Virginia Argus

VIRGINIA ARGUS.
RICHMOND:
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1807.

THE alterations made in the Laws of
Virginia by the last General Assembly, may
be considered, as they respect, first, the
administration of justice in civil cases; se-
condly, the code of penal laws; thirdly, the
public police; and, lastly, the revenues of
the state. On each of these subjects, in com-
pliance with our promise to the readers of
the Argus, we shall now make a few obser-
vations.

It cannot be denied that the session of As-
sembly, which commenced in December,
1806, will be ever memorable for the im-
provements introduced into the administra-
tion of justice in controversies between man
and man. The act "To extend the juris-
diction of justices of the peace," particu-
larly, tends to prevent the delay and ex-
pense which has hitherto attended the re-
covery of small demands, by substituting
the summary and expeditious remedy of a
warrant, under proper regulations, in the
room of the long-neglected, and therefore
tedious and expensive mode of proceeding
by petition and summons. We trust our
fellow citizens will no longer have reason
to complain that a greater length of time
was requisite to obtain a judgment on a
plain bond for fifteen dollars, than in a dis-
putable suit for five hundred. The leaden
slumber of a petition docket, which in ma-
ny counties, was not awakened more than
once or twice in two or three years, will no
longer be a theme of just reproach against
the magistrates. It has been said by some
that the right of appeal from the sentence
of a single magistrate, which the new law
allows, will produce the same inconveni-
ences; but that opinion was evidently found-
ed in prejudice, and derived from a hasty
and inaccurate view of the various parts of
the system intended to be established. The
provision in the act by which a stay of ex-
ecution for forty days is given in the judg-
ment of a justice of the peace, for a sum ex-
ceeding ten dollars, exclusive of costs and
interest, must effectually remove all tempt-
ations of appealing from any such judgment,
except in cases where the party against
whom it is rendered shall think himself re-
ally aggrieved. The magistrate too, being
aware that he has not the power of abso-
lutely and uncontrollably deciding the con-
troversies before him, but that if he should
commit injustice, his errors or his iniqui-
ties would be exposed in an examination
before the court of the opinion he has given,
will probably be much more cautious and
considerate of the propriety of his judgments,
than he otherwise would have been. As
those judgments, moreover, are to be pro-
nounced according to the principles of equi-
ty, which every man of plain sense is capa-
ble of understanding, and are not to be fet-
tered or perplexed by the rigid rules of the
common law, we may presume they will
generally be correct. Appeals, therefore,
in such cases, must necessarily be extreme-
ly rare, unless the people of Virginia
should prove to be so uncommonly and un-
accountably litigious, as voluntarily to sub-
ject themselves to heavy costs, by appeal-
ing, merely for the purpose of plaguing their
adversaries, without any possibility of ad-
vantage to themselves; which cannot be
expected. As the appeal is to be tried at
the court to which it may be returnable, un-
less good cause be shewn by either party
for a continuance, a defendant who should
appeal, without any just cause, from the
judgment of a justice, would act with great
absurdity; since, in all probability, the de-
lay which might be obtained by appealing,
would not be greater than the stay of exe-
cution allowed him without it; and would
burden himself besides with damages and
costs. The consideration, also, that after
a decision should be had, on such appeal,
no stay of execution would be granted,
and that no security is to be taken on the
execution issued thereupon, will certainly
have great weight with every man having
the least regard to his own interest, and ef-
fectually discourage him from appealing,
where his grounds of objection to the judg-
ment are not strong indeed.

The system, therefore, appears to be as
well organised as possible to accomplish
the end proposed, of a speedy and cheap ad-
ministration of justice. The stay of exe-
cution ought not to be objected to by credi-
tors, since it will have the good effect of pre-
venting appeals for the sake of delay, and of
often obliging them to get security for debts
that might otherwise be lost; and since no
security is to be taken on the execution af-
terwards issued against the debtor and his
security jointly.

An act "Concerning constables," which
may be considered as auxiliary to that ex-
tending the jurisdiction of justices of the peace,
has wisely authorised the courts appointing
them to increase the penalty of their bonds
as far as fifteen hundred dollars; has di-
rected the several counties to be laid off in-
to districts, and one or more constables to
be assigned to each, whose duty it shall be
to confine themselves in the service of war-
rants and executions to the limits of their
respective districts, and to return all war-
rants to some place therein. This arrange-
ment will compel the constables to do their
duty, prevent the people from being har-
rassed as heretofore, by warrants, requir-
ing their attendance at inconvenient distan-
ces from home, and greatly facilitate their
trial and proper decision.

An act "Concerning the attendance of
witnesses in the inferior Courts," which
requires the Clerks of the county and cor-
poration courts to administer the necessary
oaths, and to receive and enter the atten-
dance of witnesses, in like manner as the
clerks of the district courts now do, will
have an excellent effect in expediting the
progress of business in the inferior court.
The throng of witnesses at the clerk's table
claiming their attendance and totally inter-
rupting the trials of causes in the county
and corporation courts, has been univer-
sally considered as a great inconvenience,
which hereafter will happily be avoided.

An act "Concerning the abatement of
suits, and executors and administrators,
is also of vast importance. Various at-
tempts had been made at former sessions,
of the Legislature to prevent the abate-
ment by the death of the parties, of such suits as might originally have been maintained against his executor or administrator. It had long been considered as a grievance that the man who had brought a suit for a just debt, should in certain stages of the controversy lose all his costs, by the death of his adversary. This evil is now at least remedied, and the law on that subject fixed on the principles of reason and common sense, to the great saving of time, expense and litigation. Another most important clause inserted in that act is, that no executor or administrator shall be liable to answer any debt or damages, out of his or her own estate, beyond the assets, which may have come to his or her hands, in consequence of any false pleading, mispleading or non-pleading in any action now depending, or which may hereafter be brought or prosecuted against him. This provision lops off at once one of the most pernicious branches of the common law of England which grew in the soil of Virginia. The distresses and dangers to which executors and administrators have hitherto been exposed in this state, have been too intolerable to be borne with patience, and too thickly set to be escaped by any but persons deeply skilled in the knowledge of the law. Many honest men have been entrapped and ruined merely by their ignorance of the proper method of pleading and by the difficulties in which, without any faults on their parts, the estates they represented were involved. We may with propriety congratulate our countrymen on the happy event of the annihilation of those oppressive absurdities, and the complete establishment of the principle of equity that executors and administrators are to be responsible only for the assets which have actually come into their hands. The perplexities and embarrassments which have hitherto attended the performance of those necessary trusts are thus in a great measure removed, and honest men will be enabled to do their duty in the simplicity and integrity of their hearts, without the necessity of being guided by a crafty lawyer in every step they may take.

(To be continued).