Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1861-11-02

tenn of trade is brought on the people at once, and
at a time too when confidence ought to be encour.
| aged by every legitimate mode can any be SO olnd
! as not to perceive who are its anthorSg Inc sue
ceedng sections and B. in order the more fully TO
complete the delay on the larger contracts, abolish
The civil Jurisdiction of the County Courts, and re-
move all the suits pending therein to the Superior
Courts; and after augmenting the number OF cases
in many counties to or 600 forbid the trial oil all
causes thus removed, till twelve months thereafter
| although the pleadngs are perfected and the time
for trial shall be ample And as the finishing touch
to the plan for hindering and delaying the trials oil
causes the act finally reaches out its hand and lays
hold of the poor mans cheap Court--the justices
C0urt-and delays the trial of one dollar cause Tor
| twelve months
And ifthen tried the defendant may appeal to the
Superior Court which may be a year oft At the
Superior Court the defendant is required to Plead
and the case will stand over for year more So
that if defendant warranted for the sum que on
a witness ticket to a poor man who has been com
PEELED by fear of fine Of $40 the pains OF an
attachment to attend and pay his own expenses for
travel and board and his case shall 20 to the Supe-
rior Court for trial. he WILL with the best possible
luck If his case is reached at the first tTtGt Court
get judgment in Che third year, and his money in
the fourth provided the sheriff will do his duty, and
the party may not have failed For, it is strange
enactment of this section that without affidavit
of merits any defendant, who will swear to his i'll
ability to give security, may without security appeal
in the plaineSt case Whereas, by long establish
ed practice of the courts, pauper can even COM
mence a suit without security, unless he Swears
both to his paupersm and the merits of his cause.
So that few men-certainly not poor man-woud
ever begin suit for witness ticket or for months
wages Indeed few men would be surety for de-
PENDANT in such protracted litigation; and 1t would
be easy therefore, for him to make the affidavit Of
inability to give security, though then perfectly able
to pay the debt.
1t is plain, then, how the stay law tempts the
debtor to defraud the poor and necesSitouS out
of his time and money.
But, if there should be appeal, the witness
may expect his judgment in twelve months and
recovery of his ticket to pay his tavern bill in
year more. In most cases. however, 1t is obvious
that the constable who served the warrant would
never finish the collection; and whenever finished,
a suit on his bond for the money withheld would,
being ltigated suit run through half dozen
years more.
Ii King John, of England ever favored such
law as this, well warranted were our sturdy Eng
land ancestors, when at the point of the sword
they eXacted Of the crown a perpetual promise that
justice should never be sold-nevcr be denied
never be delayed.
The act after having denied trial for four, five
or SIX years Of undetermined cases. proceeds in the
next place to stay the end of determined cases. Ii
is an old maxim, the foundation indeed Of all the
value of court of Justice" interest reipublirG
sat Fnis Htiun'." at concerns the commonwealth
that litigation should be speedily and etectuay ter
minated" But this act reSuScitatcS the expiring
controversy and infuSeS into the dying contest a
new and fresh vi gor of life 1t commands that the
execution shall not be satisfied; that the fruit of
long delayed justice which has been duly and SOL
emny awarded, shall not be received and enjoyed
by the injured party. 1t directs the Sheriff to en-
dorSe his levy upon executions and return the same
to the court whence issued, and thereupOn, it
mandS the clerk to issue a rCRd erp0RdS, or HiidS
il. fl, returnable twelve months thereafter The
debtor, the treSpaSSer on your person or land the
sanderer, and the thief who may have stolen your
goods, aud been convicted thereof action of tort
are all huddled together and allowed to enjoy Their
unjust gains and delay compensation for their
wrongs to the great loss of the injured man, for
one year longer.
Such is the condition Of all plaintiffs, however
their demands; and such the privileges
of wrong and outrage, however palpable and crying
the injuries may be- even If the defendant should
be bound to remain in the State and abide the ut-
mate and long delayed event of the suit
But the act strikes hidden and secret blow, the
of which are protective of wrong disas
trous to right and work perfect revolution in our
mode of administering justice. 1t enacts that no
execution of ca Sa. shall issue Does not this abo
Sh all bail? Of what use is bail? How can the
bail bond be forfeited, If the issue of the ca sa be
prohibited? Did any member of the Legislature
contemplate so radical change Of the law as to dis
pense with bail in any and all actions? | doubt
whether any one of them would admit such to be
their intent; and yet who of them can tell us the
value OF bail now? Let US try the question. An
nSolvent person is sued for violently Selling and
carrying away your slaves, your horses he has
sold them and given bail while he holds the pro-
leeds OF sale in his pocket; Judgment after six
years is obained-he has visible estate on which
IN execution can be levied but he has an abundance
Of invisible estate and is rich in bonds which the
Sheriff cannot seize-what means are left to compel
aim to apply cent to the satisfaction of the recov-
cry! liza lawlesS and insolvent man choose to Law
Elolent hands on your personal estate and is pro-
'eeding with it out Of the State and you resort to
he law for redress, of what use will be YOUR writ of
'dpIas al respondeHdum? If he gives the best bail,
MS body is exempt from seizure and so the bail is
released. lfyour debtor, residing in distant land
shall come hither to remove all his property beyond
he jurisdiction OF the courts by what means will
you secure your debt if he will defy you? Will YOU
AXE an attachment? If you do he will replevy by
giving bail; and the bail cannot be required to
surrender the body, the replevin bond becomes the
nerest farce. This provision requires citizen of
his State to surrender his debt, his damages and
Ill compensations for wrong, though contracted or
Derpetrated within its limits unless he will follow
The wrong doer and his property to his distant home
or redress Such are the necessary effects of one
Of the many stupendous changes in the administra-
ton of justice introduced by the stay law. 1t is
true, that in some States bail is abolished upon GER
tain conditions; but invariably some equivalent Sc
curity is substituted This act offers none II
opens wide the door of temptation to fraud and ra-
pine; it encourages the preparation of every in
Jury to private right and defiance of every court in
the land The law, intended to be the Just protec-
tor OF all, is now made too weak to defend any man.
Or any cause. Did the people demand this mighty
change of the Legislature? The effects of the act
may be summed in this: 1t removes the shield
Of legal protection from the person; it depreciaes
al contracts; it renders insecure all personal and
movable estate, and invites permanent trespasses
On an real property.
Let us take another step in the review of the stay
law. Section twelfth provides
That all deeds of trust and mortgages hereafter
made, and judgments confessed to secure debts shall
be void as to creditors, unless it is expressly de-