The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-10-07

Il inten3ad the establishment Of u precedent
1 whirb. at any time. or under any eircum-
stances. might lead to such conse-
u,Iences, but It Is dangerous ground
to tread upon, and should be avoid
ed. 1t should be constantly borne
in mind that you are the frat Legislature
convened under the present Constitution,
and that your construction of It's provisions
will in the future be regarded as of high
authority, because contemporaneous with
its being put In force. In. my opinion it is
wiser, iuster, and more in consonance with
the spirit of the age to adopt that rule of
construction which will enlarge rather than
restrict the rights aud privileges of tho
people.
1t matters not that the construction of the
Constitution I contend for may open the
Ljury-boX to some ignorant and incompetent
men. From the day that King Alfred de-
creed the summoning of the first Jury to the
present time that class of men have sat on
%empanelled they will continue to sit on
them. 1t is your and my duty to execute,
in good faith, in letter and in spirit, the pro-
visions Of the Constitution as we find them,
whether we approve them or not and
when, If ever, experience shall demonstrate
the inutility or impracticability Of any OF
them, we will amend the Constitution !; but
until then let it be executed strictly and
impartially.
As the Constitution makes no difference
in the qualifications OF grand n petit jul
rors. it appears TO lie that If our statute
upon the subject OF petit juries were SO
amended as to conform to the Constitution,
| and authorize all juries to be drawn in the
manner now prescribed by law, the whole
| difficulty, it any exists, would be properly,
safely, and satisfactorily solved.
Another bill which was not approved is
entitled
"en act to amend and ~rc.enact section 1, of
chapter CXN: Of the Code OF lsso, IN relation to
This bill is, in substance, the law az found
in the Code, with an amendment requiring
that, before the Governor shall appoint a
| notary public, the applicant shall exhibit
to him the certificate Of a county, corpora
| ton, or circuit Judge, as to his character and
! fitness for the office. This Limitation upon
the Governors power of appointment. l
presume, was merely designed to relieve
him from the trouble of making the exami-
| nation into the merits of each applicant
himself; and yet, if he properly performs
his duty, he would make this examination
Notwithstanding the Judges certificate.
The Governor is responsible for the proper
| exercise of the appointing power, and the
recommendations of a judge cannot relieve
him from it. In my judgment this bill con-
tains no substantial Improvement of the
old law. And it is because of this, and be-
| cause it does not propose 4 thorough and
| necessary revision of the law upon this i'm
portant subject, that [ declined to sanction
it. The Office Of notary public, as it now
| exists, is an anomaly in system. 1t is
the only office known to u law without
| limitation either as to the term of its exist
-.oo f,o,,o orlr- tho life rf fhn hnl1prN Or
| the number of persons who may exercise
its functions. / know of no good rea-
| SON for. this: nor of any other State
in which it exists. 1t is an lmpor-
tant office, and should be held only by
| honest, discreet, and intelligent men. The
same reasons which limit the duration of
the terms of other offices apply with equal
force to this. In most OF the States the
term of the Office is limited to a number OF
years-in some to two years, in others to
four years. Our own law limits the term OF
the office Of commissioner of deeds, resi-
dent in other States. to two years. 1t would
be well to apply the same rule to notaries
public. and to limit the number to one for
every one thousand Of population, and TO
prohibit n notary from doing business
without a seal, and compel the authentica-
ton of every acknowledgment of a deed or
other paper by his official seal. These limi-
tations would enhance the dignity and i'm
portance of the office, would make it OF
some profit to the holder, and would ena.
BILE the Executive frequently TO drop from
the lists those who proved unworthy and
incompetent.
Owing to their noncompliance with the
law in making proper returns to him the
Secretary Of the Commonwealth has lately
stricken a large number OF names from the
tf,x - --kosar md e sr 3hnraforA q 1.lrys
appropriate time fer the revision and
amendment of the law ms above suggested.
A third bill was not approved, which is
entitled:
Act to incorporate the Rockingham Homo
Mutual Fire Insurance Company"
This bill charters an insurance company
of an extraordinary character and with un-
usual powers. The eighth section declares
that "tbe said company, being simply ICON
tract of partnership, limited to the purposes
of mutual assurance under the reStrlctlons
imposed by this charter, having no salarled
officers, and having no paid-up capital stock,
shall be exempt from the taxation i'm
posed upon other companies as insurance
companies" This is certainly 4 very re-
markable section. The organization pro-
posed can no moro be designated as "slm-
ply q contract of partnership" than any
other Insurance company ; and there is no
prohibition in the charter to its having
what will be found absolutely necessary,
viz !: salaried officers and some paid-up
capital. But, suppose it has no paid-up
capital, no salaried officers, and is merely a
co-partnership. Is that any reason for eX-
empting it from all taxation as an insurance
company during its eXistenceI If organ
lied it will be an insurance company, with
the rights, overs, and immunities incident
to such corporations, and it should betaXed
the same as other insurance companies.
The Constitution provides that taxation
shall be "equal and uniform" and the Le-
g~islature, in my opinion, can make no eX-
emption except as provided in Article ",
section 4.
The bill entitled san act to incorporate
the James River Bridge Company" was not
approved by me because l was; unwilling,
without q more careful examination than l
had the opportunity of giving. it., to sign u
bill comforting upon q corporation such ex-
traordinary powers, which it seemed to me
must conflict with the vested rights and
corporate privileges Of the owners Of Mayo's
bridge in q manner not warranted by the
Constitution. A subsequent examination,
however, Of the charter under which
Mayo's bridge was built has satisfied me
that there is probably no constitutional OBJ
lection to the proposed charter Of the
James River Bridge Company.
I have thus given you the reasons which
induced me to withhold my signature from
the four bills above named. / have thought
1t advisable, under all the circumstances, to
communicate them to you in this form !;
but the statement of the objections to each
bill may be considered as specially addressed
to that House in which it originated.
GILBERT c.. WALKER.