The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1869-11-13
The Homestead Law.

from the Southern Enterprise, the on
paper published now ut Grceenville,
c., and one as we'll edited as any IN til
State:
"A writer in the Charlestou Neu e
signing himself Justice" is insisti,
that the enlightened and able decisiohs
of Judge Orr aud other Circuit Jud ,cs
sustaining the Homestead Law, are all
wrong, aud he predicts that the Suprc.he
| Court Of this State will declare it inope.
rative. as TO debts existing prior to its
| adoption. as the fundamental law of the
State. 1t may be possible that the Su-
preme Court will declare the Homestead
Act unconstitutional but that will not
.nake it so, Or convince anybody that
does not want to be convincel-Jud. ..s
may find plausible grounds for annuilng
almost any law State passe- on the
score of impairing contracts, if they take
into consideration mere consequential
considerations but u general law, like
the Homestead, TO protect families irom
bciug turned out paupcrs aud beg.ars
int" the highways and hedges, does not
directly Interfere with anybodys con-
tracts least of all with contracts before
the war and during the War, for they did
not anticipate existing facts or contract
upon them. Justice" as he signs him
sell. Zone sid,d .jastice lie seems TO us
may be Sratiiicd at IL decision Of the ST.
p.eme Court Of the SITE in accordance
with the homc-cxpclling, unshcl;ering
and Shet,D.4nisins policy ri these who
have less sympathy for the unfortunate
| debtor and the humane aud rational side
OF the law, than for lis technicalities (;
who. unlike, judge Orr, have not the
breadth at mind and heart to take into
consideration .ftfcis of the case, aud the
sound reasoning arising frnm those facts.
Whatever ,heoretical view may have
been expressed by some of the judges
OF the Uuitcd Statcs Courts as to the
State being all the time under the strict
rules oi' the Constitution uf the United
States. everybody Lmo.cs that it is not a
| fct. Such WAS not the fact at the time
the present Constitution of South Caro-
| lina WIS framed, and jus: ice" cannot,
by truth. maintain that it w,s any Con.
stitufion till vitalizcd by Aci of Congress
according tc the Reconstruction Laws
under which we now live. aud move aud
have our being as IL Stue. We were not
recognized as State under the Constitu.
tiOn.
The truth is, as intimatcd, Courts may
give plausible reasons for setting aside
any Act of the Legislature they please,
if you will argue that, by some conse-
quenee, they Interfere with somebody g
contract--the liae of argument that some
resort to-would annihilate all State leg
islation. But there are some laws aud
remedies for contracts that have been
again aud again set inside by State legis.
lation, and scarcely any one has dared to
question them; such, Tor instance, as the
law Of arrest and Imprisonment for debt.
This was more efiectual remedy. gene
rally, than the right to sell the family
homestead of thousand dollars because
all men, necessarily, had bodies to Re
tortured whereby they could be com
pelicd to assign everything they had in
possesaion-or in future-money, debts
lands in the State and out of the State.
Most men a'so had some relative or
friends that might be forced to 90 their
security, or help them in some way by
this terrible remedy of arrest and i'm
prisonnlent luwiuly possessed by every
creditor, and especially J., every judg-
tnent creditor before our New Constitu-
ticn was adopted; yet no one quest
the constitutiuuali.y Of the abrogatio
1 this remedy, or tries to set aside thi
BILE and enlightened provision OF
Constitution adopted under the RI
struction Laws of Congress. One
son is, that it would shock the con
sense of right in the heart of all ID
aud the only reason tht all men d,
see the same conslilulonality in
thousand dollar Homestead Law. is.
it applies only 20 the debor class h.
u homestead, which, although l..,
yet minority. The obscure farm,
tenant Of an humble homo it may /.