Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-08-20
GFor the Spirit of jefferson. ]
The Clerkships.

Mr. Edit0r:-We are about to enter upon
q contest at the ballot box involving primarily
the ratification or rejection of the new state
Constitution. IF we are successful, and the
Constitution is adopted, all The machinery of
Government there under-differing in many
respects from that now in operation-must
be adjusted and put in motion. The difference
above referred to is in no respect so marked as
in the local Government of the counties, un.
der the new instrument Ono of these
changes is in the revival of the County Court,
an institution, old it is truo. but-not having
been in operation during the last decade
pleading and practice, the Presiding Genius,
SO to speak, of this Court is the Clerk, and
indeed this is true likewise of the Circuit
Court. In his office the rleadings are made
up, and not only SO, but majority of cases
by his act The causes are matured at Rules,
aud it is the Clerks duty to make the proper
entries, file papers and place the cause so ma
tured upon his docket. Omissions to make
the proper entries, so that ESQ far as the record
shows) tho cause gets improperly upon the
Docket, result in an order REMINDING to Rules,
works a continuance Of the cause and loss to
the parties litigaut.
Many cases of delay and continuances are
the result of the omissions or neglect of an
inefficient or incompetent clerk. Now | do
not mean to intimate that there is a single
candidate in the field, for either Of the clerks
Offices of this county, who is Incapable of be-
coming an efficient oficer--quite tho contrary.
But what we want, under the new dispensa-
ton, is men who are qualified no,c to discharge
the duties of these responsible and important
offices. And how many of the aspirants fill
this requirement? Among tho Conservative
candidates, certainly only Messrs Thomas A
Moore and Robert T. Brown, who from long
experience are as familiar with the duties of
the offices respectively schoolboy with his
alphabet. Has it ever occurred to you, MIR.
Editor, to consider, to what an extent the peo-
pie of this county are indebted to these gen.
tleuen for the preservation of the Records
aud papers of their respective Offices during
the late war? Why sir, had it not been for
Mr.. Moore, it is more than probable not
Deed Book or Will Book would have been in
existence at the close of the war, and it would
have been next to impossible to trace the title
to single parcel of Real Estate in the county
of Jefferson. On moro than one occasion
the federal forces had possession of the clerks
Office, had scattered papers in wild confusion
on the floor, and but for the Interference (pot
without personal danger) of the clerk would
have mutlated or destroyed the greater part of
them. In November, 1872, Mr. Moore, pur.
suant to an order of the county court, entered
at has o,on instance, placed all the county
records in wagon and accompanied them
himself to Lexington, Va, where they were
deposited and remained in safety until the war
ended. To Mr.. Brown, too, are we indebted
for the preservation Of very many valuable pa
pers from the circuit court Office the produc-
ton of which, since the war, has saved thou
sands of dollars to the parties interested and
to the county, and which but for his commend
able forethought would never have survived
the vandalism which left but the ruins of the
court house itself Without meaning to de-
tract in the least from the claims OF the other
candidates, we ask your readers favorably to
consider the peculiar claims of these gcntIe~
men, eminently fitted for the positions to which
they aspire Their election will enable US to
accommodate ourselves with ease to the new
order of things, aud will to some extent reward
them for their disintere.ted conduct during
the late war. z.