14 Ala. 360 | Ala. | 1848
The inquiry of the witness, “ how much corn per month it would require to supply the wants of said plantation,” was
If the witness had stated how much com it required for the subsistence of a single slave, horse or mule, there could certainly have been no objection to the competency of such evidence. Upon principle, there can be no difference between such testimony and that which a direct answer to the question would have elicited; so that if the witness could say what precise quantity one slave, horse or mule would probably consume within a given period, he might certainly state how much would be required for a greater number. This would be a mere matter of arithmetical calculation, about which there could be no mistake.
If the defendants had invited such an irregular examina
This view is decisive of all the points made upon the record, and sufficiently indicates the error of the circuit court, in several of the questions adjudged. Without therefore stopping to recapitulate, we will only add, that the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded.