Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-02-10

Corrsspesdsnes Of tks Sta,.

Corrsspe~dsnes Of ii. Star.
GsoRsErowN. Feb 9. 1883
The meeting al Forrest Hall. last night. held
Tor the purpose of considering the new Code,
was attended by an immense concourse of pei
sons. a.
On motion of Mr. Edes, DR. G rafton Tyler was
called to the Chair, and Mr. J. l. Kidwen was
appointed Secretary. .ri ........ 81.
on taking the Chair, DR.. T. remarked that
doubtless, all present knew the objects of the
meeting asowell as himself; It had been called
~. inc purpose OF inviting full and free discus
sioh Oh tue new code Of laws " hich had been
PePard TOT the District, and which would be
Iald before the people in few days for their ap-
: Mr.. Onld being called for, took the stand. and
sa,o !hat u There was any gentleman present OPP
II he would come forward and make his obiec-
lions known. To such an one he would cheer.
fully yield the floor and take bis chances at a
ply; Inc opponents Of the Code had been solc
ted ana challenged to come forward and discuss
IL lairiy all he asked for it was fair discus
sion. Mr.. o. remarked that the Code had been
prepared under peculiar circumstances. No law
ever prepared for the government of the people
had been subjected to so many and such rigorous
tests, and then to vote of the people pr eapita
before going into oper alton
ne then informed the audience Of the persons
oy whom the Code had been prepared They
Were all citizens Of the District men who ex.
Ptcted to live and die under them and their
childIen's children also After its preparation
II nad been submitted to the criticism Of both the
present able Attorney General ard his predecessor
ooth OF whom had heartily approved all its pIo.
VISIONS Tue Code was not his production IL
was the result Of enlightened reason and ley isia
abroad IL was not the law of the cod Tiers. II
wa' the work Of wiser heads Gud forbid thai
he, as one OF the cod hers, should set himself 10
az Lycnreus TO make laws for this people /
rs Al \ fh. ,.,l-- II
laws which have been provide i for the future of
the District. If you should ask me for tn. laws
ny Which we are now governed, must tell YOU
a. did the people of Washinytnn I should
have to bring you two cart loads of books and =
~hteibarr"w load Of dust, and wLen I had
ofoug ht them, IL Qhe law would be hard Ia find
ana after found, like Charley Jones;s horse, good
The opposition to the new Code consisted Of
several classes OF persons. Each OF these he
should mention; and in doing So he should speak
Pldlhiy' In the first place, all the gamblers
were opposed TO il; second, all the lottery ticket
vendors; third, all the keepers of houses of i'll
Tame and their pimps, fourth, all the erog sell.
ers, WIN 2 few honorable exceptions; and fifth
anu last, though not least, the chief of q rsat
huzzad roost In Washington and his myTmi.
dons ana his opposition grew out of the fact that
he now held some four lucrative Offices which
the Code proposed TO distribute among as many
ihdiVlduais Aud, as be held i'm his hand a COPY
OF tue lntelligencer which contained Il rehasb OF
al The principal objections Of these parties over
the signature Of w IL. w. he would take them
up In order and discuss them fairly He did not
what heavy Wrappers, as he had no hesitation In
saving that his statements were false
These objections, he said, started out with the
charge that the new Code was desig ned to re-agi-
tate the slavery question. This was false No
cnangc In the law whatever had been made
The codiners determine, from the beginning TO
make no CHANGE and LEFT ii just as they found il
They also charged a revival Of the old militia
30, -
prohibited the old MALTA muster and ,implv
imposed triting tax Of fifty cents upon each
white male citizen over eighteen years Of age for
TAG pa pose OF creating fund for the support of
volunteer companies. The old militia muster
law had never been repealed it had only grown
into disuse. The opponents Of the Code wer.
c.ai'oTous abont the proposed repeal of the usury
raw IL was at best an antl uaed concern datinv
Dack before the days Of the Revolution, and he
reSard' 1t as stupid law. Money was a com
modify which men had much right to trait
~, ~, Is Lney nad 10 hour or wheat. The usnry law,
hr believed, was the very thing that had buili
up enterprise at the North to the injury of the
South The South had held To the stupid con-
Germ, while the North was more liberal, and thus
Hou.hefn capitalists had been compelled to invest
thelr money in the North, where it Welded then,
a better tate of interest.
These obJectors were also very loud I'm their
complaints about the revival Of the law of attac b.
iheht az proposed bv the Code The whole layu
proceeds on principle, IL that principle Is wrong
the law Is wrong, and that was that dishonest
creditors should not have the power tn tie nm
, ,heL property In such manner to defraud
'neiI honest creditors Ii any honest man object
eu, nay more, II there was any dishonest man
present let him rise and give his objections n
ine dishonest creditor thought .oper to shut
himself up TO evade the law he went for 49,
ing him out. Tits was what he h.d been trvtnf
70 40 with The oppOsers of the Code -, f,r
IRON the proposed law being an oppressive ,ne
ne resd;d' II more humane than the one now in
ioice, Tor while under the old IL had been daci
ded that an individual could he held 10 hail nv
MS creditof making oath that he believed that he
intended to frandul.ntiy dispose of his property
III no case, under the Code, not even of fraud
Gould d c"ditor be held to bail before q indo
ihtnt was obtains d against him The chant
On evidence, he said, bad b- Gu made a preat n,,
oeal rms he regarded the great Cardinal fea-
principle 1t did not, as had been assertt d. mt
Tue ihndti on an equal footing with thu ch, istian
but IL put HIM on an equal footing with the no.
tofious mar 1t done nothing more
III was also objected that II places UNNECESSARY
restrictions upon religious and charitable insti-
tutlons This objection Mr.. Ould argued at
some length, and completely, in our jud gment,
minated all such objections. Another obj.c.
uoh, he SAID. was that ii interrupted the reIa
lions existing between landlor and tenant Tn
thls respect he acknowledged the law differed
somewhat from the old. 1t however, only pives
70 lne lahaoid more speedy method Of re-
posse>sihS MS property In case of dishonest ten
ants, ana upon the other hand exempted the
tenant from being required In many Instances 10
pay claims he never owed
The homestead law was also discussed in a
manner by Mr. o. which elected considerabl.
applause. Others, he said Were cIamorous
against the proposed law of divorce This no
new Every State in the Union, except SJnth
carolina, had Il similar law, aGd In this State he
believed they carried their conservatism so far
that nothing but the sod could separate man and
VIE VIE. he gave all the grounds which would
JUSTIFY an application for a divorce Surely, said
tue speaker, no honorable man could object to a
divorce for either of these Offences The Cod
a'd not grant the divorce, but simply the power
In conclusion Mr.. o. said he had severed all
the objections, and would be glad il time would
permit, to give some of the benefits which would
result from its adoption. In the arst place. the
law was reduc. d to small compass; under its
provisions every man could find out what the
law was-he would not be compelled to fee a
lawyer to tell him what il was, to he defeated nv
II afterwards. All he had to do was to find out
Tor himself what it was, and then only pay his
counsel to enforce II for him. Mr. o. spoke
about two honls, and simply to say that his
speech was an able exposition of the Code would
not be to do 1t Justice Ii was 4 mastery defence
of II in all its parts.
We learn that MIR. Shoemaker, tue -four in