The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-05-11

| courts, is an illustration OF the oper-
! alton of the common law as showing
how far a testator could go in con-
Assrving his estate; it is the leading
case on the subject, and the most ex-
traordinary instance to be found in
the law books on testamentary mean
ness and vanity.
The preservation and accumulation
of property appeals to some of the
dearest and most profund feelings of
a mans nature. 1t gratifes pride and
pomp, and unless we had some re-
straint it would be carried to tx
tremes that would be dangerous to
public welfare. 1t looks up and would
| withdraw from the channels Of trade
! and enterprise a vast amount of prop
erty, dedicated to personal vanity
! rather than to the good Of society.
Consequently, every civilized coun-
try finds it necessary to define the
| extent of a mans control over his
| own property, how long his volition
can regulate its use after death, and
to what purpose it shall be employ
ed. H.
Unlimited power to control prop
erty is entirely incompatible with
our republican ideas and traditions,
and offensive to the principle of
equal rights of u citizens. But,
even if the legal restraints should not
suffice, there is az omniscient power
which DEGREES that vain and ambitious
visions of ~testators are often des-
tined to disappointment. The history
of property tenure and descent shows
that such projections of property af-
ter death share the inevitable fate of
nearly all great estates that fall into
the gristmill of the courts and the
lawyers and are subjected to taxa
ION and the wear and tear of change
and time.
Technical rules have rendered
many a noble scheme abortive, and
have also frustrated the benevolent
and reformatory plans of many a
well-meaning testator. 1t is said tina.
in no part of the world is the max
ing of a will so delicate an operation
as in the state of New York, where
the rule of the common law on the
subject of remoteness has been abro-
gated. This must be true, if litigation
on the subject be a fair test.
The Hacker will IS one Of many eX-
amples in which the teseator provid-
ed that the estate should not be "giv-
en- or sold in the name of the Hacker
family, and must. remain the Hacker
estate forever" The courts hold this
VIII invalid, because it violated the
law against the creating of a per-,
retuity. Likewise the law of primo
geniture, which designs the descent
of an estate to oldest sons to the ex-
clusion of other members of the FAM
lily, is inimical to American law and
tradition.
The preservation OF property thru
instruments of trust, or to carry out
cherished plans, provides wise and
commendable avenues for the pro-
lection of those left behind, for de-
serving and for benevolent ends. But
too frequently we meet e%Xtraordi-
nary instances of calculating and
impelling pride and vanity in tesla
tors. They often disregard the ease
and comfort of immediate descend
ants for the questionable satisfaction
of enjoying in anticipation the
wealth and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of dis
tant posterity. Such i~ron:hearted
schemes of settlement, by withdraw
ing property for a long period from
all the uses and purposes Of social
and economic life, are intolerable
and opposed to the welfare of the
nation.
One can readily see the necessity
for the creation of a trust of limited
duration for those who are depend
ent or who are incapacitated. 1t does
not follow, however, that a general
declaration of trust for those who
are competent to take care of them
!. selves is of any advantage. In truth,
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