Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 15, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 September 1851 — Page 2

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INDIANA STATE SENTINEL. WILLIAM 'J. BROWN, Editor. INDIANAPOLIS: SATURDAY EVENING, KEPT. O, 1Mb

Appointment by the Governor. A xas a M. Cutavxi-AiD.. Probate Judge of Steuben iy, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Theoron Storrs. Law Reform. We commence to-day the publication of a series of nie es, addreeeed to Gov. Wright, on (be subject of law reform. Tbey are from the pen of an aWe jurist, who has given the subject much investigation and reflection. This is an important question, and vre bespeak for these articles a eareful perusal. Cuban Revolution Disastrous Termination. The telegraph yesterday announced the disastrous and melancholy termination of this ill Tated expedition, l ne sews is doubtless correct. Lopex and bis followers have all perished. They received but little aid from the inhabitants of the island. If the Spanish authorities had conducted themselves with prudence, all attempts at revolution would have ended; bat the cruel and coldblooded murder of American citizens, without a trial, has aroused such a spirit of revenge in the hearts of the Americas people, that time alone can determine what will be the finale. If the Cubans love the chains of slavery and despotism, in the name of heaven, we say, let them wear them. We would not force liberty on an unwilling people. A few days will give us the particulars of this disastrous expedition. A few weeks will indicate the tone of public sentiment in relation to further efforts of the revolutionists. iTT'Judge Hackleman threatens to change his politiami uMuhi of us into personal attacks. We wish the Judge success in bis undertaking. We have more warm personal friends among the Whigs of Rush county, than in any other part of tlie State. It was among that community where we spent the days of our boyhood. The old citizens of Rush, who felled the forest, constructed the roads, and made the wilderness blossom as the rose, know us, and supported us for office before Judge Hackleman ever set foot on the soil. Wc are one of then), and if the Judge can increase the influence of his paper or add to bis own popularity by such an assault, we say go ahead it won't injure us. Wc care nothing about the quarrel between him and Bright and Robinson, but for the credit of the pre..s we should like to see it conducted in a gentlemanly manner. Course vulgarity, in our opinion, never added to the reputation of an editor. ECertain charges were made in the Bright paper, " by authority." and the world was left to infer that the authority came through Senator Bright from Governor Wright. These charges were branded by the Governor iu the clearest manner as false affirming that no "authority," direct or indirect, has emanated from him for such purpose. Madison Courier. Certain charges were made in Garber's paper of the 21st July, ''by authority," and the world was left to infer that the authority came from Governor Wright. These charges the Governor denies, affirming in the most positive manner, that no ''authority," direct or indirect, ever emanated from him, authorizing or sanctioning such publication. Judge Woodbury is Dcud. Hon. Levi Woodbury, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, died at bis residence in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, night before last, at 10 o'clock. Judge Woodbury was about sixty years old. He has successively filled the offices of Governor of his State, Sc.rctary of the Nary. Secretary of the Treasury, Senatorin Congress, and Judge of the Supreme Court. He ai a man of eminent abilities. Gen. Lane Has returned from Oregon. He reached New York yesterday morning, ia the Cherokee, from the Isthmus. Welcome, Indiana's favorite son! 17 Bayard Taylor sailed this week from Philadelphia. He is going to the East, and means to explore Egypt, and find the source of the Niger, if he can. He is an indomitable traveller, courageous, persevering, patient, and ambitions of a name in the world of letters, in which, though young, hu is already recognised. XZT It is said that Mr. Butler, who has bought onefourth of the New York Journal of Commerce, pays forty thousand dollars for his share in that establishment, the net income of which is between thirty and forty thousand dollars a year. Li' The seal of the South Carolina State Rights Association is a single Str, and over it a Half Moon indicating the prevalent lunacy among the Secessionists. LrThe Richmond Jcffersonian favors the 22d of February as the time for holding the Democratic State Convention. frftl 1f.fr Tlua-ic nrnniiinnAa ikal nftfttn ' '' M lltr ' '' . ' WWJ . vwm. M-r Cft ft l J iwuu- V 3 IIH.. Ill HU 1 , , who rails him a Disunionist. Legal Reform. No. 1. To his Excellency Joseph A. Wright, Governor of Indiana. Sir: Conceiving of no subject of paramount importance to that of a true reform in our mode of transacting business in our courts of justice. I take the liberty in this public manner of addressing you, and through 'ou the law-making power, upon such reforms in our aws as it is conceived are indispensable to the welfaro of the State, and true spirit of the Constitution, and shall in this and some subsequent letters, advert to some j promtneut defects of our present system, and their remedy. In thj Constitution so recently, and with such unanimity adopted by the people of Indiana, it is provided, and declared, (in the Bill of Rights) that " All courts shall bj open, and every man for injury done him in his ' person, property or reputation, shall bare remedy by due course of law. Justice shall be administered freely, and without purchase; completely, and without do- : aial , speedily, and without delay." It will become tbe ; duty of the Legislative and Executive departments of tbe State, acting conjointly, to provide, by laws the be-t adapted to tbe purpose, for the faithful execution of ; this constitutional guarantee, and it shall be my aim, in as canctsc a manna as possible, to make a few suggestions, as to some of tbe evils, calling most loudly for reform. Tbe field of legal reform is so large, and so many ; subjects and particulars at once press themselves upon the attention, that the great difficulty, in one short es. say, will be to select and discuss such leading tonics, and in snch manner as may be roost useful. While an In- ! discrimiuata onslaugh upon the entire body of our law j as it now exists, would characterise the pedant and p'-- ! tendor, equally would blind adherence to the whole mass with all its defects, savor more of prejudice or bigotry, than true wisdom. Whoever shall propose to discard those great luminaries who have added lustre to tne age in which they lived, and left in their works an bono red name to posterity, is neither worthy bi be heard nor respected. So far as the great principles opon h the law is founded, are discussed, eliminated and their works must stand through all changes; i names as Vattelt. Blackstone. Chitty, Phillips. i, Hardwicf, Eldon, Kent, Marshall -nd Story, will accompany the onward march of tbe i nglo-Saxon race to ta end of tune. The excrecenses of the system may be nmn.A forms changed, distinctions abrogated but the principles of jnstiee are eternal as their author .-enduring as truth itself. Trie wisdom will approach a shrine hallowed by the memorials of so many illustrious names with diffidence and respect. She will lay no rude or thoughtless hand upon a system of luriapraasa , unaer ns protection et wnicu two ot tne ipires upon this earth have arisen from i obscurity , to the highest point of national A raerica aad Briton ! mighty in their strength, and proud! t defiant alike of foreign aggresiea and domestic discord; and they are tbe children of the common law tbe pioneersof reform. If it be their pride to have advanced to such enviable positions among the nations of the world, under the protection of just aad -qusl laws, it is equally their pfeseure to remove Wmm ft sea laws sueh defects, as time aad expei

