Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-12-04

brought back from other and even distant
States: under Executive requisltlon, 1t has
been NV rule not to allow any guard; and
yet in those cases single officer conveys
his prisoner safely and without difficulty
70 the place of his destination. No guard
.ourht ever to be allowed for conveying Z
convict to the penitentiary; but one OF the
trained officers OF that institution should
solely perform that duty and should be al
lowed, not mileage, but necessary expenses
merely. The plainest dictates OF humanity
require that the pitiable lunatic should be
conveyed to the proper asylum only by one
OF the eXpefienced assistants or nurses OIL
that institution.
The criminal expenses, being the allow.
ances certified by the courts in crilnlna
cases, amounted during the last fiscal yeal
to S177,940.65. During the ten years pre-
ceding the war, when the State was more
populous and the courts more numerous
these expenses averaged S65, 429.31 annual
". Such an increase Of criminal charges
il "a unnecessary as it is ineXcusaDIe. IL Is
notable that, with no perccptible increase
OF crime, such charges have greatly IN
creased since the transfer OF criminal ousi-
ness from the circuit to the county courts.
1t is said, with reason, that these aiioW'
ances against the State are not generally
subjected to such inquisition and correctlon
as claims against the county treasurles.the
latter being awarded under the eye OF the
local Taxpayer by whom they are directly
felt. It may be proper for the State to pay
the expenses in felony cases, but there Is
no good reason why all other criminal
charges should not be borne by the coun-
ties and corporations; and, If this change
be made, it is safe to assume that the crIml'
nal charges will be so reduced by local IN
fluences and interests that no county would
then nav as much directly through its own
treasury as it now pays indirectly through
the State treasury on this account.
There are economic and other still more
important considerations which call for 4
revision OF the judicial system. Almost the
whole of the complicated litigation result
ing from the war has been ended. The buSl-
ness OF litigation has been largely and last
ingly reduced. It is now generally con
ceded, and it Is undoubtedly true, that II
the present circuits be redrranged so as to
equalize the labor of the judges, the circuit
and nustings courts can henceIorth dispatch
all causes, both civil and criminal, without
delay or inconvenience. Every reason Tor
maintaining the present county-court sys-
tenn has ceased to exist, and its continuance
as charge upon the people will be AS III
congruous as useless. Moreover, in its
very structure the system is liable to the
graveSt objections. 1t violates the essential
principles which govern the administration
OF Justice, that the same person should at
once be Judge, practicing attorney, and
dispenser Of county patronage. those
principles forbid that the ermine OF the
Judge and the gown OF the lawyer should
be Worn alternately by the same person,
whatever his abilities or his worth. The
Judge decides in his own court the
cause Of a party who is his client in
another court. The practicing attor-
ney champions one side Of Il question
in one court which he has to deter
mine rs Judge in another court. Such
mixed relations OF personal interest and
public duty are utterly incompatible with
the sanctity, the reverence, the disinterest.
edness, and the absence of all bias, which
are the indispensable muniments Of the jul
dcial Office. In my judgment it is as prac-
ticable as 1t is desirable to return to the an
cient and honored county-court system OF
justices, originally appointed and commits
stoned by the Executive, themselves filling
vacancies In their own body, and serving
without pay. The gratuitous, disintcrcsted,
and independent nature OF the service,
caused it to be honored and aspircd to, and
elevated the men who performed it. Their
example cXerted the finest conservative in
fluence among the people under whose eye
the service was performed. The system was
q great factor in moulding that distinctive
character for Virginia which notably has at
tracted the respect OF mankind. \ similar
institution in England has been styled by
the foremost statesman Of that country the
sbeet-anchor Of its liberties. The ilustrious
body Of statesmen who assembled here to
form a constitution fortY-eight years ago
concurrcd in the opinion then expressed,
that this system was the conception OF q
wisdom which had "snatched a grace be-
yond the reach Of art" 1t is idle to say
that the men are wanting to replace the JUS
tees who once adorned the county courts.
The restoration OF the system will OF itself
reproduce the men.
There are other reforms besides the re-
trenchmcnts I have recommended which
should be made to contribute to reduction
of taxes. The present revenue system has
defects which make its operation unequal ;
and it is necessary to equalize its burthens
in order to lessen the rate Of taxation with
fairness to all classes. The existing mode
of assessing personal property is an oppro-
brium to the government. 1t is the opinion
OF the Auditor of Public Accounts that the
State receives not more than one third OF
the revenue to which it is entitled from this
source. The assessor is not properly re-
sponsblc to State authority, and the system
invites him to become the ally OF the pro.
perty-holder against the government. AT
present the Taxpayer is virtually law unto
himself and il he so elect, his assessments
may be controlled more by his own volition
than by the force OF the law or the value OF
his possessions. The whole system calls fol-
stringent revision. In permanently reform.
ing it care should be taken to lodge the
power Of appointing commissioners OF the
revenue either with the Auditor or the
courts. The plan OF board in each corpo'
ration and county for equalizing the assess
ments OF personal property is said to have
worked we'll in some other States.
again recommend the appointment Of 4
State board for equalizing the assessments
OF lands.
The new plan Of taxing the consumption Of
alcoholic and malt liquors needs many minor
improvements which will readily suggest
themselves: such Us amendments rectifyin2
the disproportiou Of the tax on wholesale
dealers, and authorizing the Auditor to EN-.
ploy.the direct agencies necessary to uni.
form enforcement OF the law. While pre-
ferred and recommended what was known
as the gallon tax on sales OF spirits, as cal.
culated to raise more revenue and to pro-
duce less resistance, yet the present system
has been put in actual operation at consid'
cradle expense; it has as vet received none
but an imperfect and insufficient trial; and
now when, in spite Of all difficulties and dis
advantages it gives promise OF great useful,
ness as a revenue measure, it would be in
the last degree improvident and unwise to
repeal it without fairly and thoroughly test
ing its merit.
The oyster-beds are the absolute property
and the un9rantcd domain OF the Common