Rising Sun Times, Volume 3, Number 141, Rising Sun, Ohio County, 23 July 1836 — Page 2

RISING SUN TIMES.

A. E. GLENX, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. FOR THE TIMES. THE CIRCUIT COURT. Mr. Editor Many of the readers of the Times, have doubtless seen an article in a recent No. of (lie Lawrenceburgh paper, in reference to the Dearborn Circuit court. Though under the edilorial head, it is said that it contains a far greater quantum of legal lore, than ever fell to the share of the Palinurus of the Palladium It is doubtless from the hand of one w ho has taken from the commencement a prominent part in this perplexing controversy, and who is well skilled by long experience, "To make the worse appear the better part." We have heard that the walls of our Senate chamber during the past session, echoed arguments and opinions very similar in style and tone to those contained in this piece; and probably emanating from the same source. e believe that ihey cannot but be as ineffectual in their influence here asihere; and that they will prove as futile, as they are unfounded. The article commences with an announcement of the determination of Judge Eggleston to hold the next Circuit Court for this county at Wilmington. "We are advised however (it continues) thatthe associate Bench will not join the president Judge in this matter. The consequence of which will be in all probability, that no court will be held in this county for a year to come." The consequence here spoken of can only take place in one event, and that is by the Associate Judges expressly overruling the decision of the President Judge. Has the Editor of the Palladium authority to state that these respectable gentlemen have resolved to do this? or our part we have not so low an pinion of their character and honorable feeling, as to believe that situated as ihey are they will take upon themselves the responsi bility of such a measure. For what are the circumstances under which they must unavoidably come up to their decision ? They are residents among the parlies litigant to the case: they have their own private interests and wishes to subserve, and must inevitably partake of the bias resulting from their situation. Moreover the question is purely legalone which refers peculiarly to the more technical principles of jurisprudence, and one upon which it would be no disparagement to these Judges, to insinuate that they can hardly be supposed eminently competent to express an opinion. The president Judge, on the other hand, situated aloof from either party, and versed profoundly in all the requisite legal learning and skill, may be deemed a person amply qualified in eve-1 ry respect to decide this question. Can it be possible that in the face of all these considerations the determination of Judge Egglestou will be overruled? As to ihe sitting of the Circuit court at Lawrenceburgh, it is in our apprehension, entirely out of the question. The statute expressly declares that this court shall be held at the county seat, and even the Associate Judges, or at least one of them, has already united with the president judge in declaring Wilmington to be the shire-town of Dearborn county. The couit therefore can never sit at Lawrenceburgh without directly contraveningtheir own decision. The writer of the article referred to declares, that as no time is limited for the removal of the court, except that at which the public building-; shall be completed, judicial proceedings had at Lawrenceburgh would not be eolum non judice. 1 he same argument would 11 . II hold tor nn v years 10 come as wen as for a term, and would render the enact- ' mcnt of the legislature perfectly nuga tory. It is well known and is undoubt cdly susceptible of other proof, if any one is so foolish as to attempt to dis . pute the report of the commissioners, lhat the buildings at Wilmington completed, and that the time foi removal contemplated by the legisla turc has consequently arrived. We proceed to make a few remarks upon the legal propositions laid down by the writer ot the ralladinm. W w ere not present at the last session ol the Circuit Court, but wc have under stood that the proceedings were in sub stance these. On the opening of the court, Mr. Marshall, of Madison, moved for an order removing the records and adjourning the court to Wilmington stating and ottering to prove that at the antecedent provisions of the act of I835j conditional to the removal had been complied with. To this motion several citizens of Lawrenceburgh interposed a plea claiming indemnity for the expenses which they had sustained in re building ihe Court House, :n that place; sUUug that they had

done that under an express contract with the commissioners appointed for the purpose, that Lawrenceburgh should be forever thereafter the permanent seat of. justice of Dearborn county, and praying that Ihe order for removal be refused until reasonable indemnity is granted, &c. This plea was demurred to and overruled. A bill of injunction was then filed, occupying the same grounds with the plea and an injunction prayed for; but the motion foi that purpose was overruled and the bill dismissed. On both of these decisions of thecourt.it seems, appeals were taken. It is claimed in the article above mentioned lhat the?e appeals operate "as a stay to all futhcr proceedings in the case, and that the inferior court cannot legally take another step until the appellate court has passed their judgement in the premises." Let us look at the authorities upon

