Year: 1879

WILMINGTON, Del, Nov. 20, 1879,


EDITOR OF THE GAZETTE: Dear
Sir :-In my communication of the 18th
instant referred to an ignorant official
in illegally extortlng from three men
who were peddling goods the sum of
about forty dollars. have no reason to
change my mind in regard to the illegal
ity OF the whole transaction, and am sur
prised at communication dated Novem-
Der 18th in your paper of the 10Th and
signed John q. Cole, j. r. After read
ing his explanation of the cases / am
convinced Of his fitness to be elevated to
a seat on the Bench whenever there shall
be vacancy, or to the position of Chief
Justice of the State of Delaware. He is
so well acquainted with the statutes ofthe
State, and of the book of job in the Old
Testament, that if he is pc mitted to re-
main in his present position till the end
OF his term (seven years. Delaware will
not be large enough to hold him, and he
will be compelled to remove to Wash
ington, ID. c., the land of his birth,
there to occupy some exalted position
where his legal learning can be displayed
for tue good of the whole country. At the
end of his term he will no doubt write
report of the cases he has had, which
will be styled "Cole's Reports" They
will be of great value to our Courts and
attorneys for refereI ce. The reports will
contain various opinions in regard to our
statutes. "Cole on Writs," Cole on Pro-
cesses,' Cole on Licenses, 'Cole on Non
residents,' Cole on Landlords Warrants
for Rents Growing Due,' "Cole on
Adultery taken from the divine law, but
upset by one Of our Judges" "Cole on
Nuisances," "Cole on Anticipations of
Breaches of the peace Coles opinion of
mankind III general and Coles opinion
OF himself l speak now for one OF these
reports. No doubt they will command a
good price and be much sought after by
Judges and attorneys. A man that can
acquire such vast store of legal know
ledge in such short time should be in
duced to remain amongst us. He should
at once be elevated to some high calling
and honorable position.


l quote some of his legal knowledge in
the cases referred to. He says: "These
men would probably have been In Jail
awaiting trial on charge which if prov
ed-and Che proof was ample-would
have left the court no alternative but to
sentence them to pay five hundred dol
lars each-one-half for the use of any
one who sued and the other half for the
use of the State" This looks to be
wrong to stop the State from making
seven hundred and fifty dollars. La
case he had done as the law directs him
his cost in each case would have been
about one dollar and thirty cents. But
ha L., had Il.
could not resist the ten do la and costs
in each case.


The facts of the case are these men
live in Delaware in this city. They
board Oh Shipley street, and have been
conducting their business for several
years taking out a peddler's license and
purchasing all their goods from mer-
chant in this city on Market street. One
had license and did not refuse to show
it; the others had none. Therefore, ac-
cording to the law governing such cases,
he, the Justice, had no jurisdiction in
civil case to sue for ten dollars. But
his only remedy was if complaint was
made on oath, he had right to issue
warrant aud cause them to be brought
before him for hearing, and if upon
the hearing they were violating the law
in regard to peddlers, he should have
held them in sufficient surety for their
appearance at the court of General Ses-
sions.


In conclusion will state that accord
ing to the jurisdiction of Justices of the
Peace, he had no legal action upon
which to base his case, because the one
person having license did not refuse to
show ii, and the other two did not pre-
tend to have any, and the Justice had
no legal ground to commence civil ac-
ton. Instead of taking me several
years to learn all that is embraced in his
communication as to processes, ,writs and
statutes, &c, l must confess it would
AXE me seventy-seven years, and then
| could not think otherwise than L do
now. Yours, JUSTICE.