Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-07-12

be considered as criminal" Was n Jndoa
to cease to do these ''duties reouired 6I
the interests of humanity" perfor,
nance of which can never be CONSIDERED
as criminal, "-or was he to perform tLo
duties and starve, rather than commit on
illegal act by receioing his salary in C6ufeI
crate treasury notes !? Was the merchant 70
close his store, the blacksmith and shoe.
maker to quit work, and the farmer tn Iot
his tobacco and surplus grain rot on b;s
hands, and allow his family to snffnr Co..
clothing and the other necessaries Of lifo
or do an illegal act by receiving ConfaJor'
ate notes Really, unless the receiving &c
such notes can be connected with a cr;mi.
nal intent to aid the rebellion, the ones.
ton seems to me too plain to admit Of ar
gument. A naked statement exposes the
absurdity OF the proposition. The conrts
must act on the presumption that Confed-
crate notes were received in ordinary deal
ing,-not for the purpose of aiding the re-.
bellion, but because there was no Other
currency.
2. Look at the subject in another point
OF view At the close of the war the Pres
dent granted amnesty and pardon to all
save a very few individuals Congress in
the act for reconstruction disfranchisej
only those who, having taken an oath TO
support the Constitution of the United
States, afterwards engaged, actively, in the
rebellion, and has refused to enforce the
rigorous measure of confscation. On what
principle, then, can it be, that the Courts
are called upon to take up the matter cat
the little end search into the private deal
ings of the people and all the ramifications
of ordinary business and declare of no
force-in effect cOnfScate-all contracts based
upon the consideration of Confederate
notes What coop can result from this
action of the Courts It can have no ef-
feet upon the rebellion for it is over. 1t
can haye no effect upon the future for enc
cessity knows no law" and whenever q
condition Of things occurs, in which the
people must use the only currency of the
country or starve, the currency will he
used The idea of the Courts assuming the
duty of preventing civil wars by holding
that it is illegal to receive the paper of
rebels, in ordinary business transactions,
when there is no other currency-that such
contracts are not fit to be enforced-pre-
sents to my mind palpable absurdity-
So, what good will be done by this action
on the part on the part of the Courts, a de-
testation of treason by treading on the ex-
tremities Of the monster after it is dead.
3. In Blossom Us, VanAmringe, l Phil
133, the maxim, e,c tu7,pi cauSa uctiO non
OritT, was pressed on the Court, and it
was insisted, that, as the parties had made
q transfer of property, In .frdlld and deceit,
acih d1s intent to evade the confscation acts
of the government of the Confederate
States, I'll e case fell under the maxim. The
Court say ''The objection would no
doubt have been fatal, if taken before
Court of the de TuctO State Government,
while it formed part of the Confederate
States, but this Court is coordinate branch
of rightful government, forming part
Of the United States, and cannot entertain
such an objection" In our case the mat
ter is reversed. The turpitude, if any, was
aimed at the United States, and the maxim
applies, provided there be the criminal IN
tent. That is the question ] deny the
there is no evidence of it or any
thing from which it can be implied. 1t
cannot be held that the mere receiving
Confederate note was illegal and base,
without involving in the imputation of
baseness every man and woman in the
State the minister of the gospel, the
Judge, who received their salaries; the
the merchant, the mechanic,
the farmer, who carried on their ord
mary business. The poor seamstresses,
who at the end of the day received their
hard earned wages, were all guilty of All
act so base that the doors of the courts of
Justice must be shut against them The
is monstrOus. During the war
a farmer should not have made more grain
than enough to support himself and tami-
ly making a surplus was illegal, it aided
the rebellion. If every man had quit work
the rebel army could not have been sus-
tanned ; the war would have stopped 10y
starvation. We were told in the argument
that gold, as we'll as iron is q sinew Of war.
1t may be added, meat and d1'ead are also
Sinews of war,-TeductiO dd dbSudum.
4. But, it is said, the consequences of
holding all such dealing to have been lille
in it's practical application, the maxim will
only make void erecutory contracts. The
principle, if q sound one, evidently includes
all contracts, executive as we'll as execute
ry, and the admission, that in practice it
can only be made to reach the latter, de
monstrates the impotence and absurdity Of
this action Of the Courts, as the means Of
putting stop to ciri tCaTS. Let us see
how it is to operate A man buys tract of
land, pays for it in Confederate notes and
takes q deed. The Court cannot reach him,
for it is met by the "in pdri delictO meliOr
est cOnditi0 defendentiS :" SO he keeps the
land, not because he is innocent, but be-
cause the Court cannot take it from him
and restore it to the original owner, for he
is equally guilty. If one has paid off a
bond i'll Confederate notes, whether the
creditor will be allowed to sue on the origi-
nal debt, which is not tainted with this
81 torpi cauSa, is problem that will not
undertake to solve.
But suppose the bond is only paid in
part; the payment must be rejected, for
being in Confederate notes, it is of no more
legal effect than if made in counterfeit
suppose, in our case, Mr.. Hook.
er brings ejectment for the land-the cou
tract has been in part performed, and the
Defendant is in possession, will the Court
shut its doors against her on the maxim i'll
pari deIictO ? In short, is the practical APP
plication of this novel principle to be al
lowed to cover all intermediate cases, when
the contract has not been fully executed,
or is it to be confined to contracts wholly
where the purchaser has paid
the price, but in the simplicity Of his
innocence, has neglected to take deed
and has not even taken possession The
amount of it is-all who required the Con
federate notes to be paid down or who have
taken deeds and acquittances naCter SEAL
although equally guilty are to 60 unpun-