have demonstrated, may present any obstacle to thair practical enforcement, and to their still further advancement in national greatness. The useless and absurd must be abolished, the good retained. England has commenced the work, and the path of justice is there being cleared from the embarrassments of sophisticated form and senseless jargon, and in her wake are following many of the other enlightened States and kingdoms of the world. In every well organized State the laws shontd be so adapted, both in their provisiouary and practical requirements, as best to answer the great end of protection to the citizen in all bis rights, and any system which falls short of this is necessarily imperfect. If the law declares the right and yet makes no provision, or an inadequate one, for the enforcement of that right, then does the law become a dead letter, and the right is lost. Any plan of legal protection tobe perfect, must cor..ain within itself a taeory, but such theory must be made by the same system practical, and easily practical. Every impediment placed in the way of an easy and prompt udministration of the law, is, just to that extent, a denial of justice. It is in vain to say to the citizen " You have a perfect remedy in a court of justice"' so long as the law itself provides for delays, postponements and continuances of every imaginable character. Of what real worth is his claim for money loaned against his neighbor, if that claim is to bo enforced against the best efforts to

delay him? He is met with continuances, replevin bail, stay laws, false pleading, demurrers, injunctions, writs of error and appeals, and by the time the formidable gauntlet is run perhaps at the end of five years from the commencement of the suit--lie is left to take an execution returnable one year from its date against an insolvent debtor! Then he has the same course to go over again against the bail, so that by the time the second course has been gone through with, the claim has probably all be n expended in the litigation. This is no imaginary figure. The paralcls may be found in aSundance in nearly, perhaps quite every count v in the State, as all who are familiar with our courts of justice can hear witness. The evil is inseparable from our present mode of practice. And shall this system continue in face of iur present constitutional requirements, that "justice shall be administered speedily and without delay?" Will the Legislature, by the perpetuation of our present imperfect and defective system of administering the laws, render nugatory he most valuable portion of our bill of rights? and continue to deny to the citizen what the con stitution of his own adoption tells him so plainly he is entitled to? Shall the sovereign the law making power, by refusing to adopt a prompt and wise code of practice, continue to say to the party seeking redress, that so long as that redress may I.e had at all, the lapse of time is not material, and that "speedily and without delay" means the ordinary life time of man? What then Incomes of the oath so solemnly taken to support the Constitution and what of the Constitution itself ? All experience teaches that a speedy exccuiion of the law, forms the great conservative feature of the State. "The law's delay the proud man's contumely," ha not only formed the poet's theme, but the wisest and greatest of men, speaking the language of inspiration, has told us that "beennse sentence agninst an evil work is not speedily executed, therefore is the heart of man fully set in him to do evil." The moral sense, and the practical conduct of a people is rarely any better than the laws ! wnicn govern thm. I he law says to the citizen, "true. you owe your neighbor an honest debt for money which he loaned you, ami you can and ought to pay him, hut still, you may keep him out of his money for the next five 'ears, if you will employ good counsel, a technical and egally conscientious man, to whom it would be a deep amiction to let one oi my advantages escape him, tlirougii whose aid you may avail yourself of all the artifices j which are granted to you. After you have exhausted i the continuance practice, which, by the aid of a little ! sharpness, may be made to last at least a year and a half ; (for you know "for any good cnuse shown," is a very i liberal phrase,) the.i commence the demurrer practice, which will be quite sure to give vou another six months. At the end of two years come in, and by your general ! issue tell a barefaced lie (a mere legal lie, a sort of white j lie, to be sure) and then add to this a great nam her of falsehoods in the shape of false special pleas, upon which, or upon the subsequent proceedings, get up a demurrer, or two, or three of them, the more the better, and, in yoar argument, take up your day in court" and for want, let me ask? to ascertain whether this lent money ought to be paid? No, but to determine the crave and momentous question, of whether a conceded legal lie has been told in a tcchnceally legal form! "Your special pleading defence is perhaps finally held insufficient, and your advocate will, of course, most indignantly let judgment go, and take Ms remedy in the Supreme Court. The plain, unsophistical citizen might ask whether there is not some wav to remedy such practices and whether the law really permits falsehoods to be