Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1864-02-19

ES1te' nA"e nag % called, right privilege or
. purchase. 1t matters not whether they adlefFss
TO the corpus ITSELF of property, or attach to ths
! person, position or employment of men, they are
All alike sacred objects Of legal and constitutional
protection against public seizure, breach, impair.
ment or destruction Thus if the sovereign giant
iAhd upon condition that the grantee shall be sub
Jsct to pay annually 25 cents per acre for tax and
no more, all taxation beyond is Illegal aid breach
1t contract New Jersey o. Wilson, z cn, 164
IL A borrow money upon promise not to tax the
security issued its bonds executed for that purpose
cannot be burthened with any revenue by il, with
out breach Of contract
! 1t banking or railroad corporation be created
with promise, to the stockholder against all tax
no imposition can be laid without imparing the con-
tFaet. State bank ga Knoop, l6 How, 389, Wood
! rnt rs. Tapnal 20 How. l90, State o. bank
Cape Fear IS, Iredell 10, Attorney General o. a.
bank Charlotte, 4. Ir. Eq. 2s7.
IL one is let into an Office during good behaviour
ne cannot be displaced at discretion to make way
| lot another during the continuance, without the
seizure being illegal and breach of contract
iloke ca Henderson 4 DeV. 5. II the sovereign
grant the exclusive right of fishing in a naYigable
river or arm of the sea, it cannot extend the right
ol nshlng in the same waters to another without
breach OF contract Town of Pawlet o. Clarke 9,
VI, w. Telrrtt rS. Taylor 0, Cr. A. When
law Is contract repeal of that law cannot take
Or. ST eest - i-s.eAe. - : ''N'
Every sovereign is moral being and may bind
himself within the sphere Of his powers to the same
extent as may private person within the scope or
his faculties; and each alike breaks his contract
when its complete fulhlment is denied. The obi
CATION OF q sovereign unlimited in power rests on
his honor. If he be limited in power and make q
contract vesting rights in the subject it rests with
tae judiciary to protect such right against his
croachment .0 ~
fsubstitution be contract, the principal has
DrODertV / q trulV in n IF nd rfad
ey the general government and that government
has no more right to violate the one than to seize
the other. That government is vested with the
power to dispose of the public lands, is clear Is
i not equally clear thatit has no power to rescnd
is gTAnty - grant implies contract by the
grAntor, not TO re.assert the title granted" Feteh
erV. Peck, Or. 81. We may say, in like manner,
thst contract implies m agreement by the parties
not TO re-assert the right parted with by the CON
tract. Bot the Confederate States government has
no sovereign right 70 break contract which it has
constitutional right to make 1t has no granted
power to violate any constitutional engagement it
may enter into. 1t exists Ony by virtue Of powers
conferred on it Its powers aud It's rights 60 hand
IN hand; II any nation may ,Wifully retrsct It's
grant or violate It's contract with its own subjects
Is because OF It's unlimited powers aud It's beng
beyond tue pale Of being questioned by any Of lis
trlonnals 1t the Parliament of England have the
constitutional power to transfer the land Of A to
y
ty 1t cannot be found in the charter of its crea.
ton and II it should attemptit the wrongful tenant
could not avoid the question beng presented to .
court Such would be the case Of any other tangi-
BILE thing which the government might attempt to
hold oy Its agents 1t is true that contract be-
tween the government and citizen, not fully exc
cuted could not be enforced by suit against the gov.
ernnent unless by its own consent as an agree
ment TO pay money. But in every instance where
The courts can get jurisdiction they pass upon the
powers assumed 10 this case the body is uniustly
detained in violation Of valid contract, which must
remaln binding. till the government shall remove
its torce There is but way to remove its force
and that is to treat the contract as properly Its
breach II made necessary, is like taking it for pub
lie use, and 1t is assuredy protected under Confede
rate Constitution art 6, g. S16, which declares
that no PArson shah " be depriEsd of lis liberty
properly Whnout due process OF law, nor shall pri
vate property be taken for ppolc use without Just
compensation" So much Of this provision rs re-
lates to the taking of private property for public
use, is found in the Constitutions Of many of the
States though not directly in ours Kent commenting
Y vol. 39S-9) on this clause of the Federal Con.
sttution and similar provisions OF the State Consti
tutIons says, "The Constitution of The United States
and most Of the States of the Uuion, have imposed
great and valuable check upon the exercise of.
legislative powers, by declaring that private prop-
ery should not be taken for public use without Just
| compensation. A proViso for compensation is q ne.
ceSSary attendant ON the due and e0HStItuti0ndL
ercise of the power Of the lawgivsr TO deprive an
individual Of his property without his consent And
this principle in American constitutional urisprf
dence is founded national equity and is laid down
by jurIsts as an acknowledged principle of universal
law" The learned and full note to the text fully
| sustains it by authorities "The government is
bound in such cases to provide some tribunal for the
assessment Of the compensation or indemnity, be-
fore which each party may meet and discuss their
claims on equal terms; and if the government pro-
ceed without taking these steps, their officers and
! agents may and ought to be restrained by iUunc-
ton" 2 Johns, Ch-Rp. 162. Henderson vs. Maj
| &c, Of New. Orleans, 8 Miller's Louis. Rep. Ala
Banaparte vs.. c. 4 A. Railroad Company, l Bald.
| G. G. U. S 205 E1 Pdrte Isaacs and az pa,ts Cox
and Hill, ante Bloodgood VS.. Mohawk and Hudson
! Railroad Company. IS Wend 9. Rogers VS.. Brad
shaw, 20. Johns, 7S5- The discharge Of the body
under Ad6sas corpus is the only way Of restraining
the rre2arable wrong. and serves the same purpose
the Injunction against tangible property, taken
withontjust compensation Itmay be said that the
difficulty of asceraiping the just compensation dis
penses with attempts to adjust it This is no bar
10 damages in any tribunal, and can never shield .
person or nation from accountability, so long as
the maxim holds good that no one shall have advaa-
tage OF his own wrong. :. la -. -.--,. -. ..
I p,Io;ob Fob ~ teeA '