Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-09-11

but the loaFueu ouoSCs IL "oo'
appearing in an entirely new character
He now looms before the public as VII
and indeed, if brevity be the soul OF VIII
he is q wit of the first water. our gu
preme Court Reports may hereafter DC
looked for with interest by others thar
LAWYERS. Chief Justice Pearson Will FUR
nish the slang, Mr.. Justice Dick will sup
NV the poetry, Mr.. Justice Reade the wit,
Mr. Justice Settle the anecdotes, and MIR.
Jnstice Rodman the morals. It will be an
unique production.
In all seriousness, however, if the opln'
ions of the Court are based upon the rea-
sons assigned by Mr.. Justice Reade, we
will search them in vain for the enuncla-
ton of any legal principles. In proof OF
this we have only to refer the reader to
Gibson os. Groner, tried at June Term,
1868. The plaintiff had borrowed $3.50 in
United States currency from the defend
ant, and as security therefor had deposited
with him $3.50 in gold. In a few days the
plaintiff rendered the one hundred ard
fifty dollars in currency and demanded
his gold from the defendant, who refused
to give it up. Whereupon the suit was
brought. The only question was as to the
measure of damages. Now it will be seen
at glance that this case presented some
of the most important questions that the
Courts have ever been called upon to de-
eide. Instead, however, of rising to the
dignity of the occasion and presenting to
the profession and the public clear and
lucid exposition of the rules of law applica-
BILE to the case and the reasons therefor,
Mr. Justice Reade devotes just four lines
thereto, and delivers the opinion of the
Court as follows: "In the present con-
dition of the Government and as the
process of the Courts is controlled, a
plaintiff in execution can only collect
currency, i. c., United States Treasury
Notes. In assessing damages, there
fore, in any given case, justice requires
that the jury should consider the fact and
that their verdict should be for the value
of the demand in currency"
AS there is no statement of the evidence
upon which "the present condition of the
Government was ascertained, we presume
it is one of those facts which the Court
knows judicially, and of which no proof is
required. It is to be presumed, also, that
any change in the condition Of the Gov
eminent is also a matter of judicial self
knowledge This renders it necessary that
every case should stand upon its own
merits, j. e., what the Court declares to be
the then condition of the country, and
that the rule for measure of damages
should vary in each case. In other words,
the Court solemnly and judicially declare
that circumstances alter cases." The
only legal maxim that occurs to us at pres
ent, as justification for the action and
opinion of the Judge, either in legal or
moral point of view, is the we'll known
axiom Cessaute ratione cessat ct ipsa lee.
In old times, purity, probity, high char
acter and great legal learning were deemed
absolutely necessary in Judge, and hence,
when not possessed in reality, they were
counterfeited. Now, no such qualifications
are deemed essential, and decent regard
for the opinions of men sin the present con-
dition of the government" does not re-
quire the tribute which in old times even
vice itself paid to virtue, i e., hypocrisy.
In old times the Court would have de-
clared what the law required the jury to
consider, and not what Judge Reade's no.
ton of "justice" required Justice re-
quires the punishment of the guilty, but
the Law says it is better for ninety-nine
guilty men to escape, than for one inno-
cent man to be punished. If Justice
Reade's ideas and opinions of right and
justice change as often and as thoroughly
as his ideas about other mat tiers, the rule of
action for juries to decide upon the meas
ure of damages will, indeed, be an uncer-
tain one. We do not wish, however, to
speak uncharitably of his Honor. It may
be, after all, that he had good motive in
inaugurating this new style of judicial de-
cision. and was kindly preparing the way
for his youthful and diffident brothers,
Dick and Settle. For these gentlemen, if
not for himself, q royal road to learning
had to be discovered. To them all other ap-
proaches to the Pierian Spring are closed.
That, however, is matter of small impor-
lance so long as Reade's Royal Road is in
order. All that is necessary now and
henceforth, is to declare that Sin the pre-
sent condition of the government, justice
requires" &c. This lets in Tourgee, Watts,
Jones and all the rest of the feathered
tribe. Though not stated, it is to be pre-
sumed that this opinion was ordered to be
| filed in {" de archives of gravity" It GER
tainly deserves a conspicuous place there
The rule is short, simple and easy, appa-
rently. If, however, the reason of the rule
be that the measure of damages be greater
in proportion to the worthlessness of the
thing collected by the plaintiff in execu-
ton, what would be the measure of dam
ages in case the condition of the govern
ment was such, and the process of her
Courts SO controlled as to prevent the COL
lection of anything.