Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-09-14
Debts for Negroes,,

Debts for Negroes:
We publish below report Of the case in
yolving the great question of the liability of
persons on contracts for negroes, of which we
had something to say last week
Thomas r. Agnew, Assignee, u.s. Simpson
Bobo. This was an action on a note given for
the purchase money Of negro slave sold by
Mrs. Wofford to the Defendant ia 1868, and
warranted by her at that time to be sound and
a slave for life. Note for 1000, interest
annually due in 1860, was assigned to Plaiu-
tiff
Tho defence relied upon was failure Of
consideration in that the negro warranted to
be slave for life, is still alive, but had been
made free And also upon paymcnt-the
debt being sequestered by the Government of
the Confederate States as the property of an
alien enemy, was paid under compulsion Of
that Government, while at war with the Uni
ted States Hon b. +. Perry appeared for
the Plaintiff. The defense was conducted by
Mcssrs. j. p. Reed and Bobo. The cusc was
referred to jury and ably and fully argued
by the counsel on both sides.
In his charge, the Judge said substantially: :
The amount is small the principle, of over
wheming Importance. should gladly havo
escaped from the consideration of this case. -
The settlement of the question: however it be
settled, will carry poverty home to some one
Great investments lie in bonds aud notes Civ
these, women and children have stakcd their
all. The question, is who shall bear tile loss
| Poverty and hardship must come In my
opinion the hardship must be borue by those
who had misfortune to be owners 1t does
not come within the province of this Court
| to adjust and cqualizc the burdens Of the war.
That, tantas compoacrc, belongs to other than
| judicial tribunal.
Abolition grew out Of the war--thc posi-
! tion Of these Southern States in the war they
| waged against the Government. Negroes
were employed in many Of the essential clc-
mcnts Of the war they created subsistence
| for tho armies erected fortifcations and, in
fact, constituted the industrial basis of the
great conflict. The abolition of slavery thus
become a military necessity emancipation
an inevitable moral result of the war. These
States could not be recognized until they
should recognize what the war had elected
1t was competent for the United States to
deal with slaves Just as with other personal
property. The owner must suffer- Who
suffered when mules or horses were taken
or cotton burnt or lifted, or ships captured at
sea Who, but the owner of such property !?
But the laws of property, regulating the rcla-
tionship of debtor and creditor, in the matter
of the mules, ships or cotton, were not abro-
gated. Debts or balances due on the pur-
chase of such mules, ships or cotton, were not
cancelled. The debtors were not released -
Their obligations remain in force at this day.
The seller never made guarantee against the
action of war. Take the case of land. A..
owns fec simple lie sells and conveys the
title he got, placing the purchaser in posses
sion Of all the incidents of ownership with
which ho himself Ind been invested. If the
State, in the exercise Of its right of eminent
domain should take the fec for public uses,
the seller makes no guarantee against the
State; he is not liable for acts of tho State
or against conscation of the United "Stptes
In this case, the ground of defense, failure Of
consideration does not therefore appear to be
made out tho warranty was in every view
good at the time it was given it's subsequent
failure was due to causes for which the seller
Of the negro was in no wise responsible.
The other ground Of defense, payment by
compulson under the Scquestration Inv Of
the Confederate Government, is equally un-
tcnable That Government, never bad e-
gal existence, and payment of tho debt under
its regulations was therefore void
| Under these instructions the Jury retired
and soon returned with tho following verdict :
We find for tho Plaintiff sixteen hun
dred and fifty ono dollars and five cents" the
full amount, with interest GyecnriWc En-
terDriSc,