put on record in our courts with impunity? Is it true that our Circuit and Supreme Judues are called upon to decide mere imaginary matters? cases not even founded in fats? Strange as it may seem, such, at this moment, is the law of Indiana. Our highest judicial tribunal in the case of Walpole r. Cooper, (6 Blackford 100) have solemnly held and decided, that however false a plea may lie, provided only the form is good, and not frivolous, that it cannot be struck out, upon proof of its falsity, upon motion ; and this decision is said to be in strict conformity with that fountain of human wisdom, the English Common Law, as illustrated by the decisions of the co.irts of that country. True, the same court, some four years before, seem to have held very nearly to the contrary; i. e. that the law did require lale pleas tobe struck out upon motion. (Smith r. Webb. 5 Blackford 2S7.) But the decision last made must prevail, and be taken as the law; and it appears, too, to be well sustained by the mora modern English authorities. Well, then, the question is settled, and this angnst tribunal, the Supreme Court, must spend their time and talents in determining what may be called the romances of the law - aiid our friend, at the end of two years, or two years nnd a hall", as the case may be, now finds that the "law's delay" has, as it were, but just begun to show its fangs. After judgment comes replevin bail and six months stay, and this completes the whole cycle of three years, during which the party attempting to enforce his claim has been put to much inconvenience and loss probably been suetl for the want of this veiy money to pay his debts with; and, likely, in his turn, has been doine as he has been done by, to save bis property from sacrifice and himself from utter ruin. Now, then, he hopes that he may be allowed, without further delay, to take bis execution, returnable in one year, and thus, within four years, realise his money. But no. ' not so much speed there, sir, I am yet to take my re medy in tue Supieme Court. Kecord procured supersedeas granted almost as a matter cf course bond in error given case docketed about second term after docketed submitted held under advisement from one to five years decision is that defendant's special lie is strictly legal sent below for a new trial slid another three or five years' seige. I repeat, I am not dealing in the imaginary or unreal. Every practitioner at the bar and judge upon the bench, and many of the suitors in our courts (to their sorrow) know, on the contrary, that I have feebly sketched a very common case, the parallels of which may be found all over the State. And where is the fault ? In our courts? Perhaps somewhat there, but mostly in the law itself. A bad system can never be made to produce good results. "As well mi-zht men ga'her grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." Büv there is a ray of light shooting-athwart this legal gloom, and in that ray there is hope. The recent Constitutional Convention saw the enormous injustice done to community under the forms of law. Many of the members of that body had leen long connected with, legal proceedings eithor as judges, lawyers, or parties litigant; and, as such, they hd seen the mere form, the shadow, reverenced, while the substance had been sacrificed. PLOWDEN. Election of Directors. A meeting of the Stockholders of the " Lawrencebury and Upper Mississippi Railroad" running from Lawrenceburgh to this city taking its title from the fact that it is part of the main trunk line connecting Cincinnati with Chicago, via Lawrenceburgh, Indianapolis and Lafayette -was held a Greensburg last Monday, when the following officers were elected for tbe ensuing year: President. George H. Dunn; Secretary, Willium G. Dunn; Treasurer Columbus 8. 6tevenson; Directors, George H. Dunn, David Nevitt, Walter Hays, of Lawrenceburg; James B. Foley, Samuel Bryant, James Hamilton, Greensburg; Marshal, Mi I ford ; David Lovett, 8t. Omer; James M. Ray, Indianapolis. The new Board of Directors will meet at Lawrenceburg next Monday. The people on the line of the Road were much cheer ed by the news of the large subscriptions. It is tbe design of tbe company to have the road completed to Greensburg (about 42 miles from Lawrenceburg) in time to carry otT the next wheat crop, and to St. Omer ( 10 miles from Greensburgh) in time for the next " bog crop" t hereafter. Indiana State Journal. Greeley on Senator Douglas. We clip the following from the New York Tribune : " Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, U. 8. Senator from Illinois, is to deliver tbe Annual Address before the Atrrioultural Society of our State in Rochester on the 20th of next month. Mr. Douglas is a Vermontor by birth, and was bred a cabinet-maker, but, removing to Illinois, he descended to the Bar, and addicted himself to litigation and locofoeoism. He is lew in stature but lofty in aspiration, aad is thought to h'.ve an excellent chance for the Baltimore nomination and thus the refusal of the next Presidency, as Gen. Cass had before him. He is yet a young man, with very little starch in his composition, and as a candidate by no means the boy to be laughed at, though Middlebury College has been conspiring to cover htm with ridicule by nicknaming bim LL. D. We deVt hold him accountable for that folly."

MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 8, ISM, -. ,i . . , ... , .. . , . - tTT-This day Lazarus W Powe 1 is inaugurated Governor of Kentucky. It fe a any fall of moment A cloud is upon the boriaon of pure government. Misrule and unwise measures hang as a cloud of evil portent : over the fnvored land of Kentucky. MaynlU Eagle ( htg.. Kentucky has been ruled by Whig Governors for the last fifteen years. Indiana for eight years past has had

Democratic Governors. Contrast the condition of the two Ststes, and say where is the blight: Kentucky had ten Representatives in Congress when Indiana was admitted with her single Representative. Under the next census Kentucky will have ten Representatives. Indians will have eleven. We ha'-e now in operation nearly three hundred miles of railroad, which will be doubled in twelve months. Where has been the blight? In Wbig-ridden Kentucky. Lawrenceburgh Railrond. We have been favored with the following abstracts i from the Reports of the condition of this Company, made at the meeting of the Board in Greensburgh, on Monday the 1st instant: Entire cost of the work from Lawrenceburgh to Indianapolis, 90 miles, including depots, water-stations, engines, and rolling stock, complete $1,025,000 00 Stock now subscribed, not including that taken at Indianapolis, the amount of which was not then ascertained 459,799 00 Whole amount of work put under contract 250,578 86 Amount of work completed 93,026 87 The above amount does not include the contracts for timber for cross-ties, some of which were only closed at the late meeting, and which now cover the line from the i.ci tu uicciisuuij.il, nnu are an pryaule in siocK, exccpt one-half of tbe simply required on the first aceo- !' . A " U l I 1, II. C . 1 teen sections, which is one-half cash. The amount of work yet to Iks done to complete the grade, is as follows, which includes the usual per centaee for contingencies: On the 1st division, 17 miles $32.558 22 2J " 25 miles, to Greensburgh 7;.319 74 3d " 21 miles, toSliell.vville.. 55,893 71 163,801 67 Of which $S5:635 68 is payable in ensh, and $78,165 99 in stock or reiil estate. The iron for the first diwsi in, and also the necessary motive power and other machinery, are on their way to the West, and the Company will commence laying track on the 1st of October The lower twelve miles are now ready, the thirteen and fourteen miles will be graded by tbe 15th of October, and the residue in the course of the winter, so as to complete the track by spring. Mississippi Election. The few scattering returns wc have received indicate a general triumph of the Union party over the Disunionist, and the election of General Henry S. Foote over i-iM-i.il v-ui in. ui . ior uovernor. j.ajayciir journal. The recent election in Mississippi is for delegates to the Southern Congress, and not for Governor, as our Lafayette contemporary supposes. So far the returns are not favorable to the Union party. They may carry the State. But there are too many disunion votes to indicate a healthy state of the public mind on this question. tUWc arc charged with lieing a disorganizes The Governor says he seldom sees the Bright paper, and of this paper he says, "I have been a siibscrilier to the Courier since the commencement of my administration." This shown-lear-y which paper the Governor considers the reliable Democratic paper in Madison. Madison Courier. Gov. Wright is a subscriber to Whig papers, so that the above proves nothing. TT'Daniel, the fugitive slave recently arrested at Buffalo, New York, has been discharged by Judge Conkling, tbe District Judge for Westeru New York, on a hearing under a writ of habeas corpus, on the ground that the 10th section of the Fugitive Slave Act. is "clearly prospective, and therefore inapplicable to the case of an es'-ape from labor or service, occurring before the passage of the Act." DlJohn A Matson, Esq., the late Whig candidate for Governor, passed through our city with his family on Thursday last, on his way to his new residence, near Greencastle, Indiana, which he intends shall bo his future home. LCTThe appointment of Col. David Merri weather as Secretary of tbe State of Kentucky, by Governor Powell, has given universal satisfaction to ;he Democracy of Kentucky. Such appointments will strengthen his administration. fCTThe dry, and excessively hot weather for the last (en days has had a most favorable effect in ripening the growing corn crop. It will soon bo beyond danger from the early frosts. Legal Reform. No. 2. To his Excellency Joseph A. Wright. Governor of Indians,: Sir: Allow me to continue the subject. The result has been, that the present cumbrous, dilatory, and unjust mode of procedure, will be abolished, to the end that something belter may lake its place. Forms of action, and leg-il and equitable proceedings, are no longer, through their technicalities, to be made tbe instruments of injustice. The sinuosities of special pleading, and the refined, arbitrary aud technical rules of cvideiicc, as connected therewith, must soon be consigned to tbe same common oblivion. The age in which we live the advancement of the human race in the useful and liberal in art and science our progress in political economy, and the grand position which our great republic sustains among the nations of the earth forbid that we should longer administer our laws in conformity with the iron . f .1 T n: . i .l t- j : I 1 .

njje- in me J niin-s n 11 j. n . 1 1 h i u . irre mal llior i it-iint-n i , . . , r , Hs.i it ii i i ii l. ii iLt. r'f time and place in most ol the actions, nicallv, we will be tv egai v. We shall shake otT. c . . . . . .... ., .i i .-v. r. i r i r Tno fart it into pari cu ars to show tha

iuc uiu icnt-is oi lyrnunv. aounuot:. ai once auu ioieei , tho kingly forms of a barbarous age. and provide for a simple mode of arriving at the truth and doing justice. 1 am aware that there is no inconsiderable jmrtion of 111., ft..- .1... . ... , .ft,... -no. lift, an.l ft.,., , . i i,i i .-ji.ii , ftft ii' ftiivr uci -it , ia iirsin nnu phi.1 . r ' ti. :. i v i ain.i (nu iv iih em n trm oi ii-ciui iCo 7. 11 has heretofore existed in England, and in this State . and the same care and circumspection which should make us hesitate to Iny rude hands upon the common law in any of its particulars, should also lead us to act with caution liefore condemning this. Admit the system to be all that is claimed for it beautiful and logical; vet the great and almost insuperable objection i. that tfie rules and exceptions lo those rules, and exceptions to the exceptions, arc so refined, numerous, and difficult of application, as to require skill and oare, such as is rarely to he met with, in their use. The Commissioners recently appointed in Massachusetts, to revise the practice, in their report to the Legislature say, speaking of the rules r I I j - . . mA f A -1. - 1 . of special pleading, " If they exist they must be admin. istered, and the opinion of the profession in England at this moment seems te !c that they produce a groat deal of injustice, and still more of inconvenience. Yet pleadings are there drawn by men whose sole occupation is te learn and apply these rules, and who undoubtedly possess a degree of skill and habits of caution in its nse. which ought not to be expected, and certainly would not he found, amidst the wider range of occupatio and attainment at our bar." "A system, which ean only be worked by a strict observance of many minute and subtle forms, will scarcely wora well in practice anywhere certainly not here." "To attain tho ends of pleading with the ure of tbe fewest practical merelv technical rules, is the desideratum ; and we do not think the system of special pleading bas arrived at it." That these Commissioners ( who are among the most learned of the Massachusetts bar, which is saying much,) were not alone or singular in ibeir views, they bring in the great name and cite the authority of Lord Coke. Speaking in the reign of James I., he says, to use his own quaint language, " When I consider the course of our books of years and terms, from the beginning of the reign of Edward III.. I observe that more jargling and questions grow up upon tbe matter of pleading, and exceptions to form, than upon the matter itself; and infinite causes lost for the want of good pleading." (Coke on Littleton 303, a.) If this could truly be said of the system in its moat simple form, as it existed so long ago as the reign of James I., before Chitty and Saunders and Stepken. with their disheartening uncertainties and learned obscurity, had written, wbat shall be said of it now? Practically we find the most able members of tbe legal profession, who have been industrious students for a quarter of a century or more, honestly standing up against each other in our courts of justice, and vehemently insisting, and proving, at least to their own satis-

faction, that a plea is at the same time both good and bad, aad oar judges dubiously attempting, amid the eonHiding opinions of oilier eourts, to steer salely through the 1',,,. The defects nmi embarrassments of the system have, rrom liiue to fcme Ken and ,aeily acknowledged D lhJ jj,islat(lrct ,1, of OWn aDa tBe Mter States, j nnd h.nct we had acts for more easy pleading as to publie officers, and in justices cotuts enabling defendants 'n evidence almost any defence under the general

