Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1849-09-10
r. J. ALFRED, EDITOR.
sTAUN ON
sgsossagtssy evgos'asdasS, 'seass. 10.
's'zae County Courts.

Some of the Wing presses in this State are
beginning to fear an attack upon the County
Court system, by the Rctolmers, and to prevent,
as far as they can, any innovation upon the sys-
tenn, the opinions of Chief Justice Marshall, Z.
p. Barbour, Chapm7n Johnson and John RAN
dolph arc paraded ,bstore:the public Great men,
we fdmit---but these opinions We're expressed 20
years ago, and as their authors have all left the
stage of action, no one knows whether they en-
tertained the same opinions at the time OF their
decease or mot. The people OF Virginia have too
long yielde | to the influence and opinions OF
great mer,, without an examination, on thelr
part, how Gar these opinions accorded with their
own. This should not be--and that man IS not
free VI lo sllrrenders his own convictions Tor the
opinions OF others. He is their slave. The Re
formers do not seek to strike down the county
Courts-they object 10 the manner OF Its lorna
tion---a set of men elected by themselves and re-
sponsible to no power, and dealing out their ia
vors to particular families. This forms one OF
the most Objectionable features TO the SYSTEM
It is anti-repubcan, and fit only .or that coun-
/ try whose PEOPLE are slaves. Weean well imag-
| lie the reason why the Wing picss, and the
Magislraey, Tin many cases, not al VIII oppose
any change IN regard to these Couts Interest,
on the one hatldl---the hSheriHahy and the
fact, that the large majority OF the Magistrates
are Wings, and thus exercisea controlling lnhu-
ence upon the politics OF the County, Oh the O
ther is reason sufficient; to our mind, why the
Reiormers may expect opposition tom this quar-
! ter 1t is a rare instance that Democrat IS ex-
allied to the Bench, in Wing county, even tho
that County may contain several hundred Dem
ocratic voters. What is true with regard to the
County Of Augusta, is equally true with regard
to every Wing county in the State, and it would
seem, in the number appointments, by these
Courts, that there were few men, outside OF the
Wing ranks, qualified to dscla rye the duties o.
IA Magistrate. OF this, however, unjust, though
it be- we do not care TO complain The grand
objection is the manner Of appointment; not who
is appointed. II the people have sense enough
to choose those who make the laws they have
sense enough to select those who are to admins
| ter them. Who can deny it? Bat, we opine;
when the day of trial comes, land it is not DIS
tant) the people who suffer from the evils OF the
County Court system, not only in the slow adj
ministration of justice, but in the loss of their
valuable time, will demand a change, notwith-
standing The influence of great names, Better
seal out Justice for a shilling," than not deal it
out at all Another thing in most of the States
of this Unon the people in the different coun-
ties, know how their fax money IS expended,
and for what-in Virginia, the people know
nothing at all about it, except in two or three
counties---the County Court is omnipotent---it
says who shall be Magistrate Clerk, Sheriff,
Constable, and so on---the people have no more
to DO with their election than the inhabitants OF
the Sandwich Islands. Republican---aill't it