this subject. Ihe English chancery practice in case of an appeal to the j House of Lords, renders a special or der 01 the House necessary to give such appeal, the force of a supersedea Blake's Chanc. The New York Court of Errors in the case of fixing v Dunscomb, 2 Wend. 208, observe, "Although the court of chancery has no power to regulate the practice on Appeals to this court, it may direct on what terms and conditions the appeal shall operate as a stay of proceedings, unless this court on a special application or by a general rule, think proper to restrict that power." As appeals are proceedings derived from the civil law, they must be regulated either by special enactments or by rules of practice established by courts of competent authority. With respect to appeals from magistrates, our statute, like that of New York) has specially enacted that they shall in all cases operate as a stay to further proceedings on the judgement appealed from. If an appeal is ex vi termini a supersedeas where is the necessity of an act declaring it so? But the statute which declares that the Supreme court shall have no jurisdiction of cases appealed, (ofv a certain amount.) if a supersedeas be refused, expressly recognizes lhat in other cases a stay of proceedings in the inferior court is not an inseparable incident of an appeal. In case of the motion for a bill of injunction, even granting that the enlire administration of justice could be stopped in a county by such a process in any imaginable cases whatever and granting that in face of the constitution, which declares that the several circuit courts shall be held in the respective counties, as may be directed by law, a single individual may, by any process, shut the door of justice for years upon the citizens ol Dearborn county granting all this I say, it would certainly be strange if, upon its reject ion, the party could receive all its benefits. And vet it is claimed that this rejected bill" of injunction, resuscitated ty an appeal, shuts the door of the court house, and opens that of the gaol, stops the administration of justice, and lets ihe felon and the defrauder go free. If such effects spring from the dismissal of this bill, what would not have resulted had it been granted? But n strong argument is afforded by ihe considerations ab inconvenienti, resulting from ibis case, lhcre is something so preposterous in the idea that a private person by an appeal upon groundless and frivolous plea, or a motion which has been overruled, car. put a public court under the ban of a bill of injunction, and suspend ihe exe cution ol the laws for an entire county, that no man ol sense can entertain it for a moment. The appellant is requir ed to give bonds to sustain all costsand damages resulting from his appeal in ordinary cases. But what would be the penalty of such a bond m this case? Who could estimate the cost and damage to the county and the community the injuries of crime unpunished, debts unpaid, rights unprotected, and wrongs unred ressed 1 A word as to the claim of indemnity. The law which the writer referred to, quotes to sustain this claim unfortunately tells against him. We want but the general principle that the acts of preceding legislatures cannot tie the hands of ihcir successors; and the proposition established in Elwcll vs Tucker, thatthe legislature has power to remove county seats, (2 Hlack. 143) cn such terms as they deem reasonable, to guide us to a correct decision of Ihfs question. In this case suppose thelegislature deemed the citizens of lawrenceburgh already reasonably re paid, in the advantages which they hwve derived from their long possession of the county seat. Or if we construe the act of 1827 into the conditions of a cwt.atf, let it beset forth according to

its legal effsct. The phrase then "that Lawrenceburgh shall be forever thereafter the permanent seat of justice of the county of Dearborn," will take this form, "shall be so long as the legislature please, the permanent seat of justice," &c. If the legislature has gone further than this, they have stepped out of their constitutional limits, and the faith of the State is not pledged to the execution of their acts. And if any individuals have relied upon such acts, it is their own folly, and they cannot demand as a matter of right, any indemnity from the state. But in this case, how stand the facts? Can the petitioners for indemnity come into the court with clean hands, and plead the full performance of all their obligations? Have they fullfilled the conditions of their contract? Have they constructed the court-house after the manner and form prescribed in their stipulations? lias the county never been called upon to contribute some

