The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-03-27
LEGAL FORMS AND TECHNICAL
ITIES.
The Old Idea of Preserving the Mystery
of the Law.

SU1Ses enueaVore0 TO lock up It's secrets
and maintain its dignity by the use of
a language and formu1a not ineligible
to laymen. AS civilization advances
professions become more liberal. Pos
sessed OF more real learning, they rely
less upon jargon and meaningless forms
and phases.
10 apply this to the legal profession,
our English law was once almost wholly
given to tecnicality and forms 80 much
so that the real matters in issue were
often lost sight of. frequently party
would lose a meritorious case and pay
q large bill of costs because his counsel
thought the action should be brought
at law when the judge might think it
should have been in equity, Or because
the action was entitled trover when it
should have been case or detinue.
These childish quibbles seemed to very
able men, who were habituated to-
them, to be the very essence of the
law. They thought that the very
heavens would falIif these sacred forms
were swept away. But they wereswept
away in this State in 1868, and yet the
heavens remained placid and serene
There then remained, however, the
cumbrOus forms in criminal proceed
ings. An indictment for murder was
wonderful instrument 1t charged
numerous and strange things, some of
them unprovable and very many utter
ly irrelevant. But each was sacredly
held to be indispensable. The ''mys-
terry" of the law must be preserved lest,
as it seemed, laymen might attempt to
plead their own cases and lawyers be
come unnecessary. Among numerous
similar incidents, it may be recalled
that man convicted of a gross brutal
murder, after a long and impartial trial
in one of our counties, and at an ex-
pense of thousands of dollars to tax
payers, had the judgment against him
arrested after verdict because his law
yer discovered that In the bill of in
dictment the word ''knife" with which
the murder had been committed) was
spelt without ''k." The bill of indict-
ment for perjury was so fearfully in
tricate that solicitors abstained from
drawing them except when forced to
do SO; and indictments for that offence
were usually held defective, as mat
ter of course, if the defendant had an
ingenious lawyer. The trial judge was
usually not willing to risk himself by
loIJir,o, O,,.b on ind iOtroopt tO bo valid
In cows syances-deeds, mortgages,
and the like-repetitions recitals and
redundancy were considered essential.
The greater the number of synonyms
which could be found to express the
same idea, the "more strengthy" and
binding the conveyance was considered
to be.
But we ''have changed all that, ," too.
A recent statute, constructed by a de-
cision of the Supreme Court, renders
the following a sufficient Indictment
for a murder: 1.-The jurors for the
State on their oath present that A. B.
feloniously did kill and murder @. D."
There is the one essential point clearly
and Enthusiastically charged. The de
fendant and everybody else can under
stand what it is. 1t cannot be misun-
stood. II that charge is proven to the
satisfaction of the jury, your man shall
hang.
The indictments for perjury, and
other offences, have been wonderfully
/ o;~o11i6od on tho Same line
AS to deeds, the following would now
doubtless be held to be good deed In
North Carolina, as it has been held to
be in Iowa and elsewhere:
"In consideration-dOllars, hereby
convey to A. B. all my interest IN the
following tract of land describing IT,
This - day of =, 1894. SEAL.
And the following would be good
warranty deed:
Sin consideration of = dollars. l
hereby convey to A. A. the toiloWns
tract of land describing 1E,) ana WtA[- ar
rant the title against all persons "n"O
soever. This - day of -, 1884. -
A mortgage would follow the above
form for a deed, simply adding that IL
was given to secure sum speclheo anu
that if default is made in payment Dy
a date named, the mortgage may ad-
vertise for the length of time and in the
manner set out, and sell the mortgaged
nropertv to pay off the mortgage hand
ing the surplus, if any, to the mort
gagor. .Lou +bat
excluding words describing the prop
o1o 49, oad The date. by the above forms