Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-09-09
VIRGINIA'S LAW.
THE NEW CODE or VIRGINIA OF 1887,
AS REVISED
A Splendid RsvisiSn-why cOnmsn-Law
Forms shsaiA DO Abolished, and
other Nesasd Changes.
ro ~. Eaitor az az DispatcA.

eislature. in its VISION, refused TO adopt
many changes suggested By them. mo
common law disability Of husband and
vile TO testify for or against each otherstlll
remains as we received it in our reye-
rental ignorance from "the wisdom OF
our ancestors" This is such an out
rage upon the liberal and enlightened
spirit Of progress characteristic OF this
age that public attention should DO
drawn 10 il. There is not citizen or
resident of the State who may not DO
affected by it. The presumption OF our
law il that after a marriage both par
ties 10 the contract are incapable OF tell
ing tho truth-either for or against each
other-so the stetnto provides shat they
shall be incompetent wltnesse4 1hls
ban OF silence is strongly advocated
biz Sir William Blackstone on the
theory that the parties are one
in law and in rights after the
ceremony of marriage is performed.
For his day and generation he was
n man Of great learning and ll6ersllty'
but oil his life he chung TO the belief ia
vitcbcrait. In fact in his dny tine intel
lect had not grown to the height where
it demands proof, instead Of beng led
by tho nose By old supershtions
that dare not face tho light OF the nine
teeth century. Gravely treating OF the
marriage relation, he makes us laugh by
telling us that by the old lsw-by which
he means the common law, mass OF un-
dioested decisions in many eeAes OF igno-
rant men-a husband might give his
wife moderate correction, though u Is q
right so ill-deGned that no prudent hus-
band has thought proper to exercise 1t
since the polite reign of King Charles
Ill. At present hgsband and Vne are
competent witnesses Tor and against
each other in England. by our law IN
the new Code married woman 10 given
the right 20 dispose Of her properly
without uniting with hor husband, sub
ject to his tenancy by tho courtesy. BY
not allowing her or her husband TO tos-
tify, Sermons losses may occur and doubt
less will, for wben her husband acts 80
her agent in the management Of her
estate ne cannot testify.
But the greatest evil Of the present sys-
tam is in adbcring 20 the old common
law forms Of procedure. Declarations
in Ass,smpst, I'roSer, Dsttnae, DEBT,
&c. should be abolished. All OF this
rubbish should be taken away 30 that in
our courts We might have speedy trials
in civil actions on tue very merits of tho
Controversy Declarations st common
law suited the slow IDEAS which caused
their invention. Instead OF a declara-
ton any ose considering himself AZ
grieved and desiring 10 seek the sid Of
court of Justice should only be required
10 set forth his grievance in writing or
printing in plain, untechnlcal language,
and the defendant to the action should
lie compelled to GrsWer, and there tho
plea Jugs should end. 1hisproceeding on
the part Of the plaintiff night De called
"a cOmpia ant or statement OF
claim" snl nothing more should DO re-
quired than that u should state the Oh
iect Of the sut with sufficient certainty
to enable the court 10 pass upon the
merits Of the case and prevent a surprise
to the opposite party. The common
law declarations IN use are full OF What
are called counts, which are separate stale
ments of the case in different language,
and are simply bsrbarous. There Is III
q common declaration in assumpslt gene
rally nine counts, and none but one has
ANYTHING to do with the verdict. Where is
the good sense TO be found IN this sort OF
thing? There is no justice in shutting
the door of the court to man who does
not wish to state his case, or perhaps
l i - 1, - g., 10 q ha Ia
guage oHiy thought wisest by Cir VII
liam Blackstone and Ny Lord " Coke
is it possible thst the sticklers for old
styles will contend that justice cannot be
done unless these aaclent writers are first
consulted for forms ? The great West
and the Pacific States are to-day living ex-
amples 10 the contrary. They long ago
abandoned tbese sntiquRted modes OF
procedure. and their text books are
among the leading authorities of the
United States and England. There
is a declarstion-much longer than tho
| Declaration Of Independence--of seventy
printed pages aud more than one han
dred counts on file IN the clerks Office
in tho Circuit Court Of the city Of Rich
Inond which did duty at the lAss term Of
| that court II is time that q stop should
be put to this nonsene. No lawyer
who loves justice and his pro-
fession wants TO SEQ tho courts
hsmyered IN this way. There need
be no further revision of the Cede or
additional expense 10 the State in order
TO reform the modes OF procedure.
/ This can be accomplished by simply sbol-
ishing che declarations and other obJsc-
tionabls eomInon-law forms IL is baFba.
/ rous TO tell a suitor that no court IN the
State shall even bear him unless he states
his grievance in certain specified Ian
guagO. Apply such rnle to the ordinary
transactions OF life and what would be rs
effect? Is it reasonable that justice
should be admin istered IN such a jsrgon
that 4 business nan, who has no time
/ for a technical education, cannot COM
prehend it? We are IN these matters of
/ forms ourselves the ancients, because
We have the experience Of ages upon
which to base our Judgment, and in this
connection il is idle to talk Of "ths ms
dom Of our ancestors" Loyalty and
nonsense for the past, when il makes us
submit in the administration Of justice
to the dictates Of psople who burned each
other as witches, is folly of the most
despicable description. We cannes
keep up with the onward march of p9o-
gress unless we touch elbows with the
living generation. Let Us have these
reforms as speedily as possible. Bust
ness men are chiefly interested, for tao
prompt collection of debts is Of the
utmost importance to them.
S. $. =. PATTEsoN.
Richmond, Va, September 8, 1888.