Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-02-11
STATE NEWS.


as a rumor, that the valid1ty@9f the Reso- |
luton passed by the General Assembly,
forbidding the Treasurer to pay any more
of the interest on the special tag bonds,
would be tested by some interested party
The rumor was confirmed yesterday. we
learn that Meesrs Rogers and Bachelor
have been retained by party from New
York, and that nsd'sddnauS will issue to-
day, to compel the Treasurer to pay the
accrued interest on certain bonds, accord
ing to the intent and provisions Of the ap-
preparation acts.
We hope the Treasurer will employ suf-
fcient counsel to bring out all the law and
bearings of the question, and that the
Legislature will pass a resolution enabling
him to do SO, if it be necessary.
We do not consider that the question OF
constitutionality has been settled by the
Supreme Court. by any means. when
the University Railroad question was be-
fore that tribunal, the other Roads were
not really in question, and although op1n-
ions were informally given, they were as
various as were the members of the Court,
and settled nothing except the unconstltu-
tionality of the University Railroad appro-
priation.
We hope there will now be full lnvestl-
CATION and settlement of the whole matter.
Raleigh Sentinel
Construction of Confederate contra cts.
Opinion of the Supreme Court in Garrett
v. Smith.
Dick, J. The ordinanceef October 18th,
1866, and the Acts of 1866 Chaps. 50 80 re-
late only to the following contracts made
durin the late war:
1. Executory contracts eolvable in mon
"Debts contracted in which the ma
ture of the obligation is not set forth, nor
the value of the property for which such
debts were created, is stated"
The rules of construction laid down in
Robson v. Brown, 63 N. G. r. 554, are
only applicable to such contracts. The
case before presents a different kind of
contract, 1. e., a contract of exchange or
barter of property. The plaintiff under an
express agreement delivered to the de-
PENDANT number of hats, and was to re-
ceive in exchange thirty pounds of lint
cotton for each hat
The defendant failed to perform his part
of the contract, and this suit was brought
to recover damages for such non-perform
ance. The true measure of damages is til c
value of the cotton at the time and place
of contract AS United States Treasury
notes were not used as q medium of ex-
change within the limits Of insurrectionary
States in contracts made during the war,
gold must be adopted as the standard of
value When the gold value Of the con-
| tract is ascertained by evidence, the jury
| in adding the depreciation of Treasury
notes should be governed by the market
| value of such currency at the time Of the
verdict, and Judgment should be rendered
for such amount. Mitchell Y. Henderson
SO n. @. r. 643.
| The defendant in his pleadings insisted
| that this contract was void for illegality,
| as it was in violation OF the set of Congress
of July 18th, 1861, q. s. Stat. at Large
| 257. That act interdicted oil commercial
| intercourse between citizens of the United
States and citizens of the insurrectionary
! States, but dil not prohibit contracts be-
| tween citizens of the same section. This
| contract was made within the limits Of an
| insurrectionary State, between citizens OF
| said State, and the goods we're exchanged
| on private account, and with no intent to
aid the rebellion.
The plaintiff violated the law when he
purchased the hats in Elizabeth City, and
| they became liable to forfeiture, but thcv
we're safely transported within the COnfed~
crate lines and exchanged in the course of
domestic trade and such contract is in
| no way tainted with illegali:y. Phillips V.
| Hooker, Phil. 1913.
The was error IN the ruling of His Honor
in the Court below as to estimating the
value of the plaintiffs contract, and there
must be Oenire lie 1aO0O
Raleigh Standard.
COUNTY OF DARE.-Gov. Holden has is
sued his proclamation, appointing the 22d
instant for the people residing in the ter
ritory of the newly erected county of Dare,
formed from portions of Currituck, Tyrell
a. 70 Of I,N1
ton of the new county, as organized by
act of the Legislature recently passed.
G1N-HoUsE BURNED.-We learn from the
Tarboro' .Southermer that the Clubhouse be-
longing to Col. G. W. Smith, of the Penny
Hill plantation, about ten miles from Tar
boro' was burned on Monday night. 1t is
supposed that the fire was accidental.
Within the building were two frst-class
gins. run by steam power; between 1000
and l 800 bushels OF corn, and 5, ZOO bush
els of cotton seed, the entire loss, exclu-
sive of the buildings, being reckOned at
s., OOO
/ EDGECoMBE ALL RIGHr.-The following
facts may astonish people ignorant of the
| immense resources Of this magnificent
! county.
1t is estimated by competent authority
| that the cotton crop of Edgecombe will
| reach the hatterlDg figures of 2O,OuO bales.
The lowest estimate does not place it be-
! low Is, 900 bales, 1900 having already been
shipped from Tarboro'. The receipts of
this number Of bales will reach the as
tonishing amount of s., 100000, for cotton
| alone, produced by the county.
| During the past season the expenses Of
our planters were comparatively light, and
| we feel amply sustained in the assertion
that at least ST. 600, 900 has been returned
to the county, after paying all expenses
for culti7ating the crop of 1869.
This amount is the realization of only
one crop (cotton), and does not includ :
the proceeds Of other products, IN the pro-
duction of which Edgecombe stands also
pre-eminently high.
Will not these facts give still further
prominence to the desirability of settling
| in edgecombe, and induce the introduc-