Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-02-22
r E M A II KS
MR. CUNNINGHAM. of Person,
In the senate, the Sth instant, con the
Bill to Change the Jurisdiction of she
Courts and the PIeadinSs Therein"

In the senate, on the sth instant, con the
Bill to Change the Jurisdiction of the
Courts and the PIeadings Therein
Mr.. SPEAKER do not desire tn coz
sumo unnecessarily the time of this body,
but [ feel bound to offer my views in regard
to the measure before us ] am opposed
to the substitute offered by the Senator
from Pasquotank but will vote for the bill
as reported by the committee. 1t seems to
me useless to discuss the point as to the
prOprlety, or necessity, or even the COnsti-
tionahty of this measure. 1t is obvious,
that it is demanded by the whole country :;
everybody has made up his mind to it, and
even the Judges are prepared to give it q
chance, if it is a just compromise between
debtor and creditor. The ordinance of the
State Convention is radically defective as
a relief measure, by making it almost naces
sary for all creditors to bring actions to the
Spring Courts of the present year, and
thus involving the people Of the State in a
crushing burden of costs. | have heard it
estimated that so, 900 suits would be COM
menced this Spring, and putting the costs
of each at twenty dollars, we have 81 ,O00,
900 of costs alone, a terrible tax indeed for
the benefit of relief Sir, this deluge of
litigation must be arrested in some way,
and it seems to me that this is the first re-
lief now demanded. am in favor of the
bill under consideration for several reasons,
first, because it gives the debtor twelve
months more TO pay.
The people cannot now pay tenth of
their indebtedness. But two crops have
been made since the close of the war, and
if these had been full ones, it would have
taken nearly all to supply existing destitu-
ton, to reft farms with stock and nipple
ments, and to purchase the household al
ticles, which were beginning to be so much
needed But the crops were short; and in
many places not sufficient to bread the peo-
pie and feed the stock, and great numbers
have had to 60 in debt for the necessaries
of life. Under these circumstances, no
reasonable man can object to give the peo-
pie time to make one more crop before
they can be forced to pay even tenth.
This bill, also, very justly, as think, al
lows debtor the privilege of preventing
suits by paying within the prescribed time,
the amount allowed to be collected. This
is another important error in the existing
law. For had debtors offered to pay the
tenth of their obligations by the first of
this year, creditors could have refused it,
and, in many cases, would have done so,
hoping by the fears of cost, and the trouble
and exposure of legal process to force their
debtors to pay more. This bill also pro-
vides that small debts shall be put on the
same footing with large ones. It recogni-
zes the validity of contracts, looks to future
payments, and gives the creditor the chance
and the right to recover his Just dues, as
soon and as fast as the debtor is able to
pay them.
Relief is demanded by the public calami-
ties. Tt is due to an honest and devoted
people, overwhelmed by losses, not result