The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-07-23

| euei p4tu9s EOr toe most ID
tney asked but for wine or water, for the loss
Mt blood creates thrst, snd the fatixues of the d
,e nass nave been great from the length of Il
Dattse and the extent Of the ground to fig
over Many OF the soldiers were naked to ii
&c wAist, Their coats having been torn to pieces
c. tse bayones and hand to hand fights. and the
.. SHIRTS torn up to staunch their blood. All we
covered with dust and had their clothes mo-
.. less torn, both officers and men, and presen
u ca even IN the absence Of blood stained clothe
= the most pitiable appearance. But all VII
o we're not suffering had stamped upon the
countenances that quiet, determined loo
. which soldiers acquire in battle. and which
: caiied n the French army the '.professoni
look"
. Foreclosure Of Mortgages.
a lTfom the Dubsque TImesl
1he article in the Herald of Sunday mornin
L upon the decision Of the Supreme Court, Il
: relation to the right Of redemption after sal
9 under decree Of foreclosure, struck me viii
surprise, and being both as q Lawyer and
oit'Ien deeply Interested in preserving the ia
.egrlty aud purity Of the Judiciary, cannot le
PASS without correcting its misstatements, an,
GAZING the attention Of the public to the pripci
pie upon which the writer Of thas article seem
20 think judicial decisions ought to be made.
Ftrst IS TO the misstatements 1t is not true
mat the decision took q majority of the bar q
Duouque oy surprise. large number of the
Oar before the decision of the Supreme Court
was known, had given their professional opn-
IONS, ooth orally and in writing, that there was
no redemption after sale under decree of fore
closure. In addition to that, many Of the mem.
oers OF the bar have their opinions upon that
SUBJECT to the same effect in their briefs now on
file in the Supreme Court.
S'nce the publication of the opinion, there are
sun more who had not examined the subject
particularly before, who acquiesce in the con
cirsion OF the Court and believe the opinion TO
oe correct OF this number there are Demo-
| Gratis as well as Republicans. Further than that
one oi the Attorneys engaged in the very case
deciled, and who contended for tie construc-
tion given to the law by the Court, is member
u tie Democ:atc party OF Dubuque, and is as
sound on the principles of that party as the
Editor of the Herald himself.
The article expresses some surprise that the
members OF the Court, while practicing as At
| torheys, had never come to the conclusion ar
| rived at by the Court. We ask how does the
writer OF that article know what the opinions
OF tie members of the Court were when acting
as Attorneys? There is not a scintilla of evi-
| dence that the opinions of these gentlemen were
ever asked or ever given, until the question
| was presented for decision. And in the alb
sehee OF any evidence to the contrary, we think
1t fair TO presume that their opinions on tie
subject, if they ever formed any, were the same
then as now.
II IS ntimated by the writer of the article
that the decision was made to favor spe eeulators
Inc injustice OF this must be apparent when the
TACT - notorious, that the land speculators are
nearly all mortgagors and not mortgages, and
are the parties most interested in having the
matter decided the other way, and are now the
most clamorous at the injustice of the decision,
II there is any doubt about the fact / have
statel, the records of the District Court and
the Recorders Office will satisfy any one, that
the land spectators of Dubuque are the persons
whose property is most ncumbered-persons
who borrowed money of eastern capitalists on
the security OF their property, for the purpose of
keeping up that system Of wild speculation and
unreal imitation which has led to the disastrous
hnaa lal crash under which we are now suffer.
ing.
bes the principle upon which the writer seems
TO think courts ought to decde--the morality
OF tAe article.--is far more pernicous in its
consequences than its msstatement of facts
tie 8 ems to think that because the decision will
WORK hardship to mortgagors, under the pre- |
SEM financial en5arrassmens, and will favor
NONRESIDENT creditors at the expense of resident
debtors. that therefore the court, contrary to its
ton If the truth, and in violation of its oath of
Office, ought to have decided the law 10 be 9th |
erSise than it honestly believed il to be- The /
cour that would make a decision it did not |
believe to be correct, because it thought il |
would be popular, because it could thereby se- /
cure triumph. or avoid defeat at a coming
election. would sell its judgments to him who |
offered the largest sum, and our courts instead
OF being sanctuary o. justice where the poor
and iich could have an equal chance, would
become judicial auction shop, where judgments
and cecrees are knocked off to the highest bid
der
The object Of the writer in the Herald is pal
pablc. and the article itself, when understood.
is really though not designedy the highest com
pllment to the present Supreme Bench. He
knows the decision will be unpopular, and
therefore holds it up before the public in the
hope to gain votes for his candidates at the
coming election. The Judge who made it
knew, as well as he, that it would be unpopular.
and yet on the eve of an election, when two of
them had hoped to be reelected in obedience to
sense OF duty, and at the sacrifice of their per.
sonal interest and popularity they made the de-
cislon. 1t would have been easy for these men
to have delayed their decision until after cleo
ton, but they, like honest men, have chosen to
pursue the straight line of duty regardless of
the consequences to themselves. In this they
have shown themselves worthy of the trust re-
posed in them, and will eventually receive that
which is their due.
1t - the duty of the Judges to declare what
the existing law is, not to make it. If there is
anything wrong in the law, the blame belongs
to the codifers and legislators, and not to the
Judges. The Code under which the decision
was made, was compiled by Charles Mason, de-
moefatic candidate for Supreme Judge. Ste
phen Hampstead, democratic Judge of the
county of Dubuque, and VIM. G. Woodward,
now OF the Supreme Court, and adopted by .
democratic legislature in lS50-5l. This same
Code has been loudly and frequently denoun-
ced iy the leading democratic members of the
Dubuque bar as the most unintelgble mass Of
absar dities and inconsistencies that was ever
honored by the name of laws. While it is no
dishonor to Judge to make an unpopular de-
csion, it is a serious objection to him that he
cannot frame law that two men can UNDER
stand alike.
In conclusion we ask, does the writer in the
Herald intend to be understood that his candi-
dates for the Supreme Court will make dec,s-
ions 10 please the popular taste, or catch the
ever changing breeze Of public opinion, regard
less Of the established rules of construction, !e-
gal precedents and their own convictions? II
SO, let him state it directly and not by infer
enees, that the issue may be fairly made in the
coming canvass, and the people Of Iowa fairly
decide which Of the two to choose.
A. G. DODGE INVITED To THE FIELD.-A fort
night since, Mr.. Dodge received, through the
Republican State Committee, an invitation to
canvass the State with Mr.. kirkwood. Will he
accept the invitation? II is time the appoint-
msnis were arranged and announced !; and it is
time that Mr. Dodge found . response to cali
30 promptly given. Our veteran candidate de-
sirss to commence his labors as soon as lie gets
ii ,o:gh with his wheat harvest When he has
thre.hed out biz grain be would like to do the
same service fer the distinguished gentleman
ftom the Court of Spain, whose diplomatic La
boss what are they) have conferred such lustre
upon the country.
Mr., Kirkwood has not much respec, for those
doughfaces who sold their honor aud
sacrificed the rights OF their constituents, by
aiding in the repeal OF the Missouri Ccmpto-
mise. A. q. Dodge was one oi them. II was
the closing act OF his Senatorial career. For
this piece of treAcbpry TO the neace Of the |