issue; thus making one law for the officials, the masters, and another for the people; one law for one court, and another law for another court a most glaring absurdity! For if the system be so logical, truthful and beautiful, why deprive a part of its benefits? And if valuable in civil, why not in criminal cases? Why shall the criminal, under his plea of not guilty, be allowed to give in evidence almost any defence, and the civil suitor be I mm i l . , - i compelled to plead specially? If pleadings arc mainly useful in giving notice to the opposite party of the gruumis ui ucence, nie wuuiu seeiu 10 ue ijuuc as iiiucu so, nay, more so, in State prosecutions than any other. Ihe truth is, that practically pleadings are of no great value, so far as notice of the grounds to be relied upon as the defence are concerned. It will quite rarely happen that a pi until!' docs not know of all the main facts and circumstances connected with his causa of action, and be can well anticipate and suppose that his antagonist will rely on such of the facts of the case as may tend to his advantage, or form a defence to the action. Inasmuch, however, as there may be instances, arising from the decease or absence of the party to the original transaction, where the plaintiff could not know what defence to anticipate, I would, at least in favor of such persons, if not in all cases, retain in the written allege tions of the parties, a substantial statement of the cajise of action and defence. In short, whatever of the good and trulv valuable should, upon a careful review of the common law pleading, be found, ought, in its principles, to be retaiued adapting those principles to such forms as are most practical and easily administered. The Constitution has provided for the abolition of the differ ent forms of action, and, of necessity, tbe common law system of pleading must follow. This is settled by the I J f ; paramount law or the land, and the question can no I longer be deemed an open one; and it becomes now a nmflpr , 1 1 r.rnul nrifhr.H in ornt tn n-liot kliall f . Irr. its place. The only object of administering the laws, is to do justice: and in order to do justice, truth must be ascertained, and truth can never come from falsehood, hence, Oca new 5VSTEM must be trce. No jian ought to be allowed to tell a falsehood any where, much less in a court of justice, and whether he be a witness upon the . n i . I .1 .... i, La I....,..'. flltn . nmA inl.i tftn.llt I ü'.aiiu, ui a iiiur 1 1 m i i int ucil-ll. i. ' "hid i , i ii vii'ruiu apply. Alf fictitious, proceedings and forms should be abolished. John Doe, and Richard Roc have had their day in court, and a sufficiently long one it has been. Known .from the hymning as fictitious characters, yet for more than a third of a century they have been allowed to claim and litigate the title to all the disputed lands of the State, and every honest citizen who chose to attempt the maintninance of bis rights against them. "s compelled to admit three ol their lies to be Hue be fore lie could even tic allowed to d-lenu tne title to Ins farm, viz , the lease, entry and ouster, of the books. Of t lie same fictitious character are the action of trover and feigned issues. In all proceedings of this sort the parties arc compelled, whether they would or not, to falsify the truth in their written allegations, and the whole record in court is known to be a tissue of falsehoods from besinninjj to end. True, our courts i ra jt , , procecdinoji e more gentle name of fiction, but these proceedings are, generally, not enti'led to the mild ness of such an appellation, as will be fully understood when we look mora closely to the force and effect of laneuagc. A fiction is supposed to be made up of a combination of circumstances, bearing on their face the semblance of truth, and which might proba bly lie true: while, en the contrary, fictitious legal pro i'i-i'ilinn f. im , i. .,, 1 - I... it on thi t,.4 t Ha Krod imnrpu f Vit i . ' . ... , , . ""!' ol falsehood, withoi-t even a possibility of their truth. Indeed, every one knows they are false, and their only redeeming quality consists in their being likely to deceive no one; butthey are, on this account , none the less (iis:;i aceiui in me law. line, tor instance, ine neu nous proceedins of a feined issue: The parties are rcpre sented as having made a bet one that a certain given statement of facts does exist, and the other that they do not, and the judgment of the corrt is for the amount of the bet in favor of the one party or the other, as the jury may find ; and yet betting is really illegal, even indictable in Indian! And the evil of falsehood is not confined to such proceedings as every body knows are fictitious (if . . I s. I I a -ft I i I ' . -ft i must iie i nai wiiiu,; urn, m me simpc i vcroosnv and I he most monstrous perversion of language, has extended itself even to the verge ol the ridiculous, in the common forms of our civil and criminal proceedings. What, for instance can be more laughably absurd than an ordinary count in the civil action of trespass to the person for an assault and battery ? The defendant has probably in the excitement of passion struck the plaintiff a slight blow, or, at farthest, had a little clinch with nun, uoing no jicni uaniasie ciiuer iu ins jcrson or uignitv. A suit is brought, and now listen if you please to the" dolorous complaint of the deeply injured party as contained in one count of his declaration. Cnitty where we all jto to get our forms. 1 quote from For that the said delendanton etc. at &c. with force and arms assaulted the said plaintiff, and then and there spit in the face of the said plaintiff and with great force

and violence seized and laid hold of the said plaintiff, by ; weaf f b, anJ nccded t- We endeavored to his nose and greatly polled and squeezed the same, and ' then nnd there plucked, pulled and tore divers large : to show th Fugitive Slave Law there was nothquantities of hair from off the head of said plaintiff, and ing inconsistent with our Constitutional obligations, and then and there with a certain stick and with his fists, ' whiUt j, provWed for the delivery of the furtive to his gave and struck the said plaintin a great many violent ' ....., - blows and strokes on and aliont divers parts of his body ; ! ma8rr 11 protected the rights of the free man of color; and also then and there with great force and violence J and in the present excited state of the public mind, we