hundreds towards itscompletion? Are the ferries in the vicinity of the claim ants free? We fear that ihey will be compelled to "rail the seal "from off their bond," before they can in any case claim damages of the state for the breach of its contracts. In conclusion, were the writer in question invested, as he complacently remarks, with judicial power, we doubt not but lhat (alas! poor human nature !) public convenience would still be sacrificed to private interest. Wc doubt not but that the loudly expressed and reiterated desire of the people, would be hushed by the whispers of selfishness and lhat the voice and vote of the majority would yet be denominated "the whim and caprice of the multitude." Doubtless we the rude rabble should be cautioned not to come betwixt the wind and his nobility ! And doubtless those who have for years en joyed the advantages of ihe county seat, at the inconvenience and expense of the public, would now be permitted to claim as a right and a monopoly, what was formerly granted as a favor. But we live to thank our stars, that even seven hundred a year has left us better judges than this. FOR THE TIMES. To the Electors of Dearborn county; In the discussion of the subject of di vision, the sole question should be, will it benefit a majority of the inhabitants ol the county? Not whether this place or lhat requires it, but simply whether the majority will be benefitted by it? Whoever will cast an eye over the map of Dearborn county will see at once that some natural and opposing barriers present themselves which nei ther time nor labor can ever surmount. They will see that the county is a very large one, and that its surface is broken by huge hills and broken valleys, ex cept on the immediate borders of ihe Ohio river. They will see it cut up by rapid streams of water that in wet sea sons pour their torrents from the bad country in such profuse abundance, as to render them impassable. They will sec, loo, that these barriers operate much more unfavorably upon some than upon other parts ol the countv that if the county seat is at cither end, the other parts sutler, and that if placed in the centre, still, the difficulties are not obviated, because the people from botli extremities must cross all the streams to reach it, while those of the centre cross none, hence three fourths of them are subjected to great trouble and expense for the gratification, simply, of the other fourth. But, fellow citizens, if the county were laid by the natural boundaries lhat present themselves on the map, no such difficulties to any of our inhabitants could arise; and the only cause, that presents itself to me why it was not done, is to be attributed to the errors of judgement that prevailed at an early day in which we were organized to a misconception of the future growth and population of the counly and a consequent inability to judge of and make provisions for its future wants and necessities. This is an error that is liable lo obtain in the first settlements of all new counties, and it is one of which we cannot, in justice, hold our predecessors accountable; because i( is an error thaf time only develops. But as a county opens and the tide of emigration pours its thousands to its forests as these last give place to the rich fields of the husbandman and numbers are multiplied, and facilities of trade become desirable, then it is that new wants arise thence, it is that difficulties present themselves that in earlier days were never once thought of. And who docs not know this lo be a natural occurrence? Every man witnesses it in the settlement and improvement of his own farm in the location and construction of his own dwelling house. Dearborn county, then, was organi-

zed at an early day, and its boundaries I

as well as its county seat were well enough adapted to the wants of its early inhabitants. 7"hey were few, and the sparseness of population made it necessary that the county should be large. But the day has already arrived when, from the great increase of population, her boundaries are found lo be too extensive, and the location of the county seat inconvenient. An cffoit has been made to correct the evil by the rnaoiul of the county scat: but it has not had the desired effect; nor, indeed, can it ever have, while the numbers to be accommodated are continually swelling, and at the same time are spread over such a wide extent of territory. They have to travel too far they have to climb too many hills and cross too many streams, besides, that their interests must continually clash. The only way in which we can re move these evils, is to reduce the size of our countv. In vain shall we remove the scat of Justice from point to point; the object will never be accomplished whilst our county embraces such a wide extent of territory, so dis connected and so divided in interest? But let us adapt its size to our circum stances, and let us set to it natura boundaries, as far as practicable, and soon, very soon, will the prevailing tide cl public strife subside, every discor dant feeling be allayed, and separate in terests and selfish propensities serving no longer the purposes of contention, good will and union of sentiment will be restored, no more to be broken up. I know that some object to small counties on account of the taxes necessary to be imposed for their support: but I am clearly of opinion that in the case of Dearborn countv, the taxes neccssary for the support ot a new county will not be equal lo the wasteof time and necccssary expenditure that must be lost in traveling toand from the seat of justice, even if it should be located at Wilmington. . This, however, I consider a moral impossibility; and our friends of the centre have certainly deceived themselves into a great disappointment. 1 know enough of the views of our citizens to know, that not one third are in favor of that point; and the scat of justice will cither be located at some other place, or Dearborn county will pass year's tc come, accursed with party feuds and bitter strife an occurrence, the result of which 1 dread to dwell upon. If division, then, is the only remedy for (he evils we suffer, (and 1 verily believe it is,) it behooves u? all to give support to that measure; and as we now have the opportunity to elect mem bers to the legislature in whom we r.n confide and with whom we can safely rest the subject, let 'us unite upon them and bring our unhappy collision to a speedy and healthful close let us sup port the division ticket, composed of David Cuaud, .John 1 . l)i;r.', Aiiei, C. 'Pepper, and Pinkney James. Ax Impartial Ixevstic ator. FOtt THE TIMES. To the People of Dcarbon county Fellow Citizens: The crisis lias Come. You are how about lo decide a question of the utmost importance, not only lo yourselves, but to every citizen of Indiana. You are now about lo decide whether our laws are to be disregarded and trampled under foot, or whether they are to he maintained: whether Dearborn county is once more to be restored lo peace, or convulsed by internal discord. Need the tale of oppression be told aagain? Need wciciteratc the injuries which the citizens of Dearborn county have endured for years; what those inr 1 at I juries are, or irom wuom uicy nave come? INecd it be told to any one that they have all emanated from Lawrenceburgh? That less than twenty individuals' have been the cause of the difficulties of this county; and that they have put the citizens of Dearborn county to more than live thousand dollars expense? These facts have been so abundantly demonstrated, and every citizen has felt so sensibly the injury, lhat no one can now be found ignorant of it. Yes, fellow citizens, the crisis has come. You now have it in your power to restore to Dearborn county the peace and tranquility of which she has been so long deprived, and lo the laws their proper administration. You have it now in your power lo decide whether the poor shall be trampled upon by the rich whether rail road and bank usurers can buy your suffrages, or whether you will maintain the exercise of sound principles, mid the contentions of party strife; and stand fiim, like the rocks of Gibraltar, mid the war of contending elements. How stands the matter now? The Lawrenccburghcrs not content with having kept Dearborn county for the past two years in a slate of feverish

