Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-08-15
For the Advertiser.
Instaliment Law.


To rHkaEDlrOn Apprehensive of fatiguing5
the attcntEni of your FeadSfs by. continuing to
write tho .s5NLaw, Thnve wsiteds patiently,
ezerc:singsthe hope, that some onc5Toals sfoplyto
the mostglarng absurdiics -at least, ina fcw.of
the favotits plans,hat have been proposed to re-
lievc debtors: lAs'no one appoars willing to per-
form the thahKless Office, will uttomptiti in part.
The most popular remedy to relievethe distress
of Debtors, judging FROM the number of its sup
porters, is an Lstalimcnt LaW.S Gen. BUTLER
urges it-so does Major AByEY, and 80 does the
Roman man, with the French name, PERsoNSE."
They all quote with appreciation the In.tal!ment
Law" of 17S7-'S, and seem to think that its adOp-
ton by our Legislature in 1866 would Se the very
thing Iu fact the confidence man, q PERsoSxE,"
boldly says nothing elseis necessary. Our State
Legislature unquestionably had authority to en-
act the Installment Law of 1878, but the Con-
stituion of the United States was not then of
force, as that Instrument, which says no State
shall pass any law in,pairing The obligation of
contracts" .only went into operation 4th March
17S9, nearly two years afterwards. Then what
becomes of "PERsoSSEs" vast learning in clas-
steal antiquities, and what shall be said Of his
compliment lnodesty in comparing the plans of
relief proposed by all the other writer's in the
Adccriser, to those manufactured by The Ladoga
Professors Machine, while h. himself could write
two long communications mostly to urge on in
stallnent law AS sovereign panacca, when any
Intelligent six months student at thodDar ought
to have known better. law student, while un-
dergoing his examination for admission to the
Bar, was rejected once in Columbia because he
could not tell ,chen the Constitution of tho United
States was adopted. If "PEnsoYSE" Lad been
asked the same question by Judges of equal stcrr-
moss, doubt if he would have. got his Legal Di-
poma, at. the first trial, yet he enlarges on Con-
stiutional law with moro assurance than ever
Webster or Petigrue displayed.
However, the.most surprising thing of all is
that an Installment Law should be 50 yohementy
insisted upon noc as a remedy to relieve debtors,
when the very Stay Law, which was declared
unconstitutional Ly the Court Of Errors last May,
is of itself, in one, sense, nothing but an Install
mcnt Law, since BY it debtors arc reaui. ed topay
only ore-tcnth of principal and inerestas afrst
installmeut of their obligations. "'PERsoSSE"
must be so fond Of reading about Rome That he
has no time to devote even to the Consttuliln Of
his own country. When he b asts of pre!ering
"the Teachings Of History to all things else
that tho present generation can suggest, and die
claills ing any" opinions" mustbe torditler
with him, for it is.eyident that he has u berter
opinion Of himself than of any thing in nncient
times as we'll ns modern. Trnly the genilcmnn-is
in such good hu;;:or with himself, that nught
to apologize for reminding him Of the dbovc facts,
which so mar the applicability of his quotations
from Dyoni.ius of Hallicarnassus, seviilius the
Senafns Consultum, e.r Burns has offered up an
eloquent prayer for all mon, and, women too, who
love to exhibit themselves as the learned " PER-
SOME" has done, and be is kindly advised either
kto study that prayer more, or write legal history
leas. may take off my hat TO Mr.. W. W. ADAMS
plan next. Some one ought to do it with gloves
off,-snd cal. things by their right names.
COUNTRY CRACKER.