Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-05-07
LAW ADMINISTRATION
AZ SOM If tina Pee.,t..
-. situations Of Colonial LIE. 'n-

T@f'tff ~ tftf Refufta~
-. '''"tions OF Colonial Life.
The sentiment against ianr,
- ms time nearly as strong IN vi.
anna as IN New England, althonof, =
'he former it had sprung more fno, -
experience than from doctrine. Enia
sopacy' unlike INDEPENDENCE. was not
hostiie In spirit to the legal mot e'
''on' Dnt virginia, it would seem was
. prey 10 band Of unscrnnnlons
prokeh-down attorneys from Enoland.
s anu 'he extent OF thu affection appear
rom the legislation on their accps,n,
III lo43 an attempt was made IN roo,
alate the practice of law by a avsta7n
Vi iees licenses and oaths. lint witbc,,.
wan ana Two years later 1t was en-.
uo'ou that "mercenary ATTORNEYS be
mholiy expelled from such Office ;; A.
III New England, the expedient was
ADOPTED OF allowing a maoistrate ~
'oihe one from among the people TO "a.
slSt parties in pleading causes. Tbis
piah' however, was soon found M
satisfactory, and Il second attemnt was
hiaue 10 regulate, rather than erct,da
the practice OF law, but. as before Win,
ou' aVaii. In 1868 all persons. a,tor.
neys or others, who should assist In
pleanlhg causes for q CONDENSATION
were made liable to a fine OF five tbo,-
sand pounds of tobacco.
Fortunately, these worthless advan.
turers confined their attention to Vir.
ginla The middle colonies. AT this
linie' We're not subjected to such visit.
a'ioh. In an account of Pennsylvania
and West New Jersey, BY Gabriel
lhomas, published in 1893. and dedi-
Gated to Friend William Penn. us the
loliowing naive observation: sOf
Lawyers and Physicians / shall saw
nothing, because this country is very
peaceaole and healthy; long NAV it so
continue, and never have occasion for
lne tongue Of the one nor the nen of
the other, both equally destructive to
mems estates and lives" Against the
attorneys. the lawgivers, apparently.
deemed some special precaution peces-
sary; for the Fundamental Constitn.
tlons OF East New Jersey provided that
all parties might plead their causes
either in person or by friends, no com
pensation being allowed.
With this practical exclusion from
the colonies of men educated and de-
voted to the law, there was of course
much crudeness in the early judicial
systems. From devotion TO particular
religious theories, or from the ten
dency in new communities toward GEN.
trallZed government. the colonists dis
regarded an important English prece-
ieut-the separation of the Judiciary
rom the executive and the legislature.
The highest court was identical, in
Massachusetts, with the Legislature.
and, in the other COLONIES, generally
with the executive The very men
that sat on the bench sat also in the
executive council and in the legisla-
ture. As result, the distinctions be-
tween law, morality and religion were
constantly overlooked. Not merely
mans relations to his fellows, but even
his relations to his God, we're placed
within the province of the Legislature
and the courts. To take striking ex-
ample, blasphemy and idolatry were
capital crimes at the same time in
Massachusetts and in Maryland. In
Virginia one neglecting the daily serv-
ice of the Established Church might
find himself sentenced to the galleys
for six months. If he did not attend
the Sunday service, he might need to
prepare for the next world.
The men who presided over these
early tribunals were as much a product
Of the times as We're the laws they ap-
piled or the justice they dispensed.
Legal training was, indeed, Il rare quail
ity But usually they were liable and
iudicious persons" according to the
"oquirement of the Virginia statute.
They came chiefly from the ruling
class--the Independent oligarchy in
New England, the gentry or planter
glass III tU6 SCUM. 4 HGlf ucuClSuclGS
ard eccentricities were overlooked by
the people, The judgments of John
Winthrop, the Puritan Governor of
Massachusetts, aud of Thomas Olive,
the Quaker Governor of West Jersey,
were equally acceptable, though deliv-
cred in the one case from the platform
Of the Boston Westinghouse, and in
The other from 1.-The stumps in his
meadow 1t was reason and common
sense, not legal Precedents, that the
Judges consulted, considering each case
as of novel occurrence. When these
simple expedients did not sut1ice-in
cases of doubt or of other perplexity-
was made, at least in New
England, to the ministers. Frank Gay
lord Cook, in Atlantic.
A Novel Bridge Test