and dangerous excitement not con-

tent with having deprived justice of her due, and crime ot its deserved punishment, are now with unparalleled im pudence attempting to ellcct their designs by mounting the baseless hobby of division. What a base attempt what brazen faced assurance. Do they suppose that we, fellow citizens, are the mean hirelings of wealth? That a bounteous Providence has decreed their promotion at the expense of all the rest of the people ? Or do they suppose that they are the only individuals endowed with the slightest shadow of comprehension; that they are the chosen ambassadors of Heaven, commissioned to think and act for us all? Should these be their opinions they are mistaken. They have built a castle in the air, which like the baseless fabrick of a vision, will be blown away by the breeze of popular indignation, and no wreck will be left behind. To those who are honestly in favor of a division of Dearborn county, wc will only say, that it never can be effected, because it is unconstitutional. And strange as it may now appear, two of the candidates who now solicit your suffrages, and declare themselves in t favor of a division, have hitherto been warm opposers of it. David Guard and John P. Dunn have repeatedly declared their opposition to the measure) both as it respects its expediency and its constitutionality. hen the second relocation of the county seat of this countv was m;uit at Lawrenceburgh) there were a few who spoke of a division. And it was then that this same David Guard hooted at the idea, as being in itself ridiculous, unconstitutional, and destructive to the best interest of Dearborn countv. But, 'A clinic catisc o'er the spirit of his urcam' Lawrenceburgh having enjoyed the benefits of the county scat from 1820, in 1 835 the people conceived it lo be for the interest of Dearborn county to remove it from Lawrenceburgh atul locate it in a more healthy and convenient situation. This is accordingly done, and done to the satisfaction of all of Dearborn counly, with the. eccptionof I.'iwrenccburgh, whose citizens immediately raised a rebellion, which has been kept up to the present time. They have tried every expedient of which they have been capable to prevent the laws from being enforced and they now plainly see that, after all their fond expectations, a defeat is inevitable. But bci'Vg goaded by shame on the one side and cupidity on the other, they have resolved lo make one nwic. desperate effort. And knowing that if Ihcir real motives were known thev must inevitably fail, ihey have adopted a plan, by which they think they can gull the people, Coine oil' victorious, and bringlhe counly seat back again to Lawrenceburgh. But lo do this, men must be found willing to use the necessary means lo accomplish the endsmen must be found willing lo cry division until after the election, and when elected, to try and get the county seat back to Lawrenceburgh. Dunn and Guard are selected Us the most suitable persons to carry this plan into execution. These two men arc now before you, fellow citizens, soliciting your suffrages, and the question for you to decide, is, can you vole for them ? Are the principles of Dunn (he same as they have heretofore been, when he opposed division; and docs the Constitution remain as firm and inviolable in the opinion of Guard as it did in 1828? Nay, verily, a change has indeed came o'er the spirit of his dream. The same Heavens are indeed over his head, and the same river rolls through the streets of his town; Lawrenceburgh remains still ihe same God forsaken slough; but David, Oh David' how hast thou and the constitution changed! Well might it now be asked, what has become of David, who in 1828 stood forth like a warning angel on the watch lower of liberty; and declared to the world that Dearborn county never should be divided that the Constitution, lhat immortal charter of liberty must be maintained ;and should be maintained; even if it had to be done at the expense of his political salvation. Weil might one who heard, his clamor about the sanctity of the constitution in 1828, exclaim, "Oh man! where is thy consistency? Has political honesty left the world, and it given place to the hydra of demagogues. Has moral honesty gone glimmering with the things lhat were? Has she ceased to raise her voice, or is it only drowned by Ihe momerntary clamor of defeated speculators, or ihe sickly winnings of contemptible pigmy politicians? As one more evidence that the policy of the Lawrenccburghcrs is totally incompatible with the general wclfaie

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