Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1867-01-17

to exercise the ingenuity Of these Solons
most anxiously, is ho'o to do 1t, and yet
avoid an unfavorable Judgment of the
judiciary upon their work. they are to
be sympathsed with, for the task bef,re
them is Herculean. Innumerable are the
plans and devices by which men who are
bankrupt beyond redemption are sought to
be kept in possession of their property for
an indefinite period, to the great. detriment
of creditors, just Us uorthy, in many cases
more so. who are to- be constrained TO live
in poverty and want
The prevail ing idea seems to be that eve
ry man should he permitted 10 remain Just
exactly as the the first stay-law found him
and the war closed upon him, no matter
how much Of lis neghbcr's money or
goods he may have The close Of the war
is a period beyond which We are not to
look; all beyond is darkness and clouds
and tempest" '.Old things have passed
away aud all things have become new"
A new era has dawncd upon US Ehe IN
pleasant memories Of the past are not to
be rcyi we'd.
He who would lift the curtain and in
quire after what is due him is to be re-
gardcd as an antedelutian or a Rip-Van-
Wrinkle :! The country wants rest and
peace upon the question of debts "Let
the dead past bury its dead This seems
to be the plain English Of all this ado ;sh-
out "Homesteads," exemption, and
''Stay Laws These measures, although
Of different names, are all born of the same
cause and have substantially the same OBJ
ject. The hope is, that what one does not
effect the others may accomplish What
will be the result of: MI this =? Why.
plainly, so to unsettle public confidence
and fifth in the Legislation of the State, as
to leave every citizen who is debtor or
creditor in a continuous state Of GLORIOUS
uncertainty" Is this desirable2 Does it
not paralize effort and slacken the energies
of the people Whe,. in the present state
of things, can calculate upon the morrow =?
Who can anticipate what day may bring
forth, even in ordinary business transac-
tons? Who can depend upon his neigh
Dor to redeem his promise Who can in
dulge reasonable expectation that he will
be able himself to meet his obligations?
Very .feao, the response must be- if any;
and these few will gradually become
smaller by degrees and beautifully less "
Thus the whole country becomes democrat
lied. A man who disapponts in business
transactions holds his head as high and is
respected as much as any other. Pune
tuality cease, to be one of the virtues, and
is treated as the exception and not the rule.
The lack of faith WHICH at irst only at
tached TO Legislative action is transferred
to individual men, and you soon have IA
society which trusts nobody, because nobody
IS 'eo'tdy Of trust.
The only barrier now standing in the
way Of this mighty avalanch Of evil, is the
simple provision of the Constitution OF the
United States, which absolutely prohibits
any State from 'ssing any Law impair
ing the obligation Of contracts and
similar provision in the Constitution of
Virginia. We say this is the only BARREN
because we are persuaded that under the
present pressure, notwithstanding the au-
thorltatiye declaration of Judge Pendleton,
President Of the Court of Appeals of Vir-
ginia--in case of Elliotts Ext VS.. Lyell,
as far back as The year 1902. that he con-
sidercd the Constitution as simply ''declan-
ing q principle uhich Arrays eeisfed "a
principle adhered to by our legislature in
general since, in all tAeirrepealing clauses.
there is a saving of. all rights vested under
the former laws" &c.;-ao either obst,uc~
ton would be needed for u,oaaeat. In
deed it is very doubtful whether this would
be but for the delicate position we occu-
Ply and the prospect of impending political
evils, which threaten u.s. AS an evidence
of the fact that we do not exagerate Ia this
particular, we may, properly, refer to the
fact, that one Of your contemporaries of the |
press in this Valley gravely propounds the
doctrine III advocacy of Homestead
Law" that "a contract viewed iii the light /
of business transaction involves no moral !!
quality" q quote from memoryand per-
haps only give the substance This is
most strange and anomalous doctrine to be |
proposed for the favorable consideration of |
the public in this latter day Of supposed in
telligence and elevated morality. 1t seems
TO US that it indicates great want OF con-