Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-05-20
T0E IlU dUN eI1of'
To the Citizens of Edgefield.,

Constitution LATELY ordained ana Iauneu ny tne
people of South Carolina. The Officers soon to be
elected, and into whose hands the most vital in
tercss Of our citizens are to be committed and re-
posed for the ne1t four years, are Clerk of the
Court of Common Pleas, a Sheriff, Ordinary or
Judge of Probate, Tax Collector, Coroner, School
Commissioner, Board Of County Commissioners,
Justices of the Peace, Constables, &c.
By this Constitution the powers and duties of
the Clerk are greatly enlarged. Indeed the very
responsible Office of Commissioner in Equity is
merged inihis. And that is not all. In the 9th
Section Of the 4th Article it is provided, that he
shall, by virtue of his Office, be Clerk of all 9th er
Courts of Record held in the County, and the
General Assembly is only empowered, without
being constrained to provide for the election of
Clerk, for each or any other Of the Courts of
Record, and to authorize the Judge of the Pro-
bate Court to perform the duties of Clerk for his
own Court. Now, when we reflect, that by the
10Th Section of the same Article of the Constitu-
ton, it is ordained that .the Court of Common
Pleas shall have jurisdiction in all matters of
Equity, and that by the lat Section, the Judicial
Power of the State, is to be vested in besides the
Supreme Court, two Circuit Courts, to vii, Court
of Common Pleas, having civil jurisdiction, and
Court of General Sessions, with criminal juris-
diction in Probate Courts, invested with aug
mented powers, in justices of the peace, and in
such municipal and other inferior Courts, as may
be deemed necessary; and when We reflect further,
that upon whomsoever we shall elect Clerk Of the
Court of Common Pleas, may be devolved not
only the duties and liabilities of Clerk of all Of
these Courts but also the high and delicate func-
tious now discharged by the Commissioner in
Equity of the District, we are almost startled at
the arduous character of his labors, and at the
uneIampled magnitude Of his Office. It alroady
requires man of education, of the bost regula-
ted mind and temper, of upright department and
correct habits of living, of patience, of honorable
Intentions, of mistaken frmnsSs ard decision of
character i'm a word, man of only little less
industry, learning, astutoness, and legal acumen,
than the very best Of lawyers in our midst,-to
discharge well the single Office of Commissioner
In Equity. At his Courts of Reference, questions
of the gravest moment, and of the most doubtful
character, are often sprung upon him, by mem-
bers OF tho Bar, and of opposing Solicitors, and
tho very highest qualities Of Sead and heart are
required to be put in requisition for their proper
solution. At period like this, his labors too, in
the settlement of Estates, are absolutely Hcrcu-
lean, and if his energies be failing, and bis perse-
yerance tfu and uncertain, he is lost in the mazcs
of his official business foundored in une1plorcd
sea of intestate estates, guardian accounts, and
insolyent bonds and mortgages, ard with his ILL
starred craft sink the fortunes, and perish the
estates and hopes of minors, widows and orphans
nil over the District snd State. But consider fur
ther, that und d.- Tho new order of affairs about to
be inaugurated, nearly nil the business traEsac-
tions of our people are to be carried on through
the agency of this Clerk Of the Court of Common
Pleas, and it, at once occurs to the mind, that his
is the most important office, so far as every indi
vidual is concerned, not only in the District but
in the State. He is the Chief Banker of The Dis
trict. Upon his fidelity and integrity, the desti-
tute women and children depend for bread upon
his intelligence and zeal, all the citizens rely for
the progress of business; and upcn his accoracy
and SKILL the Bench and the Bar implicitly rely
for the preparation of causes for trial. 1t bchooves
every man, woman, and child then, in the District,
to look veil and nn1iously to the selection Of q
fit and proper person, for this greatest Of oil their
places of truat. 1t behooves the Central and
b-Committces, to ponder we'll the subject, and
canvass the qualifications of every available man
of their acquaintance, before tkey decide uron
this person into whose hands they may BIO COM
mitting not only their own fortunes, but the for
tunes of their families, and of all their fellow
citizens of the District. We arc free to declare,
that none but the most worthy and capable citi-
zen Of Edgefeld, should be chosen for this posi-
ton, which while it will be most highly renune-
rative to its occupant, will entail upon him n
weight of business and responsibility that the
shoulders of no common man Can bear II il
true, that he should be able aad obliged to exc
cute Gond, with good security in the penalty of,
ut least, one hundred thousand dollars, for the
faithful discharge of his trust. But if We rightly
the duties and interests that may be
entrusted to him, even this enormous Bond will
afford no protection to the people, when We con-
slider the vast amount Of property that must come
under his control, and the great and absorbing
quc,tions that must rest upon bis decision.
We arc at this moment surrounded with rerils
and dangers greater than those which cncom-
passed about the armies of Lee and Johnson.
Emerging from Revolution, and attempting to
organize 4 new Government on the broken frag-
monts of IN old, but conservative and ouce glo-
rious one, that has been crushed and destroyed
by vandal hands, if our citizens do not enter into
the work, with heart and soul, to elect tho bost
agents to give expression to their will; if they
do not organize as party, to combat party ii
they do not labor, with system, with consoles
vigilance, and with IN inviuciblc resolution to
sustain and strengthen their cause by every
means that God has given them, and snatch their
governmentfrom the rapacious hands of unscrupu-
lous, mendacious, and rupacious adventurous, we
are irretrievably ruined, the State is irretrOvably
lost, and blight and curso is fixed upon our
posterity to the latest generation.
Furthermore, by the 3Oth Section of tho 4th
Article above alluded to, of the Constitution re-
Gently established for our govornance, Sheriff
and Coroner are soon to be elected, uho will
have to discharge IN unparalled amount Of old
and new, and complicated business.
Court of Probate, with Judge or Ordinary
thereof, with vastly enlarged powers, by the 10th
Section is to bo established in each county, with
jurisdiction in all matters tes.amentary and of
in business apportaining to Mi
nors and the allotment of Dover, in cases of
idiocy and lunacy, and persons non compo'
,nentis.
By tho End Section of 10th Article of the said