Studies in American History 
77 
purposed to say more than that the Kentucky court of appeals 
finally upheld the act without expressing a judgment of its 
own. The judges merely deferred to opinions of their pred- 
ecessors and to the judgment of the Supreme Court of the 
United States in Craig vs. Missouri, a decision which was 
questioned by many leading lawyers.^® The question was not 
definitely settled by the Supreme Court until 1837 in the case 
of John Briscoe and others vs. the President and Directors 
of the Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This deci- 
sion, which pronounced the Bank of the Commonwealth legal, 
allowed the issuance of paper from a state-owned bank, a 
practice which continued until the Civil War when Congress 
imposed a heavy tax on state bank notes. 
The decision of Judge Clark in Williams vs. Blair was soon 
followed by one from Judge Blair of Fayette County in Laps- 
ley vs. Brashear. This case involved the same points of law 
and Judge Blair rendered a similar opinion. These decisions 
were widely copied and read outside Kentucky as well as in 
the state. Niles' Register in publishing the entire decision 
said: 
Though it is true that this case is immediately concerning the 
interests of that state only, it is of so much importance to the general 
principles it embraces as to bring it home to the bosom of all. It is 
for this reason we allot so much space to it. 
Prior to this, and even afterward, the great mass of people 
had believed the relief laws constitutional simply because the 
legislature had passed them. What the legislature did was 
supreme, in the minds of the people, and a mere circuit court’s 
decision to the contrary seemed as preposterous as it was 
novel and startling. Only a few people had believed the re- 
plevin laws of 1820-1821 to be unconstitutional.^^^ 
The shock given the radical leaders who favored relief was 
not long in bearing fruit. By the action of Congress, follow- 
ing the census returns of 1820, two additional members of 
the House of Representatives were allotted to Kentucky in 
1822. Governor Adair called a special session of the legisla- 
ture to provide for and arrange twelve districts in the state. 
As soon as the legislature met, the lower house took notice of 
Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 495, gives the opinion of Judge George Robertson. 
Henry Burnett, in Proceedings of Kentucky State Bar Association, 1909, p. 60 ; 
Kerr (ed.). History of Kentucky, II, 619, 620. 
Lucius P. Little, Ben Hardin (Louisville, 1887), 102; Brown, op. cit., 23. 
