Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1873-03-01

law. we feel sure that YOU Will always
he ready to aid us by your knowledge
and advice. that we may be the better
enabled To arrive at correct conclusions.
For vour own benefit, gentlemen, tor
the maintenance OF order, and for the
prompt dispatch of the business OF ouI
body. we shall seek to discharge our du'
ty. without fear or favor. Taking it for
granted that you seek justice for your
client in presenting his cause before us,
whatever. from ""V sonrce,may seem 10
retard or he designed to defeat the end
of Justice, shall be promptly and firmly
restrained.
We admit. that by your zeal for your
clients or the sophistry OF your argu-
ment, we may he embarrassed and it
NAV be diverted and mislead, ,yet,agalnSt
these difficulties it must be our purpose
to guard as best we may.
However, with the utmost confidence
in Your integrity and honor, when com
PEELED to turn to YOU for counsel and adj
vice in causes in which we are III doubt.
we feel confident that our inquiries will
ALWAYS be met in the spirit in which
they are made. And i'll conclusion.
gentlemen. it shall be our purpose, to
extend 10 YOU, at all times, the courtesy
and Difference which is your due, and IN
return we shall expect, and If need be,
compel, that courtesy and respectful de-
meanor which the dignityo this Court,
our own self-respect. and the honor OF
our people, ,entitle us to demand at your
hands
Gentfmpn Of the County Court; 10
YOU have been entrusted the public IN
tercst of The people Of this county. Inc
custodians of the public funds, the con
servators of the peace, having the care,
through Your clerk. of the public rec
ords, YOU occupy high position OF trust
and many and important duties have
been contided to YOU.
We cannot fail to admit that demor-
alizinc influences have been at work IN
our midst since the war.
Too great disregard for law, ana or
der. want of appreciation for the sa-
credness OF public and private trusts
general lack of care, and, too often, II
deity in the administration OF public
affairs, are evils that have characterized
the times through which we have pass
ed. Gentlemen, the people who have
placed us here, will look to us TO lend
all our influence for the correction OF
these evils.
Many and important subjects will be
presented for your consideration. Oul
people have incurred large indebted
ness for the advancement of public I'M
provementS in our midst. The manage
ment of this debt, careful consldera-
ton Of the action necessary to MAINTAIN
the credit and honor of our county un-
impcached, and at the same time, to
avoid oppressive and onerous taxation,
will demand your thoughtful attention:
The general finances OF our county, VII!
require, upon your part. rigid and
searching scrutiny, that whatever may
have been heretofore defective in their
administration may be promptly rene
died and that those who have charge OF
their, disbursements shall be held to a
strict accountability for their use.
The care of the poor, the supervision
of roads, the granting of licenses, and
Inanv other things, which is not now
necessary to enumerate, will call for your
thoughtful, earnest and intelligent con
sideration.
As remarked, gentlemen, these are
grave and responsible duties, not lightly
and confidently to he entered upon, nor
easily and carefully discharged. Inc
constitution has devolved these duties
upon us, and the people imposing conf
dence in our Judgment, integrity, and
honesty of purposes expect us to be equal
TO the task. Shall we realize their hopes?
Setting about our work with a fixed
and earnest desire to know the right,
and knowing it. to unfiinchlngly per-
form il. ne will, we must succeed. On
the other hand, if we came here to act
in the interest of any party, section or
class, disregarling the interests OF the
whole people, we shall ANONYMOUSLY,
shamefully fail, and incur, instead Of ap,
probation and respect, their scorn and
contempt
Called to preside over yourhonorabIe
body, a comparative stranger to most oi
YOU, wholly inexperienced, 1t is with no
affected timidity, that | undertake the
duties Of my position, yet trusting to
YOUR forbearance, and relyingupon your
counsel and advice, l hopeto discharge
them somewhat to your satisfaction.
And now, gentlemen, that we may
meet the expectation Of thepeopIe whose
agents we are, let Us resolve to enter
upon the duties free and untrammeled;
determined to try all questions upon
Their merits and upon their merits alone.
Let us resolve, to permit, under no CIR
curnStances. influences i'll behalf OF any
person or cause, to be eXerted upon us,
in private. which man lend to influence
our artion when served in an official ca
pacity. remembering that we dare not
venture to permit even suspicion OF
such influence without stigma upon
our good name.
In file, gentlemen, let US seek to give
to this court, for our own honor, and for
the public good,a reputation fordignity,
integrity and purity.
The Court proceeded to Classify the
Justices to hold the different Terms OF
the Court and on motion a Committee