Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-05-30
SOME SINGULAR OLD LAWS.
Rack NGmher Statutes That Have Never
 Been Repealed.


 Back NOmker Statutes That Have Never
 Been Repealed.
 Uncle Joe's Brown of the county clerks office is one of the quietest men in the courthouse and also one of the best informed Whenever any question of an especially puzzling nature comes up for settlement and no one else can answer it the seekers for information go back to the room where Uncle Joe'' works, and he explains it,to their satis- faction. This sort of procedure, says the Indianapolis News, is matter of daily occurrence and the old gentleman's encyclopedical fund of knowledge is proverbial.
 The other day after delegation of information seekers had learned what they were in search of they hung around Uncle Joe's' desk to hear some of his reminiscencesswhich their ques- tions called up fresh to his memory.
 'It is strange how the old laws cling to the statute bookssS' he said, medita- lively. 'In the eastern states many of the strict colonial laws stand unre- pealed on the books. Of course, where they conflict with the more advanced ideas of to-day they have become dead letters. I wasnhe victim of an attempt to revive one of the old statures myself when lived inWashington City good many years ago. was the manager of the Washington gas works and some religious enthusiasts brought a prose cution against me for violating the Sab bath by operating the works on Sun day. knew that unless the works ran on Sunday there would be no gas on Monday night, and on the ground of public necessity felt sure I would be Iysustained in the suit.
 ''To my surprise I found the law not only exactly against me, but learned that it was supplemented with severe penalties. For the first Soffense the penalty was heavy fine, and for each succeeding offense a term of imprison- ment I finally had to settle the case out of court by the payment of a con- siderable sum ot money and the grant l ing of some concessions. That law still stands on the books, but I have heard of no attempt to enforce it since my un- happy experience.
 "Tobacco is legal tender in Wash ington at, the present time, thanks to another of the old colonial laws. In the days when Virginia had plenty of tobacco and very little money, a law | was passed which made the weed a legal tender for debt. If were in Washington to-day, and had a debt to pay, could twundle a load of tobacco down to my creditors place of business and pay the debt, and he would have no right to refuse the offer. It would be a surprise to the members of congress some fine day if they should find their salaries paid in long green When this law was made, what is now the District of Columbia was part of Vir- l ginia, and when it was ceded to the general government it retained the old statutes.
 '"The queerest of the ancient laws 5 which has been allowed to remain un- repealed in the District of Columbia is one which makes it crime to deny be- lief in the Holy Trinity, and fixes the punishment at imprisonment. If that law were suddenly put into force to- day it would cause lively agitation. It was on the books when John Quincy Adams was president of the United States and he was pronounced Uni tarian. Every Sunday he would go to the little Unitarian church down on Sixth street and lead in the singing. There was 8 strange spectacle during all that administration of the president of the United States living in open violation of the law"