The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-12-13

A HIGH OLD BILb.-The Committee
on the Judiciary, of the House of Rep
resentatives. have reported fayorably
upon the bill ito declare the use Of
certain words misdemeanor," and re.
commend that it do pass. There is a
prospect, then, the Legislature willing.
that naughty expressions will soon cease
to sully the lips of the lieges of South
Carolina, and that not even the worst
member of the Columbia ring will be
called "thief, rogue, scoundre or pol
troon," except in strictly Pickwickian
sense. The pleasure of calling fancied
foe by hard names is not deep enough to
compensate for imprisonment, with
hard labor. in the County jail," coupled
with "a fine of fifty dollars" at the dis
oretion of the court. We fear. however,
that inveterate vituperators will fiud
way to evade the law. They will whip
the foul fiend around the stump by in
Suppose, for instance, that, instead of
making use Of "the opprobrious epi-
thets" forbidden by the law, they call
their tergiversnting neighbor a Scott.
and fling at the head of noupeau riche
the stunning title OF Parker. Would
The use OF these names, Sin a TIL le,
angry or revengeful manner" expose the
unfortunate offender to trial in n court
OF competent iurisdiction?" Or, if O
needless Conservative shouted out that
Mr. So.and-So was a Mackey. or Hen
dricks, or Bowen, would the guilty
wretch be likely to sojourn for an un-
pleasantly long period under the roof of
| the County Jail? We are anxiously
waiting for the coming OF that millen-
nial time when all words shall be sweet
as honey. and no man shall merit a
harsher titlo than that of angel or saint.
But 80 long as the citizens Of South Ca
rolina are only to be made reverential by
an Act OF Assembly, it ia just as we'll for
the judiciary Committee to make their
legal nets close enough in texture to hold
the little fish as we'll as the big ones.
And If they can, by law, prevent pro-
family and obscenity. we would suggest
that they cut little deeper, and, by
law, prevent any member of their own
body from telling tibs, pocketing the
public moneys or showing the white
feather.
After all. the sting OF tie ACT to "de-
clare the use of certain words O misde-
meanor" lies in its tail. The second
section provides that any person who
may be indicted for assault aud battery
may plead, in Justification, that the Ian.
guage which the bill prohibits has been
used towards him, with this aualifica
tion: "Prooided, The assault and bat.
terry shall be proved not to have been
excessive" We humbly hint that this is
rather vague. What is to be deemed an
excessive assault and battery?" Mr..
Jones calls Mr.. Brown sn liar, thief.
scoundrel and poltroon," in ''a rude,
angry or revengefnl manner" aud Mr..
Brown, IN the language of the ring, taps
Jones claret and closes his peppers.
Would that be an EXCESSIVE" assault
and battery? Are we to frame sliding
scale in this fashion: A thief. ono black
eye; thief and liar. two black eyes: a
thief, liar and poltroon, two black eyes
and the forfeiture of the front teeth.
And is the force Of muscle to be taken
into consideration? W!ia: is 10 Justify .
blow with an umbrella or slap in the
face? !s tho aggrieved person to do his
level best, and leave it to the "court of
competent jurisdiction" to determine
whether the pn nishment WAS excessive?
These are obvious difficulties, which we
considerably suggest for the contempla-
ton Of tue individuals who, if the bill
should pass, are most likely to find it
necessary to avail themselves OF it's libe-
raj provisions. Charleston Netcs.
ALAS! THE PooR NEaRol-Even the
Yankees do not practice what they
preach. Thomas Chester, colored, OF
Harrisburg, Pa.. who has figured i'll the
newspapers before as barriater, 60,
applied to tho committee in Philadelphia
to purchase ticket to the ball in that
city to the Grand Duke Alexis, but was
refused. Chester. it seems had an in
terview with the Emperor of Russia u
year or two ago. and is we'll acquainted
with the fair haired Alexis This ro.