Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1866-12-08

l d,
by striking out the third paragraph in the A r.
ticlc aforesaid. The next General Assembly
can consummatc the amendment, and then, the
Legislature will be left, with unrestricted dis.
erection, to establish such superior and inferior
Courts as, to them, shall seem nlcct. Whilst
tins amendment is being gconSumnatcd the Dis.
! trlct Courts may be put fully into operation,
ana one years exl crlcncc will, probably. de-
! clde whether they are adapted to the wants
and meet the necessities Of the public. If
they should hc found tnpractic,be, inefficient,
or too expensive, they nny be ab:ogatcd, and
some better syStcm may be instituted We
are thrown upon npvc tines and all our lcris,
ation to meet our new situation is purely cx.
rcrimcntal. 1t would not Lc Wise to discard
and repeal the legislation OF each preceding
session, brcnnsc it failed to work smoothly or
| give cntiic Satisfaction. When DEFICIENCIES
arc discovered, remedy them, hv amcn.lu,cnt
| OF modification. No human wisdom is coual
to the task of giving a pcl!uc: system Of
Courts and Laws, when IN ancient system
| must be rcvolutouizrd, to CORE. pond with rad
Icnl changes il, social, domestic, industrial and
| political relations. After one years fair cx-
pertinent, it may be found that the District
Court is the d, sidcratun. The Act Of the
list session. " To amend the Act establishing
Districts Courts requires cSscnt,! and ma
terial amendments, to reduce its expenses aud
secure It's Efficient operation. Tie boundary
OF It's jurisdiction should Lc more distinctly
defined. The services Of II Grand Jury, us
part OF ITS machinery, should be dispensed
with; Tie authority confer, on the District
Judge to examine and dismiss frivolous cases,
renders the c%lSteGcc OF such Il body unncc
cssary. here is II we'll defined distinction
between misdcn!canors aud crime Its only
when the prisoner is charged with crime, that
'lc is entitled 10 he tried on prcscn,ncnt found
Iy Grand Jury Petty larceny. and other
petty irlonics, nay lie declared, by statute. to
he misdencan0rs and defendants in all mis-.
dsincai"rs may be tried without prcscntment
or true bill found by Grnd Jury. The We.
l're for the Petit Jury should be reduced
to eighteen. in the District Court, it would
he seldom that two panncls would bc required; );
anu the Court, on such orcnsOnS, could be
'mpl"yed with o,hor Lu.inoos not requiring
the aid of Jury The Jury duty now OK.
act'd Will be very oncruus on the people, and. .
as the law stands, it cannot be 1rrDrnc,! ;,,
an expense OF less than eighty thousand dol.
lars per annun. The modification su.rcst cd
would reduce the expenses to uncthild of
HAT Su:i', ior b"t! superior and inrri,r
Courts. The expense, to the Treasury. OF Ju.
res might bc dispensed with entirely, hy tax
inE Jnry lee ~ every ease tried. Ali trav
cr>cs and lnparlanccs should bc ubroeatcd in
the District Court; and all indictments, rec
ognlZanccS aud other papers, in the Superior
Court not disposed OF, aud in which jurisGic.
ton is given to the District Court, should he
transferred to the District ard made valid
- ii originally returned to that Court The
District Boards should be required to make
their annual returns to the District judge !;
aud il should be made the duty o! the latter
examine the same, and to enforce the law
! against them for r.i>icasunee, natcnsaucc, or
neglect of duty. When the District Judge
is interested in any case, civil or criminal Of
which his Court has cognzancc, it should be
transferred to the Superior Court for trial.
The Court should be invested with exclusive
jursdiction in cases over one hundred dollars,
only where the contract, express or implied
between the employer and employee, is for
agricultural labor. The law now provides that
a prosecutor, who institutes frivolous or
groundicss prosecution, may be aljudgcd tu
! pay the costs of such prosecutions This is an
ample safe guard against grounllrss prosccu-
TONS and the law should be so amended that
the party making complaint before Nlagis
tratc should be granted warrant, upon his
own rccognizance. to prosecute, without re-
qniring security Torcquire security to prose
ccutc, is to deny justice to the poor, the ig
nornmt, the dependant and tho tricndIcss.- -
These arc the classes that it is the peculiar
province of the law to protect; those who
have wealth and friends, can readily secure the
protection of the law.
Doubts have arisen whether the Supcrio,
Courts of law c,n take cognzancc of any Of
fence committed by person of color, under
TIC clause IN the third Article Of the Consti,u
ton, which declares that the District Court
| shall have jurisdiction Of ul cases in which q
person of color is interested, or to which he
is party. The Civil Rights Act, passed b,
the Congress of the United States, which