Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-03-03


Important for many weighty re soSs that the ones
ion should be pat 20 rest by Judicial determine.
lion
Il would seem litile remarkable that this poipt
had not bezn settled by positive enac ment in the
code itself But this we'll be accounted f,r BIZ
| the impateBes and hurry which generally attends
an adiSuromt nt after long and tsdious session
Of sny legislative body Although the great BODY
OF the ecds consist Of The ststaIes before ia force
with some changes Of IhraseOlogy, yet there are
/ many new and important provisions and changes,
Whica il would esm reasonable would not 90 into
effect until sf,er knowledge Of their on the
| part af the EeoPle which could only be given BY
publication If The work Ii would be proper there
/ fore if it eoulI be done, upon any provision or
correct prnciI le to hold that it only takes effect
! from the time it was published. But this be
done? The code purports TO embody all the general
acts Of the Slate, in one act, divided into parts,
dHes ehqpters and sections The chapter on the lin
ita,0n actions bJ section AZ. is not TO apply to
any causes If action sccruing before lst October.
1853. An argument is made, that this has the eff
feet 10 postpone the whole cvde thai day. But in
this we are net able 70 concur. If suea WAS the
the Intention, why single out that chapter, vhsR it
would have been easy and more natural TO em>
brace the whole expressly. This wOald rather tend
to show that IS the mind Of the Legislature upon
the subject Of the time when the code should take
effect and they confined the provision to single
subject that 1t was not intended TO extend any fur
ther.
II is a z neral rule that all statutes take effect
from the time they sre pa ssed, unless some other
time is Prescribed in the But for the purpose
of avoiding the i0usiioe and bar lship, if nOS ab
snrdily OF holding the people bound by lass, before
they had an Opportunity of knowing what they
were, even by publication in the newspapers, or
the retura Of their members, general Law was
passed in lo47, eh 80, providing that mo general
Law shouii go into operation or have any binding
effect uatil altar the expiration Of forty days after
IT'S passage unless Otherwise provided in the set"
This Is adopted n.the Code, ssetiOnt l62 with the
single ste -auon thai the forty days be count
ed from 'ths adjournment Eit0Ht day. Of the Legis>
lature. The whole Code is but general Of /
the Legislature, aud the only provision in it ia re-
lstIon 10 the point under consideration with the
oePtion before stated in relation to the limitation
chapter, is in eODITmity 10 the act Of lS47. Then
IS II possible to avoid the conclusion that it went
into operation and effect st the expiration Of forty
days from the adjournment? We think not ard 20
decided There is no question bat that was long
before the session Of the court at which these pro-
ceedngs occurred, for that was late in June, 1853
and the Legislature adjourned on the 22d day Of
March, 1853, and the Code went into operation ca
the lst day Of May, 1858
But still it does not follow that the judgment of
the court was Unauthorized and illegal. The Code
provides in the 4lst section that n Of any con-
et between the acts Of this session aud this Code
the latter shall be con rolling The concluding
fixes the term Of s the Courts precisely as does the
Code the one must have been copied from the other
excluded the change therein made from affecting
the first term to be held within forty days from
the end Of the session. Now this provision is not
in conflict with the Code. The latter has no provs-
ion that subjee, but only adopted AID continues
the time fixed BY the act permanent reguls-
tion Both may sand without inconsistency. We
will no $ X that there are not other grounds upon
which The judgment Of this Court might be main
~. = -
sufficient for the purpose, and We need not go in
search of additional arguments. The judgments Of
conTts, an the OF officers, judicial or minste-
rial. will always be sustained if it be done up
on any cOrre ect principle.
Another ground in arrest IT, that the indictment
does charge q case of fslony under the act Of
1872 The LIST section this class Of fell
snies in general terms. IL consists in feloDioEsly
obtaining or getting into possession the personal
goods or chooses in action Of another 'by means of
any false or fraudulent pre- enee." The Sd section
defines the words used Among other things il pro-
vides that the phrase ''sba Include all ses wh. re
a person felOR;Ousy gets ihe mOaey goods or
chooses, in the action of her, into possess on
any, l. false token; 2 counterfeit letter; g. or by
falsely personatiBg another; g. or by falsely pre-
tending 10 be tho owner Of such goods SC OF 5VanV
Other false and fraudulent prseee, with the inten-
tion, at the time, OF feloniously stealing them"
The -four specified cases in the above eKtr act are
plain enough. and of easy sppc ,tiOn, hut under
The general clause it is difficult fad any settled
rule, which pervades all the cases The cobstruc-
lion placed upon the English Statutes on thai sub
ect, and those of the several States OF the UnOn
their respective saIuies (fOr almost every State
with slight variations, has act of the kind pre-
sent conflicting variety Of decisions that It is
difficult &c extract any settled principle from them
10 Sd Arch. Grim Prac. 46S there is case cited
from I'd East P. C. 672, very analogous to this.
which was held not to fall under the statute. So,
at AL, Of the same book in 49, Eng Com. Law
Rep. 90, where case very much like this was held
to constitute the felODy There are other cases
cited by the same author. and ether books on the
subject, that il would be difficult 10 distinguish from
This, where very similar facts were held to eonsti
lutte the felony. We are disposed to open the /
door wide in the ion Of this severe and
penal act to convert every Of fslsehOOd and
dishonesty, by which may get the sdvan age Of
another in the Insignificant matter into fell
ony. Il surely was not intended that barely telling
; he for the purpose Of getting twenty-five cents
worth of some hing to eat dEink should eOnsti-
ute felony, punishable by al least three yea con
inement in the penitentiary. False pretence" IS |
10 be taken in its legal, not literal Il is not
every faIsehOod OF pretence that will constitute the
offence But we will not 60 into these disiiOc-
lions. The defendant must be a very degraded
creature, but she 10 have been q customer Of
The prosecutor The lie not calculated in itself,
under the circumstances, to impose upon the prose
cutor aud there is some reason to doubt whether it
really did so.
The judgement will besrrestsd upon this ground,
and the defendant discharged CARUTHERs.
Test. j. P. CLARK, Clerk.