Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg Court House [S.C.]) 1877-1881, 1880-02-13
E'Orkcd Flashes!
Trial Justices.
Fork OF EDIsTo, Feb. TO- 1880

represented me III your last weeks |
ISSUE. l did not assume to speak for
the Legislature, although that body
is IL OF infallible, and should be spok
ell of or for whenever it commits an
orror, or omits to pass the best laws
Tor the people. l did not say that
Trial Justices were II nuisance ;" al.
though | believe in some instances
they are. l did not Mcn rcpudiate
them universally, although do SO
now. What l did say and here
reiterate, was that we get along bctter
without them than with them. When
used the personal pronoun eve"
used it i'll reference, more particu-
larly to this locality. Ifhowcver my
knowledge and observation count for
anything, the masses Of the people of
the VIII ole Fork, both white and
| colored, do not want any Trial Jus
tices at all, IN the Fork ut least. 1t
cannot be inferred from this that the
people "dcsire to rid the State cflaw
courts, jaiIs, penitentiaries &C." un-
less vivid imagination such Ia "Thc
Midnight Line" has perhaps, should
constitute Trial Justices all of these,
We have always found that the
farther removed Trial Justices were
from us the better it was for II, Such
has been the experience of tn is Town
ship at all events. Within n cir.
cumterence Of five or six miles of
every Trial Justice there has always
been more or less useless ard harm.
ful litigation. Not SO much amongst
the whites rs the blacks. The color.
cd people in the County, rs class arc
uneduca;cd, and given to petty jeal.
ousies and fcuds amongst themselves.
They do not comprehend or npprc-
ciatc the loss of time md banetul N
1uences attendant upon courts Of law.
lhcy do not understand that no mat
Ter who gains or l"ses the legal point.
Is loser anyhow. They do not
understand that the law should be II
"c'n'cr resort to settle all cnscs which
cannot possibly be ssltled otherwise.
They are easily tempted. We all
can be tempted-if We could MT, why
did our Savior pray lead ns not into
temptation y dispute arise, in the
neighborhood about some trivial mat
ter; ordinations and recrmina tions
follow. y Trial Justice being near
at hand tho ag. rievcd arty repairs to
him, lodgoa his complaint, and case
Is made out. There are perhaps a
dozen sympathizers on either side in
the shape Of family connections, and
as many more witnesses. a lav is
appointed for trial, perhaps Il week
ahead. The constable rides around
several days summons ng urymcn
and Witnesses. There is great dis
play Of trumpets. In the mean time
decentralization runs riot throughout
the neighborhool. The shovel and
the hoe are laid down. The day ar
rivcs. The court dons her ermine, or
i'll the absence of. the real ,oga, uses
p'agmatic airs rs substitute. The
trial comes off, and great deal of
hard swearing is done. The jury re-
turn their vcrdict-one dollars dam.
ages and costs Of the court, perhaps
twenty or thirty dollars a great
deal of lime has been consumed-a
great deal Of farm work lcf, undone.
There has been much ado a bout moth.
ing, and why? All because Peter
cursed John, which you know was
very wicked in Peter, and he should
no: have done So
We do not object to J rial Justices
simply because they are Trial Justices
We OBJECT to them on account ofthe
offices which they perform. Thoy are
allowed too much latitude. We want
no law court with jurisdiction to try
any case IL single whit nearer than
the Court House. Without assuming
TO speak for the Legislature and
thereby offending "rhc Midniy yht
Line" would sugges, an Inferior
Court TO be held monthly, at the