shook an.l pulled aliont the said plamtilt, and cast and threw the said plaintiff down to and upon the ground, and then and there violently kicked the said plain! ill", and gave and struck him a great many other blows and strokes on and about divers parts of his body, and also then and there with great force and violence rent and tore and damaged the clothes and wearing apparel towit: one coat, one waiscoat, one pair of breeches, one cravat, ouc shirt, one pair of stockings and one nat, of . i i i . - f . . . . . . -i . . t i .ne sa.o , p.a.. .in, oi great value, to-wit, .o tne tame o 20, which the said plaintiff then and there wore and was clothed with." Now this is a pretty set of circumstances an unaccountable catalogue of outrages, all to have occurred to one man at one lime! If his grievous complaint be true, hu bas been pretty much if not entirely used up shirt, hat, and all! and the only wonder is that he should have ever survived such a perfect wreck of hair, nose, body, nnd clothes, so as to be able to come into court at all! I give but one instance: they might be multiplied to almost any extent. In the language of the Commissioner of Revision in New York, it may most truly be said "The present pleadings are, many of them, untrue. Tl e declaration in trover is almost always false. The common counts and general issues in assumpsit are most generally false. So are the statement of ihc venue, and the averments VV c need go pnrtienlais to show that trutti, wmcn . B ought to be the first essential in the proceedings of courts of justice, is not only disregarded generally, but

the disregard ot truth forced upon the parties i.y tne , ancc wUh ,he dictatC8 of humanity and justice." Perpresent system of pleading." All these fictions and J

falsebooi ds should be at once abolished, and truth snouiu be ascertained by truth alone. The pleadings, or written statements, of the cause of action or delence. should be requited to he verified by tbe affidavit of the party, to the eifoct that he believes the same to be true. To this it maybe objected, that it will often happen that the party himself does not know enough of the circumstances to be suro, or even to have a well-founded belief, that the facts which lie states are true; and that diflercnt, and to some extent contradictory, pleadings may become nccessnry to save him from the danper and consequences of variance: to all which it is a sufficient an swer to say, that a party having so little knowledge of his legal rights as to le unable to make a conscientious statement of tbe facts in his case, must I.e presumed to have no rights at all, and it is this very class of persons who, upon enquiry, will le found to clamor the most loudly for verbosity and falsehood. Besides, a true system would abolish , to as great an extent as could safely be done, tbe present rules of variance, most of which are purely arbitrary and technical. Speaking of the verification of pleading, the Massacliuselts Commissioners say : " Wc cannot think it unreasonable to require this of the parties. If they do not believe what they say, they ought not to have an opportunity to make the court and jury believe it, or to call witnesses, and make their oaths a substitute for their own. I' is our opinion that this requisition will be attended with important practical benefits that it will check unfounded claims, and still oftener unjust defences to good claims, which af now entered upon, not seldom wc fear, with a knowledge on the part of the defendaut that tbe plaintiff ought to prevail, but with a hope that if put to prove his claim, he may, on some point, fail. If every defendant be required to state distinctly in writing whttt his defence is. and to verify it by bis oath, we think few such defences would be attempted. It may be said 1 bad men will swear falsely.' But no new advantage will be gained by them if they do so, tbr their oath is not evidence: it only puts them in a condition to be heard upon their proofs, and they have that privilege now without any restriction." And the New York Commissioners say: "Such a verification appears to us desirable, both as a means of preventing groundless suits and defences, and of compelling tbe parties to admit, respectively, the undisputed facts." PLOW DEN. fT7"The remarks of Col. Swift, at the Cuban meeting in Philadelphia, called forth "three groans" for Mr. Owen, th U. 8. consul at Havana. Mr. Swift has been seyeral years whig mayor of Philadelphia.

TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 9, 151.

