[June 15, 1858?]
Legislation and adjudication must follow, and conform to, the progress of society.
The progress of society now begins to produce cases of the transfer,
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2 [Sept. 3, 1848-Aug. 21, 1858].
About this Item
- Title
- Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2 [Sept. 3, 1848-Aug. 21, 1858].
- Author
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
- Publication
- New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press
- 1953.
- Rights/Permissions
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The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
- Cite this Item
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"Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2 [Sept. 3, 1848-Aug. 21, 1858]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln2. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 24, 2024.
Pages
Page 460
for debts, of the entire property of Railroad corporations; and to enable transferees to use, and enjoy, the transfered property, legislation, and adjudication, begins to be necessary.
Shall this class of legislation, just now beginning with us, be general or special?
Section Ten, of our constitution, requires that it should be general, if possible. (Read the section)
Special legislation always trenches upon the judicial department; and, in so far, violates Section Two, of the constitution (Read it).
Just reasoning---policy---is in favor of general legislation---else the legislature will be loaded down with the investigation of special cases---a work which the courts ought to perform, and can perform much more perfectly. How can the Legislature rightly decide the facts in dispute between P. & B. and S. C. & Co.
It is said that, under a general law, whenever a R. R. Co. gets tired of it's debts, it may transfer fraudulently, to get rid of them.
So they may---so may individuals; and which---the legislature or the courts is best suited to try the question of fraud in either case?
It is said, if a purchaser have acquired legal rights, let him not be robbed of them; but if he needs legislation, let him submit to just terms to obtain it.
Let him, say we, have general law in advance (guarded in every possible way against fraud) so that when he acquires a legal right, he will have no occasion to wait for additional legislation---and if he has practiced fraud, let the courts so decide.