The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-06-11


Na York Times writes a very sensible
IMPARTIAL letter 10 that paper in refer
.. &, Underwood and his proceedings
.... last week. We quote:
r>paEwoop'S INcAPACITY.
{. +, indeed fortunate for TIE Govern
...r i14t il ithc case Of Mr.. DaviSl has
..,I.d thus soon and with no more blum
.. ,aau have characterized the proceed
.-- t.u-tur. When the court meets again
D..,. Justice Chase will be upon the
0...u anil We SHALL have no more exhbi-
..a~ trom that exalted place OF gross igno-
.,uey VI law.
IHE RICHMOND LAWYERS.
~nl" ,hc lar were gathered many
U.s.. hyr~ OF the Virginia bar, including the
..,0uDIr Gllmcr, Lyons, and Myers, re-
,.a..rd hy Aylcit, Daniel, Johnson, Mac
.r'1d, and many others, so that the court
III. altogether, presented far more
.utyd appearance than ii did yesterday.
ac eminent counsel Tor the prisoner
-..mrd to relish this attendance of their
Is uuoul brethren, and, mixing freely with
'.,u, crew taIkative and jovial-an easy
'tnr tor Brady, Is New York well knows,
t.. not So Tor his rather morosc and some
u...r uiGuilcd colleague, Reed.
r>DEKwouD'S HLuNDERS IN LAW.
after saving that the President would
' thank Underwood for announcing from
'.. bench that Nj. Davis'S case would
.ro. lily hc disposed of before October,
H.. correspondent adds
The tlundcr in law is graver matter.
Underwood announced that the court
"0#I adjourn until the first Monday in
October, thus doing a thing lie has no legal
power whatever 10 do. The law, Is it was
"uHly enacted by Congress, is plain,
maple, and familiar apparently to every
body except the Judge, especially in
@Ns,tcd in It's requirements. 1t fixes the
.1a- ot the Circuit Court Of the United
~.ty, Tor May and November, and the reg
."r terms OF the court can be begun
.-.,1v on 10 other day than the Mondays
%. those months designated in the law. But
Tie act IN question, with the express intent,
a.. aGaEc Lawrence, of Ohio, said at the
.Has % its passage, oil attording an early
n,ri 10 Jefferson Davis, gives the Chief
Justice power 10 call special term Of the
o,.et at any time he thinks proper, and
c.l.."S the court i'll such special term with
aI tie powers il would have in regular
r"m. II follows naturally that Under
"uoI las no power whatever TO adjourn the
Circuit Court 10 the first Tuesday i'll Octo-
'er, and that the only way il can then meet
legally Is ia special term, under the call Of
TIE Chief Justice. This may be, il is true,
mere tecinicalitv; but the presumption
''ta- that Congress puts provisions into
I'D" i,r the purpose OF having them OBJ
arrei, II certainly does not tend 10 i'll
.-"">r tie popular respect for law in free
-''eiHmcEt when a court proceeds in
."nr disregard of the plain letter of
.#" made especially for its guidance.
Ja"a" Underwood is sitting to-day in this
cry ~ virtue Of an illegal adjournment
""n Norfolk, and one OF the papers OF this
W has used the fact TO bellttle him, and
t-f"u-h him the Government he serves.
have spoken plainly OF these matters,
arrAa>v tLcy are injuring the Government
|aa rctardmg the growth OF loyalty far
lore than would al first blush appear. The
"Qtl must first be brought to respect the
Government before it can be expected to
'"'e II, and the very first stepin gaining this
respect is To have the laws of the Union
.Mp"rtially, firmly, ably, and, withal, gene
"4>iy administered. The people of Vir-
2.A'a remember the days before the war
when llalyburton wore the Federal erminc
among them, and il is difficult to blame
'Acm II, when they compare the old judi
,lal personnel with the new, it should be as
Hyperion to satyr; and this, too, consi-
"cting the matter outside Of all political
Considerations, and viewing the two men
siInply as jurists. The plain truth is that
Tie Government cannot afford, in these lati-
'Ndes, to be served by any but officers
thoroughly competent to discharge their
anty. Let Alexander Rives, or some other
virginia jurist Of high character and &C.