Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1877 — Imprisonment for Debt in England. [ARTICLE]

Imprisonment for Debt in England.

It may surprise some readers'’At the, /4tor-(M>n*A9* ,impri|onmenT for debt to not, as we hare been taught to believe, SbollshW Iff’EdgUifd,* ’knd that at the present time by! far the;)greater number of English people live under a law which punishes the ipabilityto pay a debt,with imprhopmeut. , , t , * In our schoolboy days, When one’s fancy was kept aliVe T Bj poring overthe acfflMbiSa&ft >£■ rprsy alike depicted jay Bmollett vM Dickens, of that dismal alrode of the.insolvent, —re mltlgkfor tly'llfc alt' J of'iiltrofv a<T vs<ituro tlikt»toMpfl'j»«llis|nr «rpund its time-worn walls. .Bafbarous as the old law Waft, H reached Allke the rich Add im poor; Jtneoogntoed jno wjltocfttcy sf insolvency. The defects of the /pre*nt* syfetem,*^ 'A Hod of such 4 larw dpda the statute books of England is a burning disgrace to her, boasted liberty:' The‘ pefteftt Sdt in remtion to debt does away .with *ll .imprisonment for debt unless the debt is unders2so. The man Who 1 Mfc‘td"meetdto creditors, if lin ojves, moreAham $250, has no terrors on account of imprisonment. He is dealt* with'as tendedv as we deal with bankrupts .in.-toto .Cpunpy He., to free from arrest; all suits against him are stayed; his household gooaaAro safe,and he is treated. withlhe humanity becoming a great commercial 'country,' which should newer aim .W mUfie a faro ure to meet pecuniary obligations a justification for liarth land seVdre'treatmUnt: ‘ ‘ But, according to Mcj Jjbwe.hfce man who has not been able to, obtain $250 worth of credit’Was fab BbhkrApt lAw; there is no provisionjßiade for flin.dmaipn of his assets. He is, in fact, a human creature so small 1 that the'law cannot see him. The poatiflqbtor, though entirely overlooked tor the purpose of relief ffom the burden of Id ttebt he cannol possibly pay,.has the intoftfe sadsfagtioopf .knowing that the law ; ip its mercy naS devised for his especial tfefe what Mi I .' Leave qaJto “8 system-pf oppression hitherto unknown in England.” “Tiie old laW;’* says that gentleman, “of imprisonment for debt on final,process, barbarous as it was, had in it; m any rate,this alleviation, that tlie arrest of tfie pris. f oner was a satisfaction'of the debt. Whenever the prisoner was let out of prison he came out a free man, so far *s, the debt for which he was imprisoned was concerned. It will be seen that of this privfr/ lege the law has, under > Um' ftottovolent title of abolition of imprisonment for debt; fohndmeans to krm.” wordjng oft tbiSfuto w ; BeeDls to. ( glve the Court power to commit the defamtei' l for six w&etts he pays-tie debt,, which, in som^.gi^ea,, qmP\mto jSP.Pfrpetual imprisonment., The. law .falls’ wuh great severity ifpOU the pooT; who are quently torn away.frpm their famine ß ®nd thrown into jail to await the pleasure of »s creditor, while the debtor’s family have to seek parish relief. ffQt only are Ihfe' pet ceful ways ana ‘sunny flkths of fix# heavy bankruot too good fob the poor, but the privilege extended to murderers auH' robbers, which shields them from crim-, inating themselPeo;-is denied the poor debtor, and he to fplnctonfly upon the witness-stand to testify against pirn* 'self or be punished- fdf perjury.

Lastly, the law explicitly says that no amount of imprisonment shall ever extinguish. any debt ok /deprive; nnyfperion 6f the right to,take, out. execution ajgpintt the goods ‘Of the®person ip the same muuisrneMißO stathJdifinrlnM“e the poor Englandmaiptatas ordinate judicial, establishment at an annual cost of over s&,odb,'(K)O. Ih 18T4 tne number if persons imprisoned in the county courts in England fur debt was 4,488. As will he- Seen biy toe following table, these were #} poor,persons}! li For debt above $lO 2*1511 For debt under slo aad above $1.25. . j. . .2,257 For debt above 25 cent* (and under $jU}S... 23 T0ta1*..... Lk ~i j. .4,438 The misery , inflicted on the poor,, the waste of labor, and tne cost of Such a fearful system as this to toe efmnpy hSve attracted toe attention of Parliaraimiphiut a bill introduced By Mr. Bt»S to mitigate this evil, though, supported /by dll the great Liberals, qras defeated, and the disgrace to the country mild to toe flmeS We live in- is aliowedlto Continue. Civilized countries ought to have found, out tong before now that to’e' onl|- legitimate grounds of credit, ate the • possession by the debtor of suMoient property, on the confidence of the creditor'ifi thfe integrity' of toe debtor./ Ail UWs which creditors, tauda ako co. the creation of an unwholesome credit system whijeh re suits in the Sbilbes oO^uicharged ton pwir 1S BomSHiiug Enormous. The debts « e IfMHWgte collected by otoer persons who make ft their business to ao so,’and who secure a handsome profit qnt of the misery of toe poor. Altogether, thFs sVstfeni is most andthb 'gTOunidsioa which ton defeated —that without imprtsonmdiir for debt the podr Would have po ortdiJU-tajti too silly to need argumentgUhta advanced stage of the world’s history.—yA iaago In-tcr-Oetan. UW - 2 * ' u i-.