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The plaintiffs submit the following brief.
The only thing to be inquired into by the Probate court is the ability of the parents to provide a support for their children, the law, Code of Ala Sec 1215 does but authorize the probate judge to bind out as an apprentice, a child without it is liable to become a county charge. at present there is no distinction to be made between the white and the black. The law entitles the parent to the services of the child, and he cannot give the child its labor to the prejudice of his creditors, any more than he could any other kind of property. (Reeves on Domestic Relations) the Evidence of the Boutwells clearly show the ability of the plaintiffs to support their children well, the Evidence of the witness Dismuke is not entitled to any weight, for he attacks the character of the plaintiff, while a slave, we would ask why it was that Dismuke let the children remain with the plaintiffs while he owned them, if the man Nelson was guilty of such gross violations of the law, as the witness say he was, why did he not prosecute him for Rape, the character of the Witnesses evidence, clearly shows, that he desires to continue the indentures in favor of his daughter, to create a kind semi