Democratic State Ceutral Committee. Q. PORTF.R, C. G WERBE. DAVID REYNOLDS, L. DUN LAP, WILLIAM H. MORRISON, A. GALL, N. BOLTOM, FRANCIS KING, J. P. DRAKE, (One vaeaacy.) Sustaining the Compromise This is the caption of the leader in the last number of! the Statesman. There is not a single reader of that . . . ... , ... paper, but will be struck with the great change which has been g ling on in the mind of tbe very discreet editor for the last twelve months. The Statesman commenced jts carecr by a violent opposition of the Compromise meMnrM. Number after number teemed with ridicule ! d abuse of those measures, and the members of Con- ! yress who by their votes and speeches sustained them. The editor w-s particularly severe on the Fugitive Slave Law, which he denounced as the "bloody bill." He called on " the advocates of the infamous Uw to defend it if they dare." He declared that it offered " a bounty for perjury," and that the religious sentiment of the country had been ;' outraged" by the passage of tbe act, and that "humanity blushes at the deed, and the slumbering vengeance of a just and righteous God awaits its projectors." He said the cry of repeal "is hardly necessary, for the bill will be a dead letter on the statute books." He rejoiced in the dvfeat of long-tried and faithful Democrats. The Compromisers," says he, " at the North arc catching Jesse wherever the peo- , ple can get a chance at them. Phelps, of Vermont, is thrown overboard, like another Jonah; Dickinson, of New York, is repudiated; and Gen. Cass is flunked in Michigan. Who goes next ?" II., ......,,.! A . . ! n - - I . L. - -. . .. .. ...... ltlv , sure. Among the many articles to that effect, which appeared in his paper, we copy the following: " Let individuals do and say what they please, but the ' moment the policy of the bloody bill is fastened ujion the i Democracy of Indiana, that moment we so into a mij nority. This is the policy of the Sentinel our policy is ; to repudiate it." These were his declarations a twelvemonth ago. He now comes to our platform, and the platform of the Democracy in this State, with the following confession: " But while we claim for all men these sacred, inajenbljg rights, we are free to express our opinion,' that the North will never repeal or uodify the Fugitive Slave A ill, until the South themselves demand it; and our advice would be to all men at the North, ' LET IT ALONE AND NEITHER ASK FOR ITS REPEAL OR MODIFICATION,' fully believing that when quiet shall be restored to the country when the strife is over ami sober reflection resumes her seat, the South will herself prefer an enactment, more in accordance with the dictates of humanity and justice. " Such are our positions on the Compromise measures, and we hope they are clear enough not to be misunderstood." They are certainly clear enough, but are wonderfully inconsistent with the former positions of this very discreet editor, who sets his sails to catch tbe fanning breeze, and who changes like the weathercock with the fickle and ever varying gale. He is now in favor of the " let alone" policy opposed to the repeal or modificaI . .. . - ft fi . i , . mm tioo ot tins taw, wnicn tie onec tnoimtii outraged numan- . . ., . , . - . j 7 and called down lbe lunibering vengeance of a just and righteous God; that it was so infamous that it could not lie enforced. We have no reason to complain of this change of opinion. Dr. Ellis is not alone in his change. The law was misconstrued and misrepresented and hundreds of honest minds were misled. This was not the cate with Ellis, however. He understood all the details of that measure, and was not deceived; and had public opinion followed him in his hue and cry against xhe avk.. anj 8?IRinst us and our paper, a different time I II would this day be heard from his orpan. His only complaint now sei ins to le that the Sentinel insists on the application of what he terms "a straight-jacket rule." Now, what is thai rule? "Adherence to the Compromise MEASURES AND OPPOSITION TO THE REPEAL OK the Fugitive Slave Law." No man is required to , Klieve tual this law is perfect. There are many defects in it many provisions that wc disliked; but take tbe Compromise measures as a whole, tbey were the only measures on which a majority of Congress, representing the various sections, and .he various hues and and shaj ,,ows of opinion, could agree. We supported them, , We breasted the storm of opposition, when they were j were opposed to any attempt either to repeal the law or modify its provisions. This is all we have ever contended for. As a parly isse, it cannot be avoided in the next Presidential election. No candidate opposed to this law, will We nominated by the Democratic party; or, if nominated, ho would he defeated. Those who make Repeal a cardinal doctrine in their creed, cannot. amJ wi Democratic canu.da,c i ,hc I , . . , , corning contest ; and tbe sooner these people know and ' n. derstand our position, the better. Their union with j u, wi Dut tend t0 vs.Paen olir jnflUCnce, and hold out r. , , to them hopes of the success of their sectional doctrines. which never can be realised. A union of the Democratic and Freesoil parties at the North on the sectional issues proposed, would not only destroy the Democratic party, but endanger tbe peace and perpetuity of tbe Union. For these reasons we have recommended our Democratic brethren everywhere to endorse the Compromise measures, and let the line of separation between the National Democracy and the sectional Freesoil part be instantly drawn. Temporary unions for temporary purposes, result in no good. Hence, we oppose them. But the Doctor tells ns that " when the strife is over, the S.uth will herself prefer an enactment, more in accordi tleft the mess of Giddings, Julian, Tuck &. Co., and went to ij wilh the 5,1, Carolina delegation, for the . . , ,... nf unm. I P?0 ol preaching lo them the doctrines of human freedom," saying " that a great work was now going on which would revolutionise the world."' When this millennium of freedom, which Durkcc, in his vision, saw, pervades the South, perhaps they may consent to change the law. But so long as Slavery exists in any part of this Union, so long must that Constitutional provision, which was a great compromise feature in that instrument, lie solemnly regarded. If Dr. Ellis is willing to wait that period for the agitation of Repeal, he is satisfied with a long credit. Before that day comes, ihe Statcsmnn will bo numlicrcd with the things that were, and its portly editor will have returned to the dust from whence he came. From Utah. Dates from Utah Territory up to the 30lh of July, have been received. Gov. Young has ordered an election for members of a Territorial Council on tho first Monday in August. Judge Snow, Henry R. Day, and Stephen Bruce, Indian Agents, Dr. Barnhiscr and A. W. Babbitt, have arrived at Salt Lake city. Rain fell at Salt Lake city on the I3th of July, the first in sixty-three days. Rhode Island. A Providence correspondent of the New York Herald says in one of his letters: 1 This State is divided between Webster men and Douglas men Gen. Scott being just as unpopular as Gen. Taylor was popular three years ago. Were Gen Scott now a candidate, the State Would give two to one against him so much has the military mania subsided in New England." Sickness of Mrs. Crittenden. We understand that the excellent lady of Attorney General Crittenden, is lying dangerously ill at Frankfort, Ky.

Decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana.

