Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1862-10-11

debt covenant, or assumpsit, or indeed in any
proceeding instituted for the recovery Of mo-
~ or damages. is necessarily judgment for
80 much lawful money, payable in any money
which the law esteems lawful, and has made
legal tender when other payments are in
question. Whatever the contract may have
been, when once pushed to q recovery it can
hAss~ but one termination, and end in judg-
ment NOT i6r~what was contracted for. but for
an equivalent for keeSssach of the contract in
current coin. There may, indvsi. sometimes
in replevin or detinue, BE- recovery uS.x spe.
cific thing, but never in actions founded on
contract, nor in any action for things gener.
ally OF specific kind or class; the reason be.
ing that every judgment must be final. and
furnish an exact measure Of what one party is
to give and the other to got. f1 80
Equity may. no doubt make decree, and
issue writ to compel the performance Of a
contract, specifically and in terms; but then
the Jurisdiction ofequity is discretionary and
special, controlled by circumstances, and ex.
ercised with reference not only to the strict
legal right Of the plaintiff, but to what the de-
fendent may in each instance BE- reasonably
required to do. and has it in his power to ac-
complish. And besides, equity confines this
sort Of redress ordinarily, if not exclusively to
contracts for the conveyance of land, and will
seldom, il ever, compel the fulfillment Of an
agreement for for the sale and delivery Of chat
tells. The writ which has been issued in this
instance is in effect decree of specific per-
tormance, requiring the defendants to fulfill
their contract to the letter, and directing the
sheriff. in the event Of their default, to fulfill it
for them, by converting their land and goods
not into money generally, but into the particu-
lar kind Of money which they contracted to
furnish. Such an order seems to me essen
TALLY contrary to the spirit in which equity
proceeds in enforcing contracts. and would be
aslittle likely to receive the sanction Of chan
cellor, as OF the judges Of Court Of common
law.
1t has, however, been suggested, that al.
though the plaintiff could not, on bond or
covenant tor payment in Spanish dollars. with
a warrant OF an attorney, enter judgment and
issue execution for Spanish dollars, there is no
reason why he should not have a judgement
and execution for silver American dollars. as
distinguished from gold OR payable only in
gold dollars, and not in paper. One, and to
y legal mind, sufficient answer to this is, that
sue Judgment would b. without parallel
or precedent, aud contrary alike to the forms
ana spirit Of the law which always seeks to
pass from the particular to the general, and
may well b. aversed to giving perpetuity to
special obligation, that may, in the course
OF time and events, become difficult to execute,
if not Of impossible execution. The ordinary,
wise, and invariabls course therefore is, and
has been. to refer the injury inflicted by a
breach Of contract, to the period when the con-
tract was broken, to examine what the injured
party would have got, If the contract had been
then fulfilled, and what he lost by it's non-fal.
fllment, to estimate this in the currency Of the
commonwealth. and enter judgement for the
in the terms Of the contract, while it browns
or mergss, and having nothing in common
with it, except that Of being an equivalent in
the general aud common measure Of all value,
for the particular form of value stipulated for
in the contract. A contract may be for the
delivery Of grain, but the judgment on it is not
OH that account for grain. but for as much
money as the grain. il delivered, would have
been worth at the time and place Of delivery.
A Judgment on contract for doubloons would
follow the same rule, and be not for doubloons,
but for the value which the doubloons would
have had II delivered according to the contract.
Why should contract for gold dollars re-
ceive different or more favorable construc-
tion. and sntitls the party who seeks to enforce
it to IN anomalous judment, not for compen-
sation. but for the thing, or rather for the class
Of things contracted fort Judgements should
bs % shaped and moulded that lie tero6t to
ono party may be attained with the least
amount Of injury to the other, and this 10 what
the law has done by rendering them for cur
rsncy generally. and leaving the defendsnt free
to choose that sort OF current money which
can be obtained with the least difficulty; but
. judgment and execution solely for gold, or
exclusivaly for silver. might impose burden
on the dsfsndsnt which hs ought not to be
compelled to bear. and lead to the sacrifice Of
his property without any corresponding ad-
vantage to ths plaintiff. And a. the present
writ Of v6eri ./acias sins against these princi-
plss, aud departs from the even tenor which
every Judgment should pursue. by limiting the
sheriff to QUE particular kind Of currency, In
stead Of leaving the defendant fres to pay,
and purchaser under the writ free to buy in
al, it 10 set aside in accordance with the
prayer Of the defendants. Rule absolute.
TsLEoRAPnic cTAaiFs.-For tho Benefit Of
our merchant and others, We give below the
rates Of photographic charges for messengers
rent from Yrska to San Francisco: For ten
words, o.; fifteen words, q IS; twenty
words. - so. and % on. in ths same proper
tion. up 70 ninsty-6vs words, ol4 rs. From
VT. - NAs, Vn.k ~nv> -,n.N~ N IN end A