliny with or
obstrucling or abolisi,ing The rights Of the own
ers of slaves" And yet this institution .hus
protected, without which the Union could not
have been Turned. and intended to shield it a
garsi the '.inierneddlngo of the non slave
holding States, is to be crushed and the rights
Of the master annihiiated, in disregard Of rea-
sou, humanity, the constitution, and all the
considerations which teach lis the value G. the
Union. 1t is generally admitted that slavery
within the slaveholding States, cannot be con
siftu'ionally disturbed, but it is insisted that
beyond these limits, the institution should not
and shall not extend; that the -slaveholding
States cannot aid in the perpetaalion of slavery,
submit TO its increase Of Political power, or al
low the acquisition Of territory from which
their citizens are debarred.
Now, it is wholly denied that the extension
OF slavery into territory now not occupied by
Il, involves the exclusion of the citizens of the
non-sIa veholding States. We know other
wise; for the citizens Of the non slaveholding
States are s. be found in every county in this
Commonwealth on every sea and in every
CLINE Ct the habita5le globe. Nor can it be