efoCted roa Tax ui t itaii sc mm. sv . rosea a, na.. Lippencott administrator et oi. v. M ueamt . Error Marion C. C, ÜLAcaronD. J . Motion by dcleodants, tir amend tbe record in a suit in chancery. The motionwas founded on an affidavit, stating that ceilain exhibits made a pun of the answer and hied, had been lost, that no copies bad been kept, und setting out the substance of tbe lost exhibits. The object of the motion was to have the recoid so amended that the substance of said exhibits might appear of record. Motion overr7a . , . ,,. , Held, That the motion should have been sustained, M rAlin ,,,e ,tm .,,,,. u sui(.le, :e 1M(MibU. The uncontradicted written description, ol the exhibits under oath, should have been received and the record amended accordingly. Judgment reers. .1 Lippeneott et at. v U'y$ani. Kim Marion C. C. Decree reversed. Jforfon et at, v White ft al Error Henry C. C. Blackford. J. Bill in chancery by White ct tit against l fi 1 1 1 1 n ft tmi in nritn r- I Ii t ..U f Mrlnn nrimu- , r - - m-m r mortgaged January 15, KU, by Hart and Tate two of the defendants. The bill states fiat tbe mortgagors I confederating with the other defendants. Owen, Clilt.aod Morton to defraud the complainants, falsely pretend thai said Owen, Clifl and Morton own tbe mortgaged pioj erty, and that said Owen, Clift and Morton make the same false preteace. Prayer for a sale oi tbe property and general relief. Decree, that a certain sum was due on the mortgage, and that unless the same were paid by m specified day the premises should be sold. It arppcarsthat in October, 1840, before the execution of the roort' gage, judgments were rendered against the mortgagors in May, 18-11, other judgments in favor of other pfoin--titfs were rendered against the mortgagors. Executions wrre issued on all of these judgments and levied on the mortgaged premises among others at the sale Morton bought some of the mortgaged property, and now claims it as his own, discharged from the mortgage. But the returns of the Sheriff show that he first sold property levied on not embraced by tho mortgage, for a greater sum than the amount of the three judgments older thanthe mortgage; afterwards the Sheriff sold part of the mortgaged property to Morton, w ho, therefore, purchased only the equity of redemption, having bought under the judgments younger lhan the mortage. Nor can Morion complain that tbe part of the mortgaged property not sold at the Sheriff's sale was not decreed in this sun to ne nrst sold, as it docs not appear mat he applied the tiling ol the mandnte in this case in the court below. j - Stephens v. Hornbrook et al. Apieal Vanderburgh) C. C. Decree affirmed. Ct'fy of Kransville v. Watson. Error Vanderburgh C. C. Judgment affirmed. Tathnm v. Ballard. Appeal Decatur C. C. Judgment affirmed, two per cent, damages. Brost v. doc ex dem Williams el al Appeal Vanderburgh C. C. Blackfobd, J. Ej?ctment. Judgment for plaintiff. In Oi-tober, 143, one Lawrence, who owned the land in dispute conveyed the same to the lessors of the plaintiff, the conveyance was not recorded till July 15, 1845; on the 8th day of September, 1843, one Cochran took cut from the Vigo Circuit Court n wi it of foreign attachment against said Lawrence, directed to the Sheriff of that county. The Sheriff's return to that writ states that he had seized as the property of Lawrence several traets of land in said county. At tbe November term, 1843, publication of notice t Lawrence of the pendecy of tbe suit was proved and the cause continued. Al the May terra. 1S44. another writ of attachment in the cause was ordered to le issued to Vanderburgh county, and the cause continued. Tbe writ was issued and returned levied on the property in dispute. At the Novemlier term. IS44, Lawrence made default, damages were assessed, and judgment rendered against him. to be levied off the land attached in Vanderburgh county. On the 15th day of February. 145, the Sheriff of Vanderburgh, by virtue of an execution on said judgment, sold the land in dispute to said Brose, and on the lth of the sam? month made him a deed fitr the land, which was recorded on tbe 22d day of February. 1845. ' The first objection of the plaintiff in error is, that tbe judgment is void for the want of jurisdiction in the court. In support of this objection it is said that the writs ol attachment were respectively returnable in twenty days; the first Wiit commanded the sheriff of Vigo to attach Lawrence's property. k.c, and have it at the next term of court : the concluding words of the writ, vie: that the sheriff sbonld return the writ in twenty days, are surplusage. The second writ issued under the statute of 143. and is not objectionable for being made returnable in twenty days. Notice was not published too soon. See Zeigmhagen r. Doe d. Strong, Ind. Rep., 174. The judgment was not rendered too soon; the statute of J43 required no other continuance as to the first writ. Nor did the second writ, it lring legally issued in the same suit. It was not necessary that the land attached should have been described in the notice: the court had therefore jurisdiction. The second objection of plaintiffin error is that Lawrence had coaveyed the land to the lessors of tbe plaintiff before the attachment issued. This objection is not tenable. The lessor's deed was not recorded in the time prescrilied by law, nor till several months eftcr Brose had caused his to be recorded. Judgment reversed, t Dugen v. Cummings (two cases.) Error H'-nd ricks Circuit Court. Judgment affirmed, with six percent, damages. Railroad Controversy. Judge Chamberlain granted an injunction at the late term of the Lake Circuit Court, restraining the New Albany Railroad Company from constructing their road from Michigan city to Chicago, on the ground that the New Albany Company, under their charter, cannot exlend tbeir road North of Crawfordsville, and that no improvement can be made which will affect tbe profits of the rival company. This is an important decision, and if sustained, will destroy the Northern division of tbe New Albany road. The friends of the latter road complain that tbe motion for the injunction was granted without previous notice. Since writing the above, we learn that an appeal was allowed by the Judge, that the security upon tbe appeal has been given, and that the Michigan Central Railroad is therefore advancing in competition with tbe Southern. U An Eastern Whig paper says Rev. Henry Ward Beecher who is a Radical Locofoco in politics, " in a sermon lately preached in Quinebaug, Ct., took Judas Iscariot for his text, and in the course of bis remarks, said that Judas was not the worst man that ever lived, by any means; that there are many at the present day, who, if they bad an opportunity, would sell Christ for a less sum than he received. ' Yea,' said he, ' tbey will sell themselves for a sixpence, and the purchaser gets cheated at that.' ' Think you,' he asked, 'that those who, in our country, sell daily in the market, to the highest bidder, the image of their Maker, would not have sold Christ bad they lecn in Judas s placet' " jäTr. Beecher formerly resided in this city. He never was a Democrat, and although he took but little part in politics, yet he always voted the Whig ticket. O The New Albany Ledger is in favor of the 8th of January, as the time for holding the State Convention. After urging several reasons, tbe Editor says; "Wc hope, therefore, that, taking everything into consideration, lbe State Central Committee will not assume the responsibility of postponing the meeting of the Convention. Let the first gathering of the Democracy of Indiana under the New Constitution, lie on that day tendered immortal by ANDREW JACKSON; and if that Convention should deem it advisable to postpone future Conventions to a later day, it can be done. But irtr think that no time is more propitious than that named. By tbe 22d of February the roads are generally broken up, and the traveling, especially for delegates from the Northern part of tbe Stats, is very bad. In May. tho farmers are busy, and it would be impossible to oh ham anything like a full delegation of that class of citizens." tr?- By one of those accidents which are sometimes unavoidable in the hurry of getting out a Daily rwper, an article appeared in yesterday's issue, which was not intended to have been inserted without some editorial remarks accompanying it. The article alluded to, wa an extract from the late leader of the Statesman on the Compromise question, a reply to which will be found ia to-day's paper. CT Tho Western Texan comes eut with fiyiag colors for Gen. Sam. Houston for the Presidency. It says: " We take time by the forelock, and enter this welltried courser noon the track for the great political race ia 1852. He has run all sorts of races, both upon tbe political course and the battle-field, and has always won, and we think he will win this time. He can beat any nag in the Union, except Jenny Lind, nnd she is about to be withdrawn. We will bet tbe printing office, lue mill, and all tbe grist upon it." CTTbe Charleston Mercury cons), out strong against the acquisition of Cuba.