The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-04-29
TIE United states Courts.

UNIVERSAL cTedenco that before ad-
1ourning, the United States Supreme
Court by arvote Of FIVE TO three de
clhredy the -s'test oath, unconstitu-
ttonal. If snch is the case, the fail
ure OF that body to give publicity to
their opinion was n cruel outrage
upon the people of the South.
The receat legislation of Congress
Is rapidly placing the lives and for
tunes OF the people Of the Southern
States at the mercy Of the district
courts of the United States. And
yet, until the .stest OATH REQUIRED of
all attorneys practicing in those
cosrts Is pronounced uuconstifution-
al. the lawyers Of the South cannot
practice before those tribunals. The
existing law with reference to the
treedman's Bureau, the civil rights
bill, the confiscation Acts, the laws
reiatlng to internal revenue duties.
are likely to bring the Southern peo-
pie before the district courts, while
the test oath denies them 'sthe bene
tit OF counsel" There is not, we i'm
agine, in the Southern States single
lawyer OF eminence and reputation
who can take the "test oatl.'' A few
Northern lawyers may have removed
to the Southern States since the fall
OF the Confederacy, but they are
men, far the most part, Of but little
talents, and have not won the conf
dence OF Southern clients.
The ''test oath" SO far as the
courts ore concerned. ''inhicts pun
ishment upon the members of the
legal profession who have already
been pardone,l. because it denies
them the privilege Of earning their
bread. 1t denies, also, to our people
til" advantages Of learned counsel.
when :hcir hives, liberty and property
are imperilled.
This Is most deplorable state of
things, and it is rendered still more
alarming from the fact that bill to
remodel the Judicial Act of 1889, and
tue whole system of the Federal
courts, has already passed the Senate,
and will. in all probability, become a
law. The system which is to be abo-
lished has been in existence for
nearly eighty years, and is, perhaps,
as good as could be devised. The
fact that it was not disturbed until
the tornado of revolutionary madness
and fury swept everything ancient
and time -honored away, speaks vo-
lumes in its favor.
The bin now before Congress pro-
poses to abolish the circuit courts
entirely, throwing into the district
courts all the business heretofore
done IN the circuit courts, except the
appeals from the district courts. It
then makes q court of appeals in each
circuit, composed of the district
judges and the judge of the supreme
court for that circuit, any three of
whom may hold court. And it
makes the decisions of this court of
appeals final in all eases, unless more
than $4,000 is involved, or a con-
strnctlon is to be given to the Consti-
tn1ion, or a treaty, or revenue law
of The United States, or unless the
court OF appeals shall certify that the
question involved is one of general
Importance.
Some Of the features Of this bill
bear remarkable resemblance to
late Act of the Legislature of Vir-
GINA, for the encouragement of the
country lawyers, and the disintegra-
ton and final extinction of a central
supreme (State) court of appeals.
The passage OF this bill henceforth
limits the jurisdiction of the Judges
of the Supreme Court of the United
States to the determination of ques-
tions Of law. Now the justices of
that conrt, when on their circuits,
try jury cases, civil as we'll as crimi-
nal. Instead of having one national
system of jurisprudence, if this bill
becomes law, we shall have ten,
with different rules of practice, con-
tiicting decisions, and ten different
reporters.
For controversies involving less
than $40, 900, land by far the greatest
number of litigations involve less
than that,) the Court of Appeals,
composed of the district Judges, is
the final arbiter. For all questions
arising under the laws of the United
States other than the revenue laws,
those Judges would have the power
OF final decision. At any time thus
to divide up the jurisprudence of the
country into different systems would
be injurious, and would tend to in
crease sectionalism.
Now, such consequence will be
inevitable: Indeed, the passage of
such bill will deprive a nation lust
emerging from the